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Will Moreira, K.C., FCIArb

Partner

Queen’s Marque
600-1741 Lower Water Street
Halifax, N.S.
B3J 0J2

+1.902.420.3346

+1.902.420.1417

wmoreira@stewartmckelvey.com

Language(s) spoken: English

Bar Admission(s): Nova Scotia, 1978

Legal Assistant(s): Heidi Butler

Will works with ship owners, marine insurers, designers and builders (marine and non-marine), energy firms, ship suppliers and marine lenders. His broad experience in maritime law has included:

  • Acting as counsel in complex domestic and international arbitrations in the marine sector.
  • Acting as counsel in complex non-marine commercial litigation, often involving the construction, banking, insurance and manufacturing industries.
  • Acting for ship owners and/or licence holders in fisheries, pollutions and similar marine regulatory prosecutions.
  • Acting for ship owners, insurers, mortgagees and creditors in arrests, releases, sales, seizures, bails and settlements for ships.

Practice Areas

Environmental & Natural Resources

Litigation & Alternative Dispute Resolution

Maritime & Transportation

Education & Career

Education

Dalhousie University, LL.B., 1977
Saint Mary’s University, B.B., 1974

Activities

Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
Titulary member, Comité Maritime International
Member, International Association of Defense Counsel
President, Canadian Maritime Law Association, 2005-2007

Accolades

Chambers and Partners Canada 2025 Transportation: Shipping – Nationwide – Canada, Senior Statespeople
Chambers and Partners Canada 2022-2024 Transportation: Shipping – Nationwide – Canada, Band 1 lawyer
Benchmark Canada, local litigation star (Shipping), 2021
Best Lawyers 2014, 2019, 2021 & 2024 Maritime Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Halifax
King’s Counsel, 1995
Benchmark Canada, local litigation star (Shipping), 2022
Benchmark Canada, local litigation star (Maritime), 2017-2020
Best Lawyers: Alternative Dispute Resolution, 2012-2025
Best Lawyers: Maritime Law, 2006, 2008-2025
Who’s Who Legal: Global 2023 – 2024 (Transport – Shipping)
Who’s Who Legal: Canada 2012, 2014-2016 – 2024 (Transport – Shipping)
Chambers and Partners, Transportation: Shipping – Canada, Band 1 lawyer
Lexpert rating: Shipping and Maritime Law, 2008 – 2024
Martindale-Hubbell rating: AV Preeminent® (highest peer rating)

Publications

Author and presenter, Update on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims in Canada (Canadian Maritime Law Association, Halifax, 2016)

Co-editor and contributing author, Chircop, Moreira, Gold and Kindred, Canadian Maritime Law, 2nd Ed (Essentials of Canadian Law, Irwin Law, Toronto: 2016)

A Primer in Arbitration (Canadian Bar Association, Halifax, 2015)

Pollution Liability Risks and Insurance Considerations in the Northwest Passage (with Leanne O’Loughlin, Active Communications Europe Sixth Arctic Shipping Summit, Montreal, QC, 2015)

Arrest of Maritime Property – Mechanics and Emergencies (Federal Court of Canada maritime law seminar, Ottawa, 2011)

Developments in the World of Marine Insurance (Canadian Maritime Law Association, Montreal, 2009)

Marine Risk Allocations Among Owners, Charterers and Others (Classification Societies): A Canadian Comment (Tulane University Admiralty Law Institute, New Orleans, LA, 2007)

Potential for Performance-Based Regulation in the Canadian Offshore Oil and Gas Industry (with Robert G. Grant, QC and David G. Henley – Canadian Petroleum Law Foundation, Jasper, AB, 2005)

Civil Liability for Administrative Malfeasance – Recent Canadian Experience (China Lawyers’ Maritime Forum, Shanghai, 2005)

Love Boat Meets Law and Order: Admiralty Law Issues in the Cruise Industry (IADC, Maui, HI, 2003 and Canadian Bar Association, Saint John, NB, 2005)

Liability for Marine Pollution from Offshore Operations (with Cecily Y. Strickland and David G. Henley – Canadian Petroleum Law Foundation, St. John’s, NL, 2003)

Civility, Ethics and Professionalism in Civil Advocacy (Canadian Bar Association, Halifax, 2003)

Contributing author, Gold et al, Maritime Law (Essentials of Canadian Law, 2003)

Judicial Review of Fisheries Access Decisions: What the Court can Expect in the Post-Marshall World (Federal Court of Canada maritime law seminar, Ottawa, 2002)

Ports of Refuge: The Perspective of P&I, Insurers and Owners (Company of Master Mariners of Canada, Dartmouth, 2001)

Arrest of Ships in Canada: Past, Present and Future (Federal Court of Canada maritime law seminar, Ottawa, 2000)

The United Nations Fishing Agreement: A Canadian Perspective [1999] International Trade Law Quarterly 232

Setting and Enforcing Standards for Maritime Industry (New Directions in Maritime Law, Halifax, 1995)

 
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