Board of Directors

James M. Parks, President

James M. Parks, counsel to the Toronto law firm Gardiner Roberts LLP, has practiced in the fields of taxation, trusts and estates, and charity law since 1974.

Mr. Parks received his B.Sc. from the University of Toronto in 1968 and his LL.B. from Queen’s University in 1971. He received a fellowship from the federal Department of Justice for post-graduate studies at the University of Ottawa, from which he received a certificate in legislative drafting in 1972.

Mr. Parks is a former instructor in the Taxation Section of the Bar Admission Course at the Law Society of Ontario and is currently a member of the Taxation Law, Charity and Not-for-Profit Law and Trusts and Estates Sections of the Ontario Bar Association, the International Fiscal Association, the Canadian Tax Foundation, the International Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, the Estate Planning Council of Toronto, the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners and a number of other professional and business organizations.

He is a former Chair of the Charity and Not-for-Profit Law Section of the OBA, a former Chair of the National Charities and Not-for-Profit Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association and a director of several other registered charities. Mr. Parks received the AMS/John Hodgson Award from the Charity and Not-for-Profit Law Section of the OBA in recognition of his leadership, development of the law and service in the charitable sector.

Mr. Parks advises charities, donors and not-for-profit organizations that are not charities. He has spoken and written extensively on matters relating to taxation, estate planning and other non-profit and charitable giving issues.

Mr. Parks has been consistently recognized by Lexpert as one of Canada’s leading lawyers in charity law and by Best Lawyers in Canada as one of the best lawyers in Canada practicing in the area of trusts and estate law.