Martin H. Freedman, Q.C., was appointed a judge of the Manitoba Court of Appeal

Manitoba Court of Appeal

The Manitoba Court of Appeal is the highest Court of Appeal in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was established in 1906. It is located in the Old Law Courts building at 408 York Avenue in Winnipeg, the capital city of Manitoba...

 on July 16, 2002. He replaced Madam Justice Bonnie M. Helper, who resigned.

Mr. Justice Freedman received a Bachelor of Laws

Bachelor of Laws

The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...

 from the University of Manitoba

University of Manitoba

The University of Manitoba , in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is the largest university in the province of Manitoba. It is Manitoba's most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. It was founded in 1877, making it Western Canada’s first university. It placed...

 in 1963 and won the Gold Medal in Law from both the University of Manitoba and the Law Society of Manitoba

Law Society of Manitoba

The Law Society of Manitoba is the self-governing body for lawyers in Manitoba, Canada. Its mandate is to regulate the legal profession.To practice law in the Province of Manitoba, a person must be a member of the Law Society of Manitoba. The Law Society of Manitoba sets its own admission...

. At the time of his appointment, he was a partner with the Winnipeg

Winnipeg

Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...

 law firm of Aikins MacAulay & Thorvaldson. He had served as the firm's managing partner from 1991 until 2001. Throughout his career, he acquired a vast expertise in corporate-commercial law and arbitration-mediation matters. In recent years, Mr. Justice Freedman had concentrated his practice on arbitration

Arbitration

Arbitration, a form of alternative dispute resolution , is a legal technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts, where the parties to a dispute refer it to one or more persons , by whose decision they agree to be bound...

, especially in labour-related disputes in different jurisdictions throughout Canada.

Over the course of his legal career, Mr. Justice Freedman was very active in a wide range of professional organizations, including having served as President (1978–1979) and Bencher (1971–1979) of the Law Society of Manitoba and as a Director of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada

Federation of Law Societies of Canada

The Federation of Canadian Law Societies is the national coordinating body of Canada's 14 law societies. It was formed in 1972 to coordinate policies of provincial and territorial law societies.-Reforms:...

 (1981–1983). For 20 years, he was a lecturer at the Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba and a frequent presenter at numerous professional and continuing legal education seminars. Mr. Justice Freedman was appointed Queen's Counsel

Queen's Counsel

Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...

 in 1975.

His father, Samuel Freedman

Samuel Freedman

Samuel Freedman, OC, QC , was a lawyer, judge, and Chief Justice of the Province of Manitoba .-Early life:Born on April 16, 1908, to Nathan and Ada Freedman in Zhytomyr, Russian Empire , Freedman moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada when he was three years old...

, also served as a judge of the Manitoba Court of Appeal (1960–1983).