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Natai Shelsen

Natai Shelsen

Partner

Biography

With nearly 15 years of experience, Natai Shelsen is a strategic litigator and mediator known for resolving complex disputes with common sense, practicality and an eye to the preservation of relationships.

Natai practices in both English and French and is licensed in Ontario and Quebec. She has represented clients at every level of court in both provinces, including the Supreme Court of Canada.

Mediation

Natai believes mediation is one of the most effective tools for resolving disputes, before or after litigation has started. It saves parties time, money, and uncertainty while creating solutions that litigation simply cannot achieve.

Natai mediates disputes between people who want to preserve their relationship, including families, business partners, co-workers, members of close-knit or religious communities, or neighbours. Natai helps parties navigate their conflict, find enduring solutions, and keep their relationship intact. Natai is strong advocate of early mediation (mediation before litigation begins – read more about it here).

Drawing on nearly 15 years of litigation experience, she also mediates active litigation matters, helping parties realistically assess the strengths, risks, and costs of their positions. She is known for her balanced, thoughtful approach and her ability to build trust with all parties at the table. Natai is a roster member of Ontario’s mandatory mediation program.

Natai is also uniquely positioned to mediate disputes involving Indigenous rights and interests. With extensive experience in Indigenous-rights litigation and negotiations, she brings both legal depth and cultural competency to these matters.

Natai is a designated Qualified Mediator (Q.Med), holds a Certificate in Mediating Disputes from Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation, and a Certificate in Transformative Mediation from the University of Waterloo and Community Justice Initiatives. She is a former Board member of the ADR Institute of Ontario.

Litigation

Natai maintains a diverse and complex litigation practice. She represents clients on a variety of business-related disputes, professional regulatory matters, employment matters, human rights issues, contract disputes, real estate disputes, administrative and public law issues.

A skilled negotiator and formidable advocate, Natai combines sharp legal analysis with practical judgment. She approaches every stage of litigation strategically, ensuring each step advances her clients’ broader objectives.

Natai is also a member of her firm’s Aboriginal Law and Indigenous Rights Group, where she advises and represents Indigenous individuals and communities in consultations, negotiations and litigation. Her practice has included a $200-million mining dispute, environmental hearings, consultation and accommodation matters, litigation involving Indigenous governance and constitutional rights and negotiations of agreements with resource development companies.

Select cases

  • Coroner’s inquest into the death of Heather Ashley Winterstein (April 2026): Represented the family of a 24-year-old Indigenous woman who died of sepsis while in hospital care. Successfully argued for a finding that delayed treatment contributed to her death.
  • Walter & al v. Quebec Major Junior Hockey League & al (SCC 2026): Intervened on behalf of Ontario and Alberta representative plaintiffs in a Supreme Court of Canada appeal concerning the duties owed by class counsel to class members.
  • Hutton v. Sayat, 2025 FCA 66 (leave to appeal to the SCC denied): Successfully obtained an order declaring the plaintiff to be a vexatious litigant and quashing his actions. Obtained one of the largest cost awards for an individual from the Federal Court.
  • Original Traders Energy Ltd (Re), 2023 ONSC 1887: Successfully defended against a Mareva injunction in the context of CCAA proceedings.
  • Reference re An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families, 2024 SCC 5: Intervened on behalf of the David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights in support of the constitutionality of federal Indigenous child welfare legislation.
  • T.A.W. v. J.C.L., 2021 ONCA 192: Successfully defended an appeal arising from an abusive civil action following the breakdown of a personal relationship. The Court of Appeal ordered substantial indemnity costs due to the abusive nature of the underlying claim and appeal.
  • Ressources Strateco inc. v. Procureure générale du Québec, 2020 QCCA 18 (leave to appeal to the SCC denied): Successfully intervened on behalf of the Cree Nation of Eeyou Istchee to uphold the refusal of a uranium mining permit due to lack of social acceptability within the affected First Nation.