Best Lawyers in Ontario, Canada for Labour and Employment Law
Denise Cooney is a top lawyer recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Administrative and Public Law, Health Care Law, Labour and Employment Law and Trusts and Estates. Denise is a thoughtful and practical advocate who is a trusted advisor to her clients. She has both a deep knowledge of the law and an understanding of the interpersonal dynamics underlying disputes. Denise acts for clients in complex commercial, estates, and employment disputes, as well as administrative law and ...
Karen Jones is a top lawyer recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Health Care Law and Labour and Employment Law. A former registered nurse, Karen brings a rich perspective to her legal practice, including valuable insights on health care as it pertains to professional discipline, medical negligence and health law. Before becoming a lawyer, Karen travelled widely and worked in a variety of fields, from construction to investigations to politics and community activism. As counse...
Melissa Roth is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Labour and Employment Law. Melissa, who practices law in Kitchener, Ontario, has been recognized since 2023. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Melissa is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Michael Kennedy is a labour and employment lawyer in Hicks Morley’s Toronto office. Michael is counsel to a wide variety of broader public sector employers such as universities and municipalities and large employers in the private sector. Michael is the chair of the firm’s University Practice Group and is the former chair of the Municipal Practice Group. He is a trusted advisor to organizations across the country. Michael appears as counsel in labour and employment disputes involv...
Mark Rowlinson advances the interests of workers in his international law, trade law and labour law practice. He also advocates in the area of climate and the environment. Mark joined the firm after a 26-year career with one of Canada’s largest private sector trade unions. He has decades of experience in litigating a wide variety of labour law cases before labour boards, arbitrators and in the courts across Canada. He has also litigated labour cases under Canada’s trade agreements...
Casey has been a partner with the firm since 2015. She joined the firm in 2011 as an associate, and for five years before that, she held an in-house counsel role with a large Ontario municipality. Casey practises in all areas of labour and employment law. She acts for a wide variety of union and non-union clients in both the public and private sectors. Casey's practice focuses on public sector work, where she represents a number of municipalities, school boards, hospitals, and other broader p...
John Monger is a top lawyer recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Administrative and Public Law and Labour and Employment Law. John is a labour lawyer focused on representing the interests of workers and unions. He has successfully navigated countless cases through mediation and arbitration, and has built a reputation for delivering strategic, sensible and resolute representation to his clients. John regularly speaks at advocacy training programs and educational seminars. He h...
Vince Panetta is an experienced labour and employment lawyer in Hicks Morley’s Kingston office. He advises a range of employers in the public and private sectors on all matters of employment law, labour relations, privacy and human rights. Vince appears before a variety of adjudicators and tribunals including grievance arbitrators, the Ontario Labour Relations Board and the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. In addition, Vince often advises and acts for clients engaged in collective barg...
Ron Lebi is the firm’s Director of Research and Legal Education and is an experienced labour lawyer and administrative law practitioner. He is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School and was called to Bar in 1984. Prior to joining Koskie Minsky, Ron acted for many years as Senior Solicitor at the Ontario Labour Relations Board. In that capacity, he provided legal counsel and policy advice to adjudicators and staff on a wide range of issues related to more than a dozen statutes administere...
Ted Kovacs is an experienced labour and employment lawyer in Hicks Morley’s Waterloo office. He regularly advises employers in all matters of employment and labour law, both in unionized and non-unionized workplaces. Ted provides strategic advice including assisting employers in the start-up of new operations and restructuring of current operations. His practice includes Ontario Labour Relations Board matters (with a particular emphasis on union organizing issues), collective agreement ...
Lisa Goodfellow is a trusted adviser to employers on a wide range of employment and labour relations matters, including executive compensations and contracts, wrongful dismissal actions, human rights, workplace investigations, employment standards, certification applications, collective bargaining, unfair labour practice complaints, grievance arbitrations, injunctions, and protection of proprietary information. Lisa guides her clients through complex and ever-changing labour and employment la...
Andrew Bratt is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Labour and Employment Law. Andrew, who practices law in Toronto, Ontario, has been recognized since 2023. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Andrew is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Jodi Martin is a top lawyer recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Administrative and Public Law and Labour and Employment Law. Jodi's practice focuses on union-side labour law, human rights, public and administrative law, and appellate advocacy. She regularly acts in matters before administrative tribunals and has appeared before every level of court in Ontario and at the Supreme Court of Canada. Jodi acts for unions and associations in grievance and interest arbitrations, bef...
Michelle MacGillivray is a labour and employment lawyer who takes a focused, strategic, and practical approach to solving workplace problems. Michelle works to find the most efficient way to resolve issues, or to support employers through major initiatives, including sale and acquisition of businesses, reductions in force, and policy changes. She prides herself on providing proactive, timely, and high-quality advice to her clients to help them manage the litigation and reputational risks that...
Leanne Fisher is a labour and employment lawyer in Hicks Morley’s Ottawa office. Leanne advises employers in the public and private sectors on a wide range of matters including collective bargaining negotiations, rights arbitrations, human rights issues, wrongful dismissal matters, harassment and whistle-blowing complaints and AODA compliance issues. Leanne appears as counsel before various administrative tribunals including the Human Rights Tribunal, the Ontario Labour Relations Board ...
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.