Allan Wachowich

Colonel, The Honourable Allan H.J. Wachowich B.A., LL.B. (born March 8, 1935 in Edmonton, Alberta) is the former Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta.

Born Allan Harvey Joseph Wachowich to Polish parents Philip and Nancy. His family was one of the first five Polish families to immigrate to Alberta in 1944, setting down in Opal, Alberta, but moving to Edmonton when Allan was nine years old. His parents had eight children of which Allan was the seventh. He has an older brother and six sisters.

Wachowich attended St. Joseph's High School, played for the basketball team, and was elected president of his graduating class. A Catholic, Wachowich served as an altar boy at St. Joseph's Basilica and originally intended to become a priest.

Wachowich received his Bachelor of Arts in 1957 and his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1958, both from the University of Alberta. He was called to Alberta Bar in 1959, the Northwest Territories Bar in 1963, and the Yukon Bar in 1964. He founded the firm of Kosowan, Wachowich and was a partner there from 1959 until his first judicial appointment in 1974.

He was appointed a Judge of the District Court of Alberta in 1974 by the Liberal government of Pierre Trudeau and then a Judge of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta when the district and supreme courts merged in 1979. He was appointed Associate Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench in 1993 and Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench on January 24, 2001, by Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, following the retirement of Chief Justice W. Kenneth Moore, QC. He has admitted over 600 lawyers to the Alberta Bar, a record.

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