Peter Sahlas

Peter Sahlas is an Attorney and Counsellor at Law in the State of New York, and a Foreign Legal Consultant of the Quebec Bar. He specializes in the resolution of complex international disputes involving public authorities in emerging markets. He builds and manages litigation teams and supervises their work in jurisdictions across Europe and North America, and handles government relations and public advocacy on behalf of his clients. He also designs and implements international advisory projects on law reform in countries experiencing major political transition and marked by ongoing political risk and economic instability.

For over a decade, he served the Office of the President of the Russian Federation as an adviser and coordinator of international involvement in Russian legislative reform. He has a substantial pro bono practice in human rights law and frequently engages with academic experts in his fields of expertise.

He holds a degree in international relations from the University of Toronto and two degrees in law from McGill University. In 1989 he received the Terry Fox Humanitarian Award, a national award granted in Canada in recognition of ideals and qualities of citizenship and humanitarianism.

From 2002 to 2005 he was the inaugural Executive Programme Director of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation. He has been a Regular Member since November 2008. On 27 February 2017, he became a director of the Foundation elected by the members representing the Estate of the Late Right Honourable Pierre Elliott Trudeau.