Emily Lawrence

Practice Areas

Emily Lawrence is the Managing Partner of Paliare Roland. She is an advocate with substantial expertise in professional regulation, pension litigation, employment and labour law, constitutional litigation, civil disputes, and privacy matters. Emily is recognized as an expert in administrative law, as counsel appearing before numerous administrative law tribunals, the co-author of a book on administrative law practice, a sought-after presenter on the topic, and adjunct faculty in administrative law at Osgoode Hall Law School. She has appeared before all levels of court in Ontario and at the Supreme Court of Canada.

Prior to becoming Managing Partner, Emily was the head of the firm’s student program, helping grow its associate ranks through student recruitment and is an active mentor within the legal community. Emily is the chair of the 10+ Committee of The Advocates’ Society and has been ranked by Lexpert as a Leading Lawyer to Watch, and by Best Lawyers in Canada for commercial litigation. She is also Repeatedly Recommended for litigation (Regulatory & Public Law) in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory.

Publications

Emily regularly speaks at continuing legal education programs and conferences in the areas of administrative law, employment law and professional regulation

Co-author – Administrative Law in Practice: Principles and Advocacy with Justice Lorne Sossin – a practical guide to administrative law – Emond, 2018

What’s Law Good For? An Empirical Overview of Charter Equality Rights Decisions – Supreme Court Law Review (2d), Vol. 24, p. 103, 2004 – (June 1, 2004) (with Bruce Ryder and Cidalia Faria)

Work Highlights

Richard Stephenson, Emily Lawrence and Douglas Montgomery represented a trade union in a complex arbitration involving drug and alcohol testing in nuclear facilities, and in a related constitutional challenge in Federal Court to a regulatory instrument imposing drug and alcohol testing in nuclear facilities. Richard, Emily and Douglas obtained interim stays from the arbitrator and the Federal Court of the implementation of drug and alcohol testing in nuclear facilities, pending final disposition.

Inquiry Counsel to The Honourable Mr. Justice Herman J. Wilton-Siegel who was appointed Commissioner of the City of Hamilton’s Red Hill Valley Parkway Inquiry in May 2019.

Acts for a large multinational corporations on complex civil and product liability litigation.

Has acted for large and small companies in breach of contract cases with service providers and suppliers.

Frequently appears as prosecution counsel and defence counsel for colleges of regulated professionals before discipline committees and on appeal or judicial review in the courts.

Represents unions, pension plan administrators and individuals in pension matters, before the courts, the Financial Services Tribunal, and in labour arbitrations.

Acts for executives and other employees in employment and pension matters.

Awards