Legal Moves is a monthly roundup of job changes at Canada’s law firms.
Muneeza Sheikh at her home office in Toronto on June 27.Christopher Katsarov/The Globe and Mail
The Sheikh in leading Canadian employment firm Levitt Sheikh LLP has gone solo.
Muneeza Sheikh hung out her own shingle last month after more than 14 years working alongside Howard Levitt.
“It’s about building my own firm that is 100 per cent aligned with my values around how I want to advocate, the types of cases I want to take on, and being able to focus on the areas of law that I have worked to develop,” she said.
“As a woman in law, I’ve seen so much gender inequality. It’s made me passionate to advocate for women, but also other groups that deal with different treatment because of their race, ethnic background, sexuality or religion.”
Ms. Sheikh got her start working as a summer and articling student at what was then Cavalluzzo Hayes, a leading union and employment shop. From there, she moved in-house to the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, and not long after, took a job working alongside Mr. Levitt.
At her new firm, Ms. Sheikh will be looking for cases that include a social justice component, as well as free-speech issues.
“There’s a lot of deference toward one view and if you’re speaking up on the other side, I’m seeing a slew of terminations and threats being levied against those employees. They’re being iced out. This is something I’m passionate about,” she said.
Ms. Sheikh said she also does work for employers, who are under more pressure to be conscious of issues around equity and diversity. This fear of making a wrong step can leave some businesses paralyzed.
“Sometimes this leaves a lot of employers with the impression that they can’t run their businesses operationally in a manner that they see fit. They can’t hire and fire as they want. They can’t discipline,” she said. “In fact you can do all of those things, as long as you do it in good faith and as long as you’re not doing it in a way where you seek to trample on someone’s rights.”
Muneeza Sheikh Employment & Human Rights opened its doors in June. Ms. Sheikh is supported by two associates, an articling student and a paralegal.
Dentons picked up a handful of lateral hires in June. Mark Ricketts, who specializes in secured financing transactions, particularly real estate secured lending, joined the firm’s banking and finance group in Calgary as a partner. Previously, he had been with Fasken. Also in Calgary, the corporate group has added Kate Stevens as a partner after working with Torys as a senior associate. “Her bold and innovative thinking, coupled with her skills and her team-based approach, will further enhance our team’s ability to provide pragmatic solutions to meet our clients’ business needs,” Leanne Krawchuk, the corporate group’s national leader, said in a release. And finally, Alexandre-Philippe Avard returned to Dentons’ litigation and dispute resolution group after spending five years in-house with Hydro-Québec. His areas of expertise include commercial litigation, administrative law, and Indigenous, energy, natural resources and mining law.
At WeirFoulds, Megan Mossip has joined the corporate and commercial practice group as a partner. She comes from Owens Wright. “While I deeply appreciated working with my previous team, I knew that my business clients needed the comprehensive services and expertise of a larger firm,” she said. She said that whether it’s navigating insolvency issues, or staying ahead of evolving employment laws, her clients are already benefiting from the expertise and resources of a full service law firm. “That and the view from the 40th floor is impressive.”
Also in June, Gowling WLG announced Asim Iqbal as a new partner in its corporate restructuring, insolvency and advisory group. “Asim’s creativity and business acumen make him a tremendous asset for our clients facing high-stakes restructuring and insolvency issues. His addition to the team reinforces our commitment to delivering exceptional service and strategic solutions,” Benjamin Na, the Toronto office’s managing partner, said in a release. Mr. Iqbal comes to Gowling by way of Miller Thomson.
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