George Avraam was admitted to the Ontario Bar in 1999 and has since practiced as a trial and appellate litigator. George’s practice is focused on labour, employment, public and administrative law, class actions, education law, and fiduciary duties. He has acted as lead counsel in arbitrations, administrative proceedings, trials, appeals, judicial reviews, class actions, and injunctions.

George is designated by the Law Society of Ontario as a specialist in civil litigation. He is a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, has been ranked in Chambers Global and Chambers Canada and Ontario (Band 2), has been recommended as a leading lawyer in Legal 500 for Labour and Employment, and has been recommended as a leading employment lawyer in Lexpert. George is also the Chair of the North America Employment and Compensation Law Practice Group and a member of the Global Employment and Compensation Law Practice Group’s Steering Committee.

Kevin Coon was called to the Ontario Bar in 1989. Kevin acts as counsel, and as trusted and strategic adviser to government, corporate and not-for-profit organizations, on human resource, regulatory, compliance and risk management, with emphasis on international labour standards; corporate social responsibility; ethics; codes of conduct; due diligence; human rights; workplace investigations; occupational health and safety; collective bargaining; workplace harassment; positive employee relations; local and global labour relations; government relations. Kevin is certified as a specialist in Labour Law by the Law Society of Ontario and has been recognized by Legal 500.

Bill Watson was called to the Ontario Bar in 1981. Bill Watson’s practice focuses on large issue litigation and the conduct of complex negotiations, domestically and internationally, in the following fields: collective bargaining; government relations; health law; human rights; international labour standards; inquests; labour relations; occupational health and safety and privacy law. Bill served as the Canada-wide negotiator in the negotiation of the first compensation package for victims of HIV tainted blood in the 1990’s. Bill served for 5 years as a member of the Canadian Employer Delegation to the International Labour Organization including a term as the head of that Delegation and Vice-President of the Annual ILO Conference. Bill has served as a member of the Board of Governors of the University of Waterloo since 2011 and previously served as President of the University of Waterloo Alumni Association.

Christopher Burkett is an experienced trial advocate, having appeared before a variety of administrative tribunals, at all levels of trial court, and the Court of Appeal for Ontario. Mr. Burkett’s broad litigation and advocacy practice specifically focuses in the areas of labour and employment law, administrative and public law, professional discipline, corporate anti-bribery compliance, and criminal matters. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie in 2011, Mr. Burkett was an Assistant Crown Attorney, where he was the lead prosecutor on numerous criminal trials; including serious commercial fraud prosecutions. Mr. Burkett’s experience extends to matters involving internal investigations, administrative tribunals, judicial review applications, injunctions, trials, and appeals.

Jonathan Cocker heads the Firm’s Environment & Environmental Markets Practice Group in Toronto. Jonathan advises and represents multinational companies on a variety of environment and product regulatory matters, including product content, dangerous goods transportation, regulated wastes, food and drug safety, extended producer responsibilities and contaminated lands matters. As Sustainability Officer of the International Bar Association, Jonathan is spearheading a strategic relationship with the World Business Council Sustainable Development on its Circular Economy Program. Jonathan also leads the Sustainability Working Group of the firm’s Global Consumer Products and Retail Group.

Mark Ellis is an experienced litigator who appears regularly before all levels of courts and tribunals in Ontario. Mark has also appeared as lead counsel on several occasions at the Supreme Court of Canada. As the author of Canada’s leading treatise on fiduciary obligations and three related books, his opinion is regularly sought in Canada’s boardrooms regarding all aspects of corporate compliance and governance. Mark is a highly-regarded speaker, having chaired over two hundred conferences throughout his career, and spoken internationally regarding compliance, governance and anti-corruption. He is also a visiting professor at Queen’s University.

Jeremy Hann’s practice is primarily focused on employment and labour litigation. He has appeared as defendant/respondent/employer counsel before the numerous Ontario tribunals, courts and arbitrators who hear labour, employment and human rights matters. Jeremy also maintains a busy day-to-day counselling practice where he assists employers in their HR counsel needs, as well as handling specials projects such as the employment, labour and benefits aspects of corporate transactions, mass reductions in force and workplace violence and harassment investigations. One of Jeremy’s principal strengths is his ability to leverage his litigation experience in order to provide practical and business-focused advice to employers as they navigate through the various human-rights related minefields.

Jordan Kirkness advises and represents employers in all areas of labour and employment law. Jordan is experienced in litigation, negotiation, and compliance, and he is committed to identifying the most practical, cost-effective and permanent solution in each case. Before joining Baker McKenzie in 2013, Jordan practiced at a large, full-service firm in Vancouver. He has been called to the bar in both British Columbia and Ontario, and he regularly represents employers with operations in multiple Canadian jurisdictions.

Andrew Shaw has a general and diverse labour and employment practice. Andrew regularly represents employers in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and before various labour, employment and human rights related administrative tribunals. In particular, his practice is focused on providing his clients with strategic advice regarding various matters including employment standards, labour arbitration, collective bargaining, human rights, wrongful dismissals and occupational health and safety. Andrew also regularly assists clients with reviewing and updating their workplace policies and procedures, as well as providing the training required to ensure these policies are properly implemented and applied. Prior to attending law school, Andrew held labour relations positions at both private and public sector companies. In these roles, he managed the processing of grievances to an appropriate resolution, assisted internal clients with the interpretation of employment-related legislation, and provided counsel to senior management as required.

Jennifer Bernardo has a broad trial and appellate advocacy practice, with a focus on labour, employment, and administrative law. She has acted as lead counsel in grievance arbitrations, administrative proceedings, and trials, and has served as junior counsel on judicial reviews, corporate/commercial trials and appeals, class actions, and complex labour and employment hearings and appeals. In addition to her litigation practice, Jennifer advises clients on contentious and non-contentious workplace issues, such as employment standards requirements, workplace accommodation, discrimination and harassment, collective bargaining and labour relations, and reductions in force, as well as issues relating to international labour and human rights standards, corporate compliance and risk management, and internal investigations.

Claire-Marie Colantuoni advises on a wide range of labour and employment law matters, providing practical legal and business advice to both domestic and international clients. Called to the bar in both Ontario and Quebec, her practice encompasses all areas of labour and employment law in both Canadian common law and Quebec’s civil law jurisdictions, with a particular focus on employment standards, wrongful dismissals, workplace policies, human rights, occupational health and safety, and privacy.

Susan MacMillan is a Professional Support Lawyer in the Employment & Compensation Group in Toronto. Susan is passionate about exploring new developments in Canadian and global employment law and their implications for employers. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, Susan had a broad employment law practice at a full-service, national firm. She was also seconded to a Canadian chartered bank as Legal Counsel in the bank’s Employment Law Group. Susan holds an LL.M. from the University of Toronto where her thesis focused on the interaction between seniority rights and the duty to accommodate.

Stephanie MacIntosh advises on global mobility and compliance issues, working with multinational companies to establish employer compliance mechanisms and internal mobility policies. Stephanie provides strategic advice to key stakeholders, corporate counsel and HR personnel with respect to global mobility strategies and immigration eligibility requirements in order to secure appropriate immigration authorization for foreign professionals coming to Canada. She also coordinates with global immigration colleagues to facilitate the transfer of expatriates to jurisdictions outside Canada.

Nell Slochowski is an associate in the Employment & Compensation Practice Group in Baker McKenzie’s Toronto office. Nell focuses her practice on Canadian Immigration law, with extensive experience in the area of permanent residence and citizenship applications. She also has experience with temporary residence applications, as well as more complex inadmissibility matters. Prior to joining the Firm, Nell gained experience as a Manager Lawyer at a leading global immigration law firm in Toronto. Immigration law has been Nell’s passion since she graduated from law school at Queen’s University.