Best Lawyers Near You in Ottawa, Ontario for Labour and Employment Law
J.D. Sharp is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Labour and Employment Law. J.D., who practices law in Ottawa, Ontario, has been recognized since 2024. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which J.D. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
John Peters is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Labour and Employment Law. John, who practices law in Ottawa, Ontario, has been recognized since 2021. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which John is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Melanie Polowin is a partner in Gowlings' Ottawa office, practising in the Employment and Labour Law National Practice Group. Melanie advises Canadian and international employers, from start-ups to well established companies, on how to effectively manage all aspects of their employment relationships, from recruitment and hiring to termination. Melanie also assists businesses and investors with the employment aspects of corporate life-cycle events, including starting up, financing, mergers and...
Nigel McKechnie is a fully bilingual labour and employment lawyer practising out of Hicks Morley’s Ottawa office. He is experienced in providing advice and litigating matters before the courts and administrative tribunals. Nigel is a responsive and strong advocate for clients. He has appeared as lead counsel before the Ontario Labour Relations Board, the Canadian Industrial Relations Board, the Federal Court, the Ontario Superior Court and, most recently, the Court of Appeal for Ontario...
Lynn practises in all aspects of labour and employment and human rights law, on behalf of management. After graduating from the University of Toronto Law School (JD, 1975), he practised for 11 years with a national law firm, before co-founding Emond Harnden in 1987. His practice encompasses the representation of both public and private sector clients with a focus on education, healthcare and technology. Lynn has managed a number of landmark cases in the areas of employee absenteeism, employee...
A strong defender of the view that a messy desk is a sign of creative genius, Colleen Bauman enjoys grappling with legal questions that don’t have an easy answer. Clients and colleagues look to Colleen when facing complex or novel constitutional, labour, or human rights issues. In her down to earth style, Colleen guides them with thoughtful advice that is both practical and tactical. Colleen’s clients include unions, professional associations, employees, other lawyers and even jud...
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.
Boris Subara is a Partner in Fasken’s Ottawa office and is a member of the firm’s Labour, Employment & Human Rights group. He practices in all areas of labour and employment law and provides practical advice and representation to employers and management on a wide range of issues that arise during the course of the employment relationship. Among other things, Boris advises both provincially and federally regulated employers with respect to terminations, human rights issues, th...
A member of the Ontario and Quebec bars, Sébastien Lorquet is a lawyer, strategist and negotiator with more than 20 years experience assisting employers with their most challenging human resources issues. He assists the firm's clients with a wide range of issues relating to labour relations, grievance arbitration, union certification, strikes, dismissals, corporate policies, personnel management, restructuring, human rights and labour standards. Sébastien has extensive experienc...
Elisa Scali is a partner based in the Ottawa office of Gowling WLG. With over 18 years of experience, Elisa is highly regarded for her practical advice in the area of employment and labour law, and has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in Canada for her work. Elisa provides advice to clients regarding all aspects of employment law, including wrongful dismissal, human rights, absenteeism and disability matters, employee benefits, and privacy issues. She also assists employers in reviewing or...
Peter Engelmann is a labour and human rights lawyer in Goldblatt Partners' Ottawa office. He was a founding partner of Engelmann Gottheil, a firm that merged its practice with Sack Goldblatt Mitchell - now Goldblatt Partners - in 2005. Peter’s practice focuses on all aspects of labour law, human rights, pay and employment equity law and Charter litigation. He has appeared at all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada, and appears regularly before arbitrators, human righ...
Kyle joined Soloway Wright as a litigation lawyer in 2015 after previously completing his articles with the firm. Kyle is a member of the Employment, Labour & Public Law , and Commercial Litigation practice groups. Kyle has appeared before all levels of court in Ontario, including the Ontario Court of Appeal, the Ontario Divisional Court, the Superior Court of Justice and the Small Claims Court, as well as in the Federal Court. Kyle has also represented clients before several administrati...
Patrick Twagirayezu is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Labour and Employment Law. Patrick, who practices law in Ottawa, Ontario, has been recognized since 2026. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Patrick is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
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.