Marion Elizabeth Sandilands

At the convergence of law, policy and politics, Marion can be found advising, advocating and navigating. She provides timely, thoughtful, and on-point advice, and the highest quality advocacy in any forum.

Marion acts for civil society organizations, legislative officers, industry associations, parliamentarians, businesses, and Indigenous clients. She serves clients in both English and French.

Working at the intersection of law, policy and politics, Marion is equally comfortable advocating for clients in the courtroom, conference room, or Parliamentary committee. Based in Ottawa, she has a varied national practice. She has appeared before the Federal Court, four superior courts (Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nunavut), three courts of appeal (Quebec, New Brunswick, and the Federal Court of Appeal) and the Supreme Court of Canada. She has also appeared before committees of the House of Commons, Senate, and Quebec’s National Assembly.

Marion is knowledgeable in constitutional law, administrative law, and language rights. She publishes and frequently speaks on these topics. She currently teaches Public and Constitutional Law at the University of Ottawa, and has taught the Legislative Process at McGill’s Faculty of Law. She is a part-time member of the Nunavut Human Rights Tribunal.

Marion joined Conway in 2019 after serving as Counsel to the Chief Justice of the Federal Court. She also previously served as a law clerk at the Supreme Court of Canada and the Federal Court.

Prior to her career in law, Marion worked in the field of international development where she helped manage overseas projects ranging from rural livelihoods to economic research. This work took her to Kenya, Vietnam, Senegal, and Mexico.