Al Meghji

Practice Areas

As a partner and head of the tax controversy practice at Osler, Al Meghji is widely regarded as Canada’s preeminent tax litigation counsel, holding an outstanding record of success in complex tax litigation matters in various courts. Al is supported by Osler’s tax group, which is consistently ranked as one of Canada’s largest and most sophisticated tax practices.

Al has been lead counsel in many of Canada’s most important and high-profile tax cases. He has appeared in the Supreme Court of Canada more frequently than any other Canadian tax litigator and has successfully argued a number of landmark tax cases in that court, including Shell Canada (widely regarded as the leading authority on economic substance and tax avoidance); Canada Trustco (that defined the scope of the Canadian GAAR); and GlaxoSmithKline (the first and only transfer pricing case heard by the Supreme Court of Canada).

More recently, Al is at the forefront of transfer pricing litigation as counsel in several significant transfer pricing cases including General Electric (TCC and FCA), GlaxoSmithKline Inc., (SCC), McKesson Canada Corporation (FCA), and most recently Cameco Corporation (TCC).

Al has been widely recognised as a leading Canadian tax litigation practitioner by third-party and peer review legal ranking directories, including Chambers Canada, Best Lawyers in Canada, Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada and the Tax Directors Handbook. He is the only tax litigator in Canada to receive the coveted “Star Individual” rating by Chambers Global and Chambers Canada. Al was also recognised by Best Lawyers as “Tax Lawyer of the Year” and by Best of the Best 2018: Expert Guides as “One of the World’s Top 30 Tax Practitioners”.

Al is a CPA, a graduate of Harvard Law School (LLM) and a member of the Bars in Alberta and Ontario.

Career

Harvard Law School, LL.M.

Dalhousie Law School, LL.B.

University of Alberta, B.Sc.

Bar Admission: Ontario, 1990 | Alberta, 1995

Professional Memberships

American Bar Association, Canadian Tax Foundation, Canadian Petroleum Tax Society, and The Advocates’ Society.