Justice Scanlan was appointed to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia in 1993 and has also served as Deputy Judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice since 2002. He is Chair of both the Nova Scotia Supreme Court Data Base Committee and the Court's Semi-Annual Education Conference Committee. Justice Scanlan is a regular presenter at education conferences including, Nova Scotia Supreme Court, NJI, CBA, N. S. Bar Society and ICJ; a member of the Sedona ConferenceŽ Working Group 7, "Sedona Canada," and served on the Editorial Board of The Sedona Canada Principles.