Biography
Max Faille is a partner in the Vancouver office of Cochrane Saxberg LLP, where he practises Indigenous law and constitutional litigation.
Prior to joining Cochrane Saxberg LLP, Max practiced Indigenous and constitutional law in Ottawa and Vancouver at a major Canadian law firm for 25 years, where he acted as National Leader for Aboriginal Law for almost a decade.
Since 2021, he has been Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of British Columbia Peter A. Allard School of Law, where he teaches First Nation Taxation.
Max represents leading Indigenous governments, political and social organizations, businesses, entrepreneurs, and professional athletes on matters of Aboriginal and treaty rights, First Nation taxation, self-government, governance and Indigenous economic development. He also has represented several provincial and territorial governments and legislative bodies (including the Canadian Senate), as well as private businesses, in constitutional litigation matters.
His appellate advocacy includes regular appearances before the superior courts and the Courts of Appeal across Canada, as well as in the Supreme Court of Canada. He was counsel to the Assembly of First Nations in the landmark Bastien case, the current leading case in regard to First Nation taxation.
He was legal advisor to the Whitecap Dakota Nation in its negotiation of the landmark Whitecap Dakota Self-Government Treaty that came into effect on September 1, 2023 — the first stand-alone, treaty-protected self-government agreement in Canada.
In 2016, Max was named Benchmark Canada’s “Aboriginal Law Litigator of the Year,” and received the Northwest Territory Premier’s Award for Indigenous Partnership in 2020.
He has been ranked for 9 consecutive years by the prestigious Chambers Canada annual legal ranking as a leading lawyer in representing Indigenous Peoples, and is one of only five lawyers in that ranking’s highest category. He is regularly recognized in several other legal rankings, including Benchmark Canada, Canadian Legal Lexpert® Directory, The Best Lawyers™ in Canada and the Legal 500 Canada.
Fully bilingual, Max practices law in English and French and is conversant in Spanish and Italian.
Education
University of Ottawa, LL.B (summa cum laude) 1996
Memberships
- Law Society of British Columbia
- Law Society of the Northwest Territories
- Law Society of Yukon
- Law Society of Ontario