Chris Albinati is matrilineally Isinay (Bambangueño) and Tagalog (Pampangangueño) and patrilineally Irish and French-Canadian. Called to the Bars of British Columbia and Ontario in 2015, he is currently an Associate with Nahwegahbow Corbiere Genoodmagejig Barristers and Solicitors. He advocates exclusively for First Nations clients, practicing Aboriginal law and specializing in Aboriginal Title and Treaty rights litigation. He has appeared before all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada, the Ontario Court of Appeal and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
With a background in journalism and a lifelong passion for architecture and design, Chris approaches law and litigation through a unique blend of storytelling and structural analysis which provides a vehicle for deconstructing and understanding highly complex legal problems and communicating them in readily understandable language.
For the past 6 years, Chris’ practice has been primarily dedicated to his role as counsel for the Lake Huron Anishinaabek, the lead plaintiffs in the Robinson Treaties Annuities Litigation (Restoule et al v Canada et al), one of the most complex and ground-breaking Treaty rights litigation matters to be advanced in Canadian law which recently resulted in an historic and unprecedented settlement.
Chris received his JD from Thompson Rivers University in 2014 as part of the inaugural class, graduating in the top 5% of the class. He articled under Rod Holloway, QC with the Appeals Department of the Legal Services Society of BC where he was involved in numerous cases before the SCC, Federal Court of Appeal and BC Court of Appeal. In 2017, Chris successfully defended his LLM thesis titled, Indigenous Blockades and the Power to Speak the Law: From Settler Colonialism to Indigenous Resurgence at Osgoode. Chris then began working on a PhD dissertation at Osgoode which involved novel research into the assertion and performance of Indigenous laws and jurisdiction. In July of 2018 he withdrew from the PhD program in good standing to focus on the Restoule litigation full-time. In 2023/24, he was readmitted to the PhD program on a part-time basis to finish what he started.