Laurie H. Pawlitza

Laurie is a partner in our Family Law Group, acting in disputes involving high incomes and significant property. Her practice also includes mediation and arbitration. She appears in Courts at both the trial and appellate levels. Between 2010 and 2012, Laurie was elected as the 63rd Treasurer (President) of The Law Society of Upper Canada, the regulator governing all lawyers and paralegals in Ontario. She was only the third woman since the Law Society was founded in 1797 to hold this office. Throughout her time as an elected bencher (director) of the Law Society of Upper Canada (2003-2012), Laurie co-chaired the Justicia Project, aimed at advancing women lawyers within the profession, a project that has now been adopted by a number of other provincial law societies.Currently, Laurie chairs the Federation of Law Societies of Canada Canadian Common Law Program Approval Committee, which approves all common law degree programs in Canada and all new common law programs in Canada. She is also Ontario’s representative to the Federation of Law Societies of Canada Council. Most recently, Laurie was elected to the Council of the Commonwealth Lawyers’ Association, based in London, U.K. Laurie was named in the "Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers in Canada" in 2012 and also received an Honourary Doctorate from the Law Society of Upper Canada in the same year for her work, in particular on the Justicia Project.