George Avraam

Practice Areas

George is the Toronto office's managing partner who practices trial and appellate litigation. He has been lead counsel before various administrative tribunals and the courts throughout the country, including the Supreme Court of Canada. He represents defendants in high-profile and reputation threatening cases, such as large-stakes labour litigation, fraud and trade secrets litigation, partnership disputes, multimillion dollar employment class-actions, large-issue employment litigation, and prominent administrative and public law issues, including those involving the Charter. George also advises Boards on business critical issues, including financial, regulatory, and executive level sensitive matters.

Some of George's noteworthy and precedent setting cases, include:

- defending a leading Ontario university in the Divisional Court over its mandatory vaccine policy (Michalski).

- whether an employer must provide an employee consideration for a termination clause in an asset transaction (Olympus, leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada denied).

- the scope and purpose of punitive damages (Pate).

- the jurisdiction of the court to entertain a wrongful dismissal after a union has been certified but before a collective agreement has been finalized (Cintas).

- the enforceability of termination clauses in employment contracts (Holland and Andros).

- the authority and powers of a university administrative tribunal (Bart).

- the jurisdiction of a labour board over a foreign entity (Wal-Mart Stores Inc).

- the lawfulness of a store closure during a union - certification drive Wal-Mart (Jonquiere, SCC).

- moral damages flowing from an employment relationship (Honda v. Keays (SCC)).

Professional Memberships

Fellow, College of Labor and Employment Lawyers

Canadian Association of Counsel to Employers, Chair, Advocacy Committee

The Advocates' Society

Canadian Association of University Solicitors

Publications

Contributor to the Canadian Labour and Employment Law blog

Expert in these Jurisdictions

Canada

Languages Spoken

English, Greek

Education