Vanessa Payne
Partner
- Location:
Toronto
- Phone:
416-979-6419
- Fax:
416-591-7333
- Email:
Biography
When GP’s labour litigators need a strong written argument for a case, they turn to Vanessa Payne. They know that Vanessa will listen, take the beginning of a theory, and work with it until it has become persuasive and effective written advocacy.
As a member of the firm’s legal research team, Vanessa helps litigators brainstorm, distill, organize and clarify their legal arguments. Colleagues walk out of her office knowing that Vanessa has their submissions under control, bringing her smart, pragmatic and detail-oriented style to every situation.
In addition to writing factums for hearings at all levels of the Ontario and Federal courts and the Supreme Court of Canada, she supports the firm’s litigators by writing submissions for cases at the Ontario Labour Relations Board, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario and other tribunals. You’ll find Vanessa’s fingerprints on many of the firm’s notable cases including: CUPE v. Ontario (Minister of Labour), Teamsters 938 v. Lakeport Beverages, Garcia v. LIUNA, Local 1059, CUPE 4191 v. Trillium Health Centre, as well as most of our LGBTQ rights and freedom of association cases.
Working behind the scenes to ensure all runs smoothly, Vanessa maintains the firm’s library, runs the firm’s law student programmes, and sits on the firm’s executive, marketing and continuing professional development committees. She’s also great at herding cats, organizing and corralling GP’s lawyers for firm meetings and events.
When not writing legal arguments, reorganizing the library or training students, Vanessa is a political news junkie. She’s a fan of the Oxford comma, British mysteries, and the Toronto Blue Jays.