Calgary appointees’ experience spanned arbitration, employment, commercial and family law
Sean Fraser – Canada’s justice minister, attorney general, and minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency – has announced the appointments of Jason L. Wilkins and Peter D. Banks as justices of the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta in Calgary.
According to the federal justice department’s news release, Wilkins and Banks are both Calgary-based partners of law firms. Wilkins, who worked at Dunphy Best Blocksom LLP, replaced Justice Glen H. Poelman in Calgary, who elected to be a supernumerary judge as of Aug. 6, 2025.
Meanwhile, coming from Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Banks took the place of Justice Richard A. Neufeld in Calgary, who resigned effective Oct. 13, 2025.
“I wish Justices Wilkins and Banks every success as they take on their new roles,” Fraser said in the media release. “I am confident they will serve the people of Alberta well as members of the Court of King's Bench of Alberta.”
Canada’s justice department provided more information regarding the two new judicial appointees.
Jason Wilkins
Wilkins articled at Dunphy Best Blocksom, then became a partner in 2010 and managing partner in 2014. At the full-service firm, he garnered experience across various legal areas, with an emphasis on employment and family law. He eventually focused on mediation and arbitration.
He acted as commission counsel to a provincial inquiry. He also spoke at seminars hosted by the Legal Education Society of Alberta and the Canadian Bar Association (CBA), as well as volunteered with Calgary Legal Guidance.
Wilkins received a King’s Counsel designation in 2024 and admission to the Alberta bar in 2002. From the University of Alberta, he obtained his law degree in 2001 and his BA in 1995. He was born in Mayerthorpe, Alberta.
Peter Banks
Banks co-chaired BLG Calgary’s appellate practice group. He was also a volunteer for BLG Reads to Kids and a principal to numerous articling students. Before joining BLG, he worked at Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP in Edmonton. He articled at the firm and then became a partner in 2011.
He has handled matters involving commercial and construction litigation, arbitration, constitutional law, and appellate advocacy. He has appeared before all of Alberta’s court levels and the Supreme Court of Canada. He clerked for Justice John C. Major of the Supreme Court of Canada from 2004–05.
Banks chaired The Advocates’ Society construction law practice group and the CBA civil litigation section for South Alberta. He also co-chaired the CBA Inns of Court committee.
He became a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in 2025 and joined the Alberta bar in 2003. He has also been an honourary overseas member of the Commercial Bar Association of England and Wales.
Banks earned a BCL with distinction from the University of Oxford. From the University of Alberta, he received his LLB with distinction in 2002 and the Horace Harvey Gold Medal in Law.
The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory has listed him as repeatedly recommended in commercial arbitration and consistently recommended in construction law. He also appeared in the 2025 Lexpert Special Edition on Canada’s Leading Infrastructure Lawyers.
