Robert
J.
Buchan
Counsel
Robert Buchan practices almost exclusively in the area of communications law, with a particular emphasis on broadcasting. In 1980 he co-founded the Ottawa based communications law firm of Johnston & Buchan LLP with Christopher Johnston, and that 12 lawyer firm merged with Fasken Martineau in April 2007.
For the past three decades Robert Buchan has been the principal outside regulatory counsel to Canada's largest cable television distributor. He has been an active participant since 1980 in nearly every major broadcasting policy hearing before the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), and has acted as counsel before the Commission in many major proceedings involving transfers of ownership and control, as well as in competitive licensing hearings.
Robert Buchan has also appeared as counsel on several occasions before the Copyright Board of Canada, representing Canada's commercial radio broadcasters and one of its two satellite radio service providers.
He has also advised some of the largest U.S. broadcasting companies with respect to a broad range of broadcasting regulatory issues, including the regulatory regime relating to authorization of the distribution of non-Canadian programming services in Canada.
The 2007 version of Chambers Global – The World's Leading Lawyers for Business - identified Robert Buchan's principal strengths as "… his fantastic grasp of the overreaching issues in the broadcasting arena, his accurate judgment as to what are the central issues on files, and his terrific ability to focus in on key policy issues".
Robert has been ranked by Chambers Global, and by Lexpert, for each of the past five years in the top grouping of communications lawyers in Canada.
Robert has been actively involved throughout his career in continuing legal education in respect of issues of communications law and policy. For the past thirty years, he has Co-Chaired the biennial Law Society of Upper Canada conference entitled, "New Developments in Communications Law and Policy". It is the largest and most successful continuing legal education conference in Canada.
Selected Experience
News
Presentations
Membership/Affiliations
- Trustee, Oriel College, University of Oxford
- Past President, Rideau Club, Ottawa
Community Involvement
- Past President, Five Lakes Fishing Club
- Past Chairman, Hospice at May Court, Ottawa
Honours and Awards
- Recognized for each of the last ten years by Chambers Global Guide as a leading Practitioner in Communications Law
- Recognized by Best Lawyers in Canada 2011 as a leading practitioner in Communications Law
- Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2010, 2011: consistently recommended, Telecommunications
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