Philip Riddell was called to the Bar in British Columbia in 1989. He was appointed as Queen's
Counsel in 2018.
Phil graduated UBC in 1988 with a Bachelor of Law and a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours)
Degrees.
For the last 30 years he has engaged in the practice of law, and in the early part of his career he
dealt with civil litigation, family law and criminal law matters. In 1993 he accepted a position
with Westminster Community Legal Services Society and acted as a public defender for
approximately 2 ½ years. In 1995 he returned to private practice as a sole practitioner in the
Lower Mainland.
For the past 2 decades his practice has been restricted to the practice of criminal law. This
practice has involved principally the defence of individuals charged with criminal and regulatory
offences. The range of cases defended range from murder, sexual assault, possession and
trafficking of controlled substances, weapons offences, and all variety of driving offences
including defences in fatalities and serious injury. Phil believes that there are unintended
consequences which can arise from being charged with criminal offences. This has led him to
be involved in administrative law cases including taking judicial reviews against decisions of the
Superintendent of Motor Vehicles and as against other administrative bodies. He has also been
involved in dealing with professional regulators for clients who have been charged with criminal
offences.
In 2011 he was elected as a Bencher, one of the 25 lawyers elected by the lawyers of the
Province of British Columbia, to govern the functioning of the
Law Society of British Columbia.
He was elected by the lawyers of the County of Westminster as a Bencher for the County in
2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. As of the end of 2019, Phil became a
Life Bencher of the Law
Society of British Columbia, given that he has served the maximum number of terms that a
lawyer can serve as a Bencher. While a Bencher of the Law Society Phil was involved in a
number of committees including the Discipline Committee, the Credentials Committee, the
Governance Committee, the Access to Legal Services Committee, the Rule of Law Committee,
and several other committees. He has also acted as the Chair of Hearing Panels in which issues
such as whether a person should be admitted to the Law Society of British Columbia and
determine if a lawyer has professionally mis-conducted himself and if so what sanctions should
be imposed.
He accepted an appointment by the Law Society of British Columbia Phil became a member of
the Legal Services Society of British Columbia (Legal Aid BC) Board. He served on that Board as
well as the Stakeholders Engagement Committee and theFinance Committee.
He serves as a director of
The Legal Services Society of BC (Legal Aid BC) as of July 2021. He had previously served as a director in 2017-18.
Phil has also served the legal community in a variety of other ways including being elected by
the lawyers of Westminster County to the Provincial Council of the B.C. Branch of the Canadian
Bar Association, serving on the Advisory Committee to Judicial Council and the President of the
New Westminster Bar Association.
Phil has taught courses through the Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia, Continuing
Legal Education Society of British Columbia to help train lawyers with respect to developing
areas of the law. He has been invited to and has taught members of the RCMP through their
various internal training programs dealing with issues such as search warrants. He has been
involved in the Professional Legal Training Course through the Law Society of British Columbia
teaching articled students courses dealing with ethics and cross-examination. He has also been
involved in teaching through the British Columbia Institute of Technology students involved in
the Forensic Science program about the medical aspects of alcohol.
Phil has been involved in a number of community based volunteer activities including a 10 year
involvement with a local community center sitting on the Board and also acting as the board
solicitor, volunteering for minor sports, and engaging in various pro bono programs through the
years.
