Best Lawyers in Ontario, Canada for Labour and Employment Law
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...
Craig J. Stehr is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Labour and Employment Law. Craig J., who practices law in Ottawa, Ontario, has been recognized since 2020. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Craig J. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
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...
As a member of the firm since 2005 and as a partner since 2012, Laura practices exclusively in the area of employment law and labour relations on behalf of management. She advises and represents employers in a variety of industrial and commercial sectors including automotive, retail and logistics. She is also involved in collective bargaining and labour relations in the broader public sector. She handles wrongful dismissals, human rights, employment standards, grievances, health and safety an...
Julia Nanos is a labour and employment lawyer at Hicks Morley’s Toronto office. She advises employers on a wide range of labour and employment issues, with particular focus on labour disputes, grievance and interest arbitration, collective bargaining, human rights and accommodation, workplace investigations, wrongful dismissal litigation, employment contracts and employment standards. As an advocate, Julia regularly appears on behalf of employers before labour arbitrators, the Ontario H...
Claire Vachon assists clients in all areas of labour and employment law in both official languages. She is licensed to practice law in Québec and in Ontario. Claire is the former leader of Fasken’s Labour, Employment and Human Rights Practice Group. For close to two decades, Claire’s work has been focused on the education sector. Drawing on an extensive knowledge of this sector’s legal and political environment, Claire has become a trusted advisor to many Ontario scho...
David grew up in Toronto believing it was right to stand outside the fence, if that was the principled place to be. His mother, an early feminist, and his father, a progressive with Mennonite roots, encouraged him to use law as an instrument of social change. While at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law, David established Canada’s first legal aid clinic housed within a psychiatric hospital. “Law works, but only for those who can get through the door,” he observe...
Mark practises all areas of labour and employment law, representing both public and private sector employers before labour boards, arbitration boards, the courts and numerous employment-related administrative tribunals. Mark’s practice also involves providing proactive and strategic advice to employers in labour and employment matters. Mark has acted as lead counsel in many significant collective agreement arbitrations, wrongful dismissal matters and proceedings before both the Ontario ...
Elliot is a Partner in the firm’s Labour and Employment Group and the Head of its Sports Law Group. He practices employment law, administrative law and sports law. Elliot routinely acts on behalf of clients litigating discipline and discharge issues, breach of restrictive covenants, picketing injunctions, human rights, and wrongful dismissal. He also has experience in Judicial Review and administrative law proceedings. Elliot routinely advises clients on mergers, acquisitions and other ...
Ryan co-leads the firm’s construction labour law practice group. Ryan’s practice areas include labour relations and construction law. He has specific expertise in certification applications, defending against displacement/raid applications and certification-related unfair labour practice complaints, including applications for interim relief during organizing campaigns and applications for remedial certification. Ryan’s notable cases include acting on behalf of an organizing ...
Richard Charney is a senior partner in our Toronto office, where he practises management labour relations and employment law, a field in which he is widely recognized as an advocate on behalf of national and local clients. For more than 10 years, he was Norton Rose Fulbright's global head of employment and labour. Mr. Charney acts for numerous employers and employers’ organizations and appears at provincial and federal labour relations boards and the courts, including the Supreme Court ...
Alix Herber is a senior partner in the Labour, Employment & Human Rights group. She prides herself on providing high quality strategic advice to her clients in all areas of labour, employment and human rights matters. With over 20 years of experience, Alix is a strategic partner to her clients and provides practical solution oriented advice, all the while mitigating potential liability. Alix also has particular expertise in advising clients in the federal sector. In addition to providing ...
Ellen Low is the managing partner and principal lawyer of Ellen Low & Co. She began her career by articling at Gowlings in Ottawa before moving to Toronto. She then practiced as a partner with a boutique employment-law firm for nearly a decade. Ellen founded Ellen Low & Co. in 2018 to continue to provide a select group of individuals and small businesses with strategic advice, critical evaluations, and pragmatic advocacy on all facets of workplace law. Ellen regularly represents clien...
Nafisah Chowdhury is a lawyer practicing in commercial and employment litigation. She provides day-to-day strategic advice to businesses of all sizes on a broad range of matters, including navigating workplace issues, resolving shareholder disputes and addressing privacy law concerns. Over the course of her career with Miller Thomson, she has built a reputation as a trusted adviser who not only understands the business realities of her clients, but who can be relied upon to provide timely and...
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.