Fred Kaufman
Fred Kaufman was a Canadian justice, lawyer, and arbitrator.
Life and career
Fred Kaufman was born on May 7, 1924 in Vienna. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Bishop's University and then spent six years as a reporter for the Montreal Star. He graduated from the McGill [University Faculty of Law] in 1954, where he was the second ever editor-in-chief of the McGill Law Journal.Following law school, Kaufman founded the law firm Kaufman, Yarosky & Fish. He was appointed to the Québec Court of Appeal in 1973, and became acting Chief Justice of Quebec from 1990 to 1991 when he retired. In 2005 he published the memoir Searching for Justice: An Autobiography.
After retirement as a judge, he was appointed by the Ontario government to preside over an inquiry into the wrongful murder conviction of Guy Paul Morin in 1997-98. Later in 2002-04, he presided for the Government of Canada over an inquiry into the murder trial of Steven Truscott, which led to Truscott's conviction being overturned by the Ontario Court of Appeal.
Kaufman died on December 27, 2023, at the age of 99 in Toronto.