Of Counsel

Amy Slotek "The provision of human dignity" Legal Aid Ontario staff lawyer and Sounds Times project lead, Amy Slotek, discusses her lengthy history in fighting for human rights, her time spent working with an NGO in Turkey, her passion for equal justice, the impact poverty has on a society, and the fragility of the Rule [...]

Edward Prutschi "We are the defenders of the wall" Criminal defence lawyer Edward Prutschi discusses fulfilling his lifelong dream of becoming a criminal defence lawyer, the evolution of practice, the controversy of Bill C-5 and compelled judicial education , and the interplay between spirituality and advocacy. A fascinating episode with a fascinating lawyer. SPONSORED MESSAGE: This [...]

Kaveh Shahrooz' remarkable journey starts at the age of 8 with the execution of his uncle in Iran. This, along with his legal education at Harvard Law, set the scene for what propelled Kaveh into becoming a staunch advocate for the benefits of liberal democratic values and the freedom of speech and thought that underpins [...]

Kerri Froc "The academic dialogue" After a bit of a hiatus, Of Counsel reboots in 2020 with a three-part mini series profiling the University Faculty of Law. In this episode, we interview Prof. Kerri Froc. Kerri is an accomplished academic in areas of women's constitutional rights, equality and social and economic rights, access to justice [...]

Nicole O'Byrne "The pillars of Canadian Society" After a bit of a hiatus, Of Counsel reboots in 2020 with a three-part mini series profiling the University Faculty of Law. In this episode, we interview UNB Prof. Nicole O'Byrne where we discusses Aboriginal law, the Indian Act, and our relations with Indigenous People in Canada and [...]

Micheal Marin "The red ink is a good sign" After a bit of a hiatus, Of Counsel reboots in 2020 with a three-part mini series profiling the University Faculty of Law. In this episode, we interview UNB Associate Dean Micheal Marin. After being a high-performing law student, Micheal took on a Wall St. position in [...]

Steven Skurka is one of Canada's most well known criminal defence lawyers. In this episode, he discusses the importance of preparation, courage, and willingness to think differently when advocating. In addition to invaluable tips of advocacy, Steven reminisces on the time he spent on various high profiles cases such as R. v. Brown (racial profiling [...]

While few people think of Jonathan Kay as a lawyer, after completing an engineering degree at McGill University, Jon scored perfect on his LSAT score and was admitted to Yale Law School. His legal education placed him on Wall St. and a member of the New York bar. With the momentum of his impressive legal [...]

Ep.#40: Paul Le Vay "Le bon avocat aide son client. L’excellent avocat aide le juge." Stockwoods LLP partner Paul Le Vay is one of Canada's top litigators. His areas of practice include commercial, securities, class actions, professional liability, and professional regulation. He is also one of the strongest legal advocates for francophone rights and representation in [...]

Leaders of the bar are not always perched in high positions on Bay Street or litigating a case at the Supreme Court of Canada. Sometimes leaders of the professions are found in law school, or as junior councillors in small town Ontario. For these leaders and influencers like Douglas Judson and Heather Donkers, the best [...]

There are few in Canadian legal history who have reached the success, respect, and accomplishments in such a short period of time as Atrisha Lewis. Within 5 years of her call date in 2013, Atrisha is now among the top litigators in the country. In 2018, Atrisha was awarded the prestigious Precedent Setter Award that [...]

One person familiar with Will and his career described him as having the "widest range of advocacy skills in all of Canada." A partner with the elite litigation firm Lenczner Slaght in Toronto, Will's litigation experience includes commercial disputes, public and governmental relations, libel and slander, and regulatory and criminal matters. Looking to some of [...]

As the former President of the Ontario Bar Association, Law Society Medalist, and an exemplary career in law, Orlando Da Silva enters 2019 well positioned as he seeks election for Bencher with the Law Society of Ontario. In this episode of Of Counsel, Orlando takes us on his remarkable path into law. A son of [...]

With a long and accomplished career in politics, including acting as the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Peter MacKay is one of Canada's most widely recognized lawyers. During his tenure in Ottawa, Peter was instrumental in developing and shaping the criminal justice system in Canada as we know it today. In this [...]

Emilie Taman and Micheal Spratt are a powerhouse couple in Canadian law. In addition to their remarkable accomplishments in Court, Micheal and Emilie's influence is far reaching with their ground breaking and award winning podcast, The Docket. In 2018, Emilie was named one of Canada's Top 25 most influential lawyers by Canadian Lawyer Magazine for [...]

Carissima Mathen grew up wanting to dance on Broadway, but today, she serves as the Vice-Dean (Academic) and Full Professor of Law at the University of Ottawa Law School. Prior to her distinguished career in academics, Carissima acted as Counsel and later as Director of Litigation for the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund.  Carissima’s [...]

In the course of practicing for over 40 years, Donald Bayne has entrenched himself as one of the best criminal defence lawyers Canada has ever known. Despite this, his humility, compassion for human suffering, and pursuit of justice is as vibrant as it was when he first became a lawyer. Don's remarkable journey in his [...]

This week, our podcast brings you Professor Lisa Kerr, from Queen's University Faculty of Law in Kingston. Lisa's expertise takes us into the concrete corridors and confines of prison law, and the law of sentencing in Canada. Her experience with Prisoners' Legal Services and extensive pro bono work in this field offers us a unique [...]

Jordan Furlong is a forecaster of the legal market's future. Law firms and legal organizations retain him to advise their lawyers how to build sustainable and competitive legal enterprises that can dominate the new market for legal services. After graduating from Queen’s Faculty of Law in 1993 and completing his articles at Blake, Cassels & [...]

Alan D. Gold is one of Canada’s foremost criminal lawyers. He has appeared as counsel before all levels of court in Ontario, as well as in other provinces, and for over 50 cases in the Supreme Court of Canada. He is certified by the Law Society as a Specialist in Criminal Litigation and was the first [...]

Julie Stanchieri is one of Canada's leading family lawyers, and lead counsel to Stanchieri Family Law in Toronto. Beyond her remarkable case specific achievements, Julie has a deep understanding and perspective of how family law affects  those who look to the Court for assistance in times of crises. She is a lawyer who cares deeply [...]

As someone who who came from a background of surviving on the street as a youth, it's no surprise that Jordana Goldlist now defends the downtrodden of society with a passion and wisdom very few in the criminal bar possess. Like many of our guests of our show, Jordana's story is truly exceptional. Since her [...]

In this episode of Of Counsel we bring you Howard Levitt. From an early age, Howard's gift of disruption set him on a course to become one of Canada's leading employment lawyers. In a recent Globe and Mail profile of him, hiring Howard was compared to bringing a bazooka to a gun fight. He is [...]

In this episode of Of Counsel, we are joined by Canada’s leading animal rights and welfare lawyer, Camille Labchuk. For over well over a decade, Camille has dedicated her life to animal justice and advocacy. Through her efforts, she has exposed animal cruelty in farming, documented commercial seal killing on Canada’s East Coast, and protected [...]

In this episode of Of Counsel, we are joined by legendary criminal defence lawyer, Brian Greenspan. Over the past 45 years, Brian has defined himself as one of Canada’s best.  Repeatedly ranked as among the country’s most influential lawyers and  he has represented celebrities, sports stars, and entertainers who happen upon the criminal justice system. [...]

For our listeners who have patiently awaited the next episode of our podcast, you won’t be disappointed. We are joined by one of Canada’s most influential lawyers, Rocco Galati. Rocco has held the Canadian government to account time and time again for excess of power and neglect of duty. Perhaps best known for his instrumental role stopping [...]

In this Of Counsel episode, we interview the editor and creator of Precedent Magazine, Melissa Kluger. As a lawyer who embraced her inner voice to do what she always wanted, Melissa tells us her story of becoming an entrepreneur. In a time when established and well-funded publications are struggling and failing, Melissa has managed to [...]

This episode's guest is former Attorney General of Ontario, Micheal Bryant. Michael's personal story in law is one that spans the entire spectrum of the justice system. After clerking at the Supreme Court of Canada with former Chief Justice Beverly McLachlin, and obtaining an LL.M. as a Fulbright scholar at Harvard, Michael moved seamlessly into the [...]

The Honourable Justice David Stratas sits on Canada's Federal Court of Appeal. He is our first actively sitting judge on our podcast. Prior to his direct appointment, Justice Stratas enjoyed an accomplished career on Bay St., where he was widely recognized as one of Canada's top commercial and administrative litigators. Accomplishments include induction into the Fellow of [...]

This episode of Of Counsel is particularly special. For the first time ever, we did a live interview before a large group of listeners at the Canadian Defence Lawyers Annual National Conference with the former Dean of Osgoode Law School, Lorne Sossin. Lorne discusses his achievements at Osgoode during his tenure, the advancement of legal education, [...]

Recognizing a need for alternative pathways for graduated law students to successfully advance to lawyers, the Law Society launched the Law Practice Program in 2014. The initiative was bold and met with controversy among the bar. Many saw the program as redundant, substandard, and exacerbating the problem of unemployment among recently called lawyers. In only [...]

Annamaria Enenajor is a legal phenom and inspiration among her peers. She holds her BA from the University of Toronto, her Masters of Science from Oxford, and her civil and common law degrees from McGill University where she graduated Gold Medalist. Following her education, Annamaria clerked for Justice Marie Deschamps and Justice Richard Wagner of [...]

Paul Schabas was elected Treasurer of the Law Society of Ontario in 2016. Now sitting in his final months as the elected head of Ontario's governing body of lawyers, Paul reflects on his past two years in this role, as well as what the future may have in store for him and the Society. His term [...]

Anita Szigeti is one of Canada's leading mental heath lawyers.   Her expertise spans all aspects of mental health and its interactions with the Canadian justice system. Her passion for her clients and the law is inspiring. Despite her day to day in and out of hospitals, tribunals, criminal courts, and review boards, she maintains [...]

This episode's Of Counsel podcast, is particularly special as we host a former judge of the Supreme Court of Canada: The Honourable Justice Tom Cromwell. After an illustrious career in practice, then sitting as a judge on the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, and then 8 years on the Supreme Court of Canada, Justice Cromwell [...]

Jacqueline Horvat is a founding partner of Spark LLP in Toronto, and the youngest person ever elected bencher to the Law Society of Ontario. After leaving on of Canada's best litigation firms, she now advances her practice with a unique and effective approach to business law and commercial litigation. She has appeared before all levels of [...]

In this episode of Of Counsel, we sat down with leading constitutional and criminal scholar, Professor Don Stuart of Queen’s University on a tranquil snowy afternoon at his office in Kingston. Born and raised during the time of apartheid South Africa, Professor Stuart quickly came to realize the value of human rights and civil liberties [...]

Sara Mainville is one of the most reputable and accomplished First Nations' lawyers in Canada. In this episode of Of Counsel, Sara Mainville joins us to discuss her role as counsel, strategic advisor, and negotiator within OKT Law, a leading law firm in Aboriginal legal affairs. After completing her law degree at Queen's University, Sara continued [...]

This episode’s guest on Of Counsel is Gillian Hnatiw. Gillian practices in administrative, health, employment, and professional liability law. She has also developed a very high level of expertise in representing victims of sexual violence.  During the highly publicized and controversial criminal trial of Jian Ghomeshi, Gillian acted as counsel for Lucy DeCoutere and defended [...]

He has spent his career defending unpopular clients, advocating principled positions, and holding strong in face of a relentless prosecution by the Law Society of Ontario for allegations of "incivility" in his successful defence of John Felderhof in the now infamous Bre-X scandal. Even as a young boy growing up in Toronto, Joseph knew with [...]

This week's episode of Of Counsel will stimulate not only your intellect but your appetite as we speak to one of Canada's only food lawyers, Glenford Jameson. Glenford is a legal trailblazer.  In 2017, he was awarded the highly prestigious Precedent Setter Award that recognizes innovative and remarkable lawyers within their first 10 years of practice. [...]

Tom Curry is widely recognized as one of Canada's best litigators. Just recently, he was elevated to the position of managing partner at Lenczner Slaght in Toronto. He acts as counsel before all levels of civil Court and tribunals in Ontario including the Divisional Court, the Court of Appeal for Ontario, the Federal Court of Canada [...]

Breese Davies is a shining star among lawyers for her accomplishments in criminal, constitutional, and human rights law. In 2017, she was awarded the Law Society of Ontario’s Laura Legge Award awarded for her leadership among women in the profession. Her versatility as an advocate is truly astounding.  She has argued at all levels of [...]

Last year, Adam Wagman was named among the most influential lawyers in Canada by Canadian Lawyer Magazine. With his performance in 2017 as the Ontario Trial Lawyers’ Association President, he fits well along other nominees that include A Supreme Court of Canada justice, law professions, Bay St. moguls, and a Human Rights Commissioner to name [...]

Our guest in this this episode of “Of Counsel is criminal defence counsel Danielle Robitaille.  Danielle is a trial lawyer and partner with Henein Hutchinson LLP in Toronto.  Henein Hutchinson is widely recognized as one of the top boutique litigation firms in Canada, if not the world. Danielle’s law partners include the incomparable Marie Henein, [...]

In this episode of “Of Counsel”, we hear from President of the Criminal Lawyers’ Association, Michael Lacy.  Join us as we listen to Michael discuss the lessons he has learned over his many years in an illustrative career in criminal law. Looking back on Michael’s career in law is overwhelming in accomplishments and notoriety.  The [...]

In just 10 years since his call in 2007, Gerald has proven himself as one of the most accomplished litigators in Canada, and overall just a really great guy. His CV and accomplishments reads like a wild wish list of an ambitious law student who has had way too many coffees.  Gerald is an accomplished [...]