Max Faille

Max Faille is Managing Partner of the Vancouver office of Cochrane Sinclair LLP, where he practices Indigenous law and constitutional litigation. Before joining Cochrane Sinclair, Max practiced Indigenous and constitutional law for 25 years at a major Canadian law firm, where he served as National Leader for Aboriginal Law for almost a decade. Since 2021, he has been an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of British Columbia’s Peter A. Allard School of Law, teaching First Nation Taxation.

Max represents leading Indigenous governments, political and social organizations, entrepreneurs and individuals on Aboriginal and treaty rights matters, self-government & governance, First Nation taxation, and Indigenous economic development. He also represents several provincial and territorial governments and legislative bodies (including the Senate of Canada), as well as private parties, in constitutional litigation matters.

His appellate advocacy includes regular appearances before superior courts, Courts of Appeal across Canada, and the Supreme Court of Canada. Notably, he was counsel to the Assembly of First Nations in the landmark Bastien case, the leading Supreme Court decision on First Nation taxation. He acted as legal advisor to the Whitecap Dakota Nation during the negotiation of the recent Whitecap Dakota Self-Government Treaty, the first stand-alone, treaty-protected self-government agreement in Canada.

Max was named Benchmark Canada’s “Aboriginal Law Litigator of the Year” in 2016 and received the Northwest Territory Premier’s Award for Indigenous Partnership in 2020. For nine consecutive years, Chambers Canada has ranked him as a leading lawyer in representing Indigenous Peoples, currently holding a Tier 1 ranking. He is also regularly recognized in other legal directories, including Benchmark Canada, the Canadian Legal Lexpert® Directory, The Best Lawyers™ in Canada, and The Legal 500 Canada. Max practices law in both English and French.

Education

• University of Ottawa, LL.B (summa cum laude) 1996

Leadership, Membership and Achievements

• Representation of Indigenous Peoples, Tier 1, Chambers Canada
• Lexpert Best Lawyers in Canada
• Law Society of British Columbia
• Law Society of the Northwest Territories
• Law Society of Yukon
• Law Society of Ontario