Areas of legal service:

Employment Law

Employment Law encompasses the law of individual contracts of employment (contracts of service), and contractual relations of “dependent contractor” or “independent contractor” (contracts for services). Common legal services in the Employment Law area may include: advancing or defending civil claims of “wrongful dismissal”, or “wrongful termination” of the applicable contract; advancing or defending claims of breach of restrictive covenants (non-competition, non-solicitation, confidentiality clauses); advancing or defending civil claims of breach of equitable fiduciary duties by certain classes of employees (corporate directors/officers, “key employees”); reviewing or drafting employment or dependant/independent contractor contractual language; reviewing settlement (severance) offers for reasonableness in light of the facts and the law; negotiating settlements on behalf of clients.

Labour Law

Labour Law encompasses the law of the collective employment of unionized employees. Common legal services in the labour law area may include: advancing or defending complaints or applications before the relevant labour relations board (i.e. Alberta Labour Relations Board, British Columbia Labour Relations Board, Saskatchewan Labour Relations Board, Canadian Industrial Relations Board), such as certification/de-certification applications, unfair labour practice complaints, breach of the duty of fair representation complaints, and breach of the duty to bargain in good faith complaints; advancing or defending grievances through to labour arbitration, the final settlement of dispute resolution procedure for disputes arising out of the interpretation, application or alleged violation of a collective agreement; advising or acting on behalf of clients in relation to collective bargaining between trade union bargaining agents and employers toward first or renewal collective agreements; advising or acting on behalf of clients in relation to issues arising out of various labour-related statutes (i.e. Canada Labour Code; provincial Labour Relations Codes; professions-specific labour legislation such as Post-Secondary Learning Act; Police Officers Collective Bargaining Act; sector-specific labour legislation, such as Public Service Employee Relations Act; Regional Health Authority Collective Bargaining Regulation).

Privacy Law

Privacy Law encompasses the law of private information—protection of and access to—through legislation such as the federal Privacy Act and Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, or provincial privacy legislation such as the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act or Personal Information Protection Act. Privacy Law also encompasses the nascent tort of “invasion of personal privacy”, and its four sub-torts of “Intrusion upon the plaintiff's seclusion or solitude, or into his private affairs”; “Public disclosure of embarrassing private facts about the plaintiff”; “Publicity which places the plaintiff in a false light in the public eye”; and “Appropriation, for the defendant's advantage, of the plaintiff's name or likeness.” Common legal services in the Privacy Law area may include: advancing or defending complaints or applications before the relevant Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner pursuant to the applicable privacy legislation; advancing or defending civil claims of tortious conduct pleading the tort of “invasion of personal privacy”; addressing privacy issues as they arise in the context of Employment Law or Labour Law matters; advising clients in relation to privacy rights and obligations in light of the facts and the law.

Administrative Law

Administrative Law encompasses the law of “government” decision-makers (from government Ministers through various administrative tribunals, such as Labour Relations Boards; Workers Compensation Boards; Privacy Commissioners; Employment Standards Branches; Human Rights Commissions and Tribunals), the procedures they use to decide, and their substantive decisions. Common legal services in the Administrative Law area may include: advancing or defending applications or complaints before various administrative decision-makers; advancing or defending judicial reviews of various administrative decision-makers in provincial superior courts, the Federal Court, or the Federal Court of Appeal, depending on the decision being reviewed; advancing or defending appeals of judicial review judgments to the applicable appellate court; advising and representing clients on all aspects of Administrative Law.

Human Rights Law

Human Rights Law encompasses the law of statutorily prohibited discrimination based on specific enumerated grounds (such as, “race, religious beliefs, colour, gender, physical disability, mental disability, ancestry, place of origin, marital status, source of income, family status or sexual orientation of that person or class of persons or of any other person or class of persons”: Alberta Human Rights Act), in specific areas of societal endeavors (such as, “publications, notices”; “goods, services, accommodation, facilities”; “tenancy“; “equal pay”; “employment practices”; “applications and advertisements re employment”; “membership in a trade union”), and justification of certain prohibited discrimination as a bona fide occupational requirement (i.e. accommodation of disability amounting to undue hardship). Common legal services in the Human Rights Law area may include: advancing or defending human rights complaints to the applicable Commission and/or Tribunal; advancing or defending human rights issues before labour (grievance) arbitrators; advising clients in relation to jurisdictional (provincial vs federal; tribunal vs tribunal; court vs tribunal) issues arising in relation to human rights issues.

Constitutional Law

Constitutional Law encompasses issues arising out of the Canadian Constitution, including the Constitution Act, 1867 (U.K.), 30 & 31 Vict., c. 3, reprinted in R.S.C. 1985, App. II, No. 5, ss 91, 92 (“Division of Powers”), and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Part I of the Constitution Act, being Schedule B to the Canada Act 1982 (U.K.), 1982, c. 11 (the “Charter”). Division of Powers is relevant to Labour Law and Employment Law in that the constitutional Division of Powers determines which of federal or provincial statute law applies to a client and their legal issue. The Charter sets out various constitutionally protected rights and freedoms enjoyed by Canadians, and in the Labour Law and Employment Law contexts, several Charter-protected rights and freedoms often arise, including: freedom of conscience and religion [s 2(a)]; freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication [s 2(b)]; freedom of peaceful assembly [s 2(c)]; freedom of association [s 2(d)], including the procedural right to bargain collectively; labour mobility rights [s 6]; right to life, liberty and security of the person [s 7]; right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure [s 8]; equality rights [s 15]. Common legal services in the Constitutional Law area may include: advising clients as to jurisdictional questions (federal vs provincial) arising in the context of Employment Law or Labour Law; advancing or defending constitutional challenges to legislation or administrative action based on the Charter or the doctrine of ultra vires (legislation being outside the legislative competence of the applicable legislative assembly based on Division of Powers); addressing all constitutional issues as they arise in the context of Employment Law or Labour Law matters.

Alternate Dispute Resolution

Alternative Dispute Resolution encompasses a plethora of dispute resolution processes “alternative” to civil litigation in the civil courts; including: bi-partite or multi-partite negotiations between individuals (i.e. settlement negotiations) or organizations (i.e. collective bargaining); third-party neutral assisted negotiations, such as mediation, conciliation, facilitation; third-party neutral adjudication, such as arbitration (grievance or commercial). Common legal services in Alternative Dispute Resolution may include: advising or representing clients in relation to all ADR processes.

Tort Law

Tort Law encompasses the law of civil liability whereby in situations recognized by the Courts a person that causes harm must pay compensation (damages) to the person harmed. Some torts (civil causes of action) may arise in the context of Employment Law or Labour Law matters, such as: the above-mentioned nascent tort of “invasion of personal privacy”, the tort of defamation (slander and libel); the tort of inducing breach of contract; the tort of negligence; the torts of negligent or intentional infliction of mental suffering (or “nervous shock”); the torts of assault and battery; the tort of false imprisonment. Common legal services in the Tort Law area may include: addressing torts issues as they arise in the context of Employment Law or Labour Law matters; advancing or defending claims in tort in the civil courts, or in the context of grievance arbitrations where the dispute in its “essential character” arises out of the collective agreement.

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