News & Events News GP goes from strength to strength

GP goes from strength to strength

October 17, 2022

Just look at the incredible talent we’ve recruited over the course of the pandemic

Like everyone else, we were unsure what the future held when we all retreated to our homes in March 2020. Working remotely required adjustments, both inside the firm and across the broader legal system. But adjust we did, and those of us who work in the labour and civil bars seem to be as busy as ever.

This has meant that we’ve had to look for new lawyers to join our team from time to time, and of course we always try to hire back some of our articling students when we have junior positions to fill.  So, despite the pandemic, we have grown a fair bit over the past couple of years. We are delighted to be working with our new colleagues – some of whom aren’t so new any more!

Our clients will be familiar with some of these talented advocates (even if only through Zoom!), but we thought you might like to see them all together. So here they are, in reverse order of the date they joined the firm.

Isabelle Roy-Nunn

Isabelle Roy-Nunn joined our Ottawa office in September 2022 after working in-house for many years at a large national public sector union providing strategic and legal advice and guidance to union members, elected officials, management and employees on a wide variety of issues.

Karin Galldin

Karin Galldin joined the firm’s research group in August 2022. Karin summered and articled with us in the mid-2000s and then ran her own law firm for a number of years. She later worked in the areas of legal ethics, access to justice, and law reform at two prominent national non-profit organizations.

Maria Lucas

Maria Lucas joined our Aboriginal law practice in July 2022. Maria will assist clients in advancing and protecting their Indigenous and treaty rights. Indigenous-Crown relations have always been of particular interest to Maria, and she has presented her research on Aboriginal title to water in international forums.

June Mills

June Mills joined the firm’s Toronto office in May 2022, coming to us from a leading union-side labour firm in Halifax. June’s labour law practice focuses on advocating for trade unions and faculty associations in a variety of matters, from individual and policy grievances to Charter challenges.

Andrea Sobko

Andrea Sobko joined the labour and pay equity law groups in our Toronto office in March 2022. Prior to joining the firm, Andrea worked as a lawyer at a large public sector trade union. Previously, she worked with the Ontario Justice Education Network developing plain language legal resources for teachers across Ontario.

Saneliso Moyo

Saneliso Moyo joined our Toronto office in January 2022. Prior to that, Saneliso practised labour law at another union-side labour firm. Saneliso represents public and private sector unions across a wide range of industries and is a fierce advocate for racial and gender equity.

Mark Rowlinson

Mark Rowlinson joined the firm in November 2021 after spending 26 years with one of Canada’s largest private sector trade unions. Mark’s practice at GP includes international law, trade law and labour law. Fun fact: Mark articled with the firm, then known as Sack Goldblatt Mitchell, back in the 1990s.

Anna Goldfinch

Anna Goldfinch joined our Toronto office in September 2021. Anna summered and articled with the firm, and upon her call to the bar, served as a law clerk at the Ontario Court of Appeal. Anna works closely with our public sector clients, particularly those in the education and fire sectors.

Danielle Sandhu

Danielle Sandhu summered and articled at the firm and began working as an associate in the summer of 2021. In law school, Danielle honed her advocacy skills as a caseworker at Parkdale Community Legal Services in  the workers’ rights division. At GP, she practices labour law, primarily in the university sector.

Erica Cartwright

Erica Cartwright joined the firm in August 2021, after completing her articling term. She works primarily in our construction labour relations practice, helping construction trade unions organize, negotiate, and protect their hard-earned rights.

Kailun Chen

Kailun Chen summered in person, articled online in the pandemic, and then joined the firm as an associate in August 2021. She is a member of our strong team of construction industry labour relations lawyers, and is a former journalist and radio producer.

Emily Denomme

Emily Denomme joined the Toronto office in August 2021 after articling at the firm. She works in both our construction labour relations and pay equity practices. During law school at Western, Emily volunteered with Unifor, helping local reps with upcoming grievance arbitrations.

Ben Piper

Ben Piper rejoined the Ottawa office in July 2021. Ben works for public and private sector unions, for individuals facing problems with their employers, and for individuals or organizations challenging unfair actions or fighting for justice.

Keerthana Sivapatham

Keerthana Sivapatham joined our construction labour relations practice in February 2021. She represents construction industry trade unions in all types of proceedings before the Ontario Labour Relations Board. Previously, Keerthana worked as an in-house lawyer at a large health care union.

Chris Donovan

Chris Donovan joined the Toronto office in late 2020. He has represented trade unions for a number of years, and his labour practice at GP is focused on representing university and college faculty associations. He also has an eclectic civil litigation and administrative law practice.

Melanie Anderson

Melanie Anderson articled at the firm and joined our civil litigation practice in September 2020. She represents clients in all kinds of employment law matters, is a member of the firm’s class actions practice, and defends other lawyers against allegations of negligence.

David Sworn

David Sworn articled at the firm and joined our pension and benefits law practice in September 2020. David helps unions negotiate better pension and benefit plans and fights to enforce the rights of individual employees and retirees to benefit entitlements

What an amazing group of advocates!