We were proud to sponsor Toronto Artscape’s one-of-a-kind gala evening honouring legendary city builders and their accomplishments. Artscape sure knows how to throw a party!
Pictured: Brian, Safia and a friend (middle).
Every lawyer at Iler Campbell sits on a board of a non-profit and a few of us sit on more than one. It’s not a pre-requisite for working here; it’s just the kind of people we are. We’re committed to good causes, even when we’re off the clock.
Pictured: the board of the Catherine Donnelly Foundation at their spring retreat. Celia is third from the right.
Seven of us are regular cycle commuters. Brian and Ted are the most dedicated, both biking almost everyday of the year.
Pictured: Lauren, Katie, Shelina and Elliot on their way to our annual holiday lunch. (With a special cameo appearance by Fraser's bike.)
Iler Campbell is a long-time sponsor of CHFT’s Diversity Scholarships which reward academic scholarships to people living in CHFT member housing co-ops. Since launching in 2004 more than $1.6 million has been awarded to over 300 scholarship recipients for post secondary education.
Pictured: This year's batch of winners and presenters.
(David and Derek share our space with us.)
Elliot is our articling student and self appointed office social convenor. He's well on his way to writing the most blog posts ever for an articling student.
Pictured: Elliot on the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton, just before starting articling.
Check out Elliot's writing here.
♩♪♫ ... incoming phone call from the Department of Duplication Department ... ♩♪♫
We opened 278 new files this year. That's more than one for every working day.
Pictured: Nirmala's the one who did the work of actually opening those files. Here she is in our rolling file system, where we store those documents that can't be kept electronically.
We say it every chance we get. We feel lucky as heck to get to work for clients tackling important issues.
Housing. Homelesness. Hunger. Health. Our clients work on vitally important issues, some of which no-doubt start with the letter G.
Pictured: Safia, Celia and Lauren hard at work.
Housing co-ops are our biggest client group. We were happy to welcome 22 new housing co-op clients to the Iler Campbell family this year.
Pictured: one of those new-to-us housing co-ops, Four Feathers Housing Co-operative in London Ontario.
London has become a popular destination for us. Celia visited 4 times, once with Safia to present at CHF Canada's Fall Education Day. Five of our new co-op clients are from London and area.
Our free education series, IC Education, is part client development, part giving back. This year we ran workshops on co-buying a home, new condo laws, social media for non-profits and human rights for co-ops.
Pictured: Attendees of Celia's human rights in housing workshop. Peel/Halton CHF provided the space.
Let us know if you have a space and a network to help fill it. We'd love to bring the series to you.
Julie became our office's first grandmother when her daughter, and sometimes Iler Campbell employee, Khadeeja gave birth to Thomas.
Pictured: Julie and Thomas at the Iler Campbell staff summer party.
♩♪♫ ... the Office of Repetition Office is calling ... ♩♪♫
We're constantly brushing up on our knowledge. This year we attended professional development courses on subjects as varied as medical assistance in dying, administrative law, and service animals.
Pictured: A still from Not Anytime Soon! a documentary about activist Linda Chamberlain. We screened it over two lunch breaks for staff this summer as part of our "IC Hot Docs" educational documentary series.
When the Law Society announced a requirement that licensees adopt a statement of principles acknowledging their obligation to promote equality, diversity and inclusion, some lawyers were outraged. Some called it a violation of freedom of speech. We saw it as a simple issue of human rights and embraced it whole heartedly.
We feel so strongly about this, we're hanging our Statement of Principles up for all to see. Read more about this on our blog.
Pictured: Fraser hanging page one of three in our boardroom.
Michael and family moved to a new house in Mississauga this year, his first full year with the firm. As our litigation team lead, he worked on everything from employment issues to disputes regarding commerical tenancies, and an appeal before the Court of Appeal regarding a claim for unjust enrichment.
Pictured: Michael in front of his new house. He claims that this is his very first selfie and we’re inclined to believe him!
♩♪♫ ... the Bureau of Reiteration Bureau is calling ... ♩♪♫
The Trudeau government's announcement of the National Housing Strategy is big news. We wait with baited breath to see what will come of it. Good news, we hope for our housing clients.
Stay tuned to our blog for upcoming developments and what they mean for you.
We turned out in full force for the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association's 2017 Conference and Tradeshow this year. Lauren co-presented two sessions (one on consent, capacity and substitute decision-making and the other on smoke-free buildings) while Michael and Katie led another on End of Operating Agreements. Finally, Celia helmed our tradeshow booth.
Pictured: Celia (right) with Esther, the winner of our gift basket in the tradeshow raffle.
As lawyers we don’t limit ourselves to simply interpreting the law. Where we can, we help to shape it. Ted and Brian both participate on committees that provide feedback on evolving legislation.
You won't find our names in these law books but we've left our fingerprints on a few pieces of law.
2017 marked our 16th full year just off Queen St. The first 10 were from 1991 to 2001 and we moved back (to the building next to our old office) in 2011. We love the vibrant street life.
We celebrated our 5th year of writing our monthly “Pro Bono” column for Rabble.ca!
This year we wrote about inclusionary zoning, sexual assault, wait times for support services for adults with developmental disabilities, the Parkdale rent strike, the Rental Fairness Act, recreational marijuana in a housing context, BC’s revamped human rights system, protecting housing and human rights without limiting options, Law Society’s Statement of Principles and the National Housing Strategy.
Our client, Sojourn House, which provides shelter and transitional housing programs to assist refugees with their integration into Canadian society turned 30 this year and celebrated with a fantastic party.
Pictured: kids mob a dancer after a fantastic performance. Photo by D.Ao Photography
The Toronto Environmental Alliance celebrated their 30th year on December 6th. TEA campaigns locally to find solutions to Toronto's urban environmental problems. Iler Campbell was proud to be a sponsor of the event.
Pictured: TEA's ED, Franz Hartmann speaking at the event.
The UP Express is the best thing that's happened to Celia's commute this year. It's made the trip to and from her home in Weston Village easy as pie. And it will no doubt be a boon to new projects in the area from Options for Homes and Toronto Artscape.
We know that lawyers are expensive. We know very well the realities of running a non-profit or a small business. We know how intimidating a fee sheet can look. That's why we strive in everything we do to provide a value to our clients equal to or greater than our fee.
We helped 52 clients with their wills this year. Wills are a small part of our practice but always a wonderful opportunity to connect personally with our clients.
Pictured: Brian (right) and clients sign a will.
Becky has been a real estate clerk with us for 6 years now. This year she helped with financings for co-ops and on a big condo closing file among many other duties.
Her last name also starts with an X so we're very thankful for that. X is a hard letter to find words for.
We've been in business for 36 years!
Here’s to another 36!
Pictured: Our first office was on the second floor of 136 Simcoe above the Simcoe Grill, not far from where we are now. Photo via Lost Toronto.
The end of the year is a chance to Zen out, do zilch and catch some zzz’s. Or maybe you’re more the type to pour yourself a glass of Zinfandel and dance to some zydeco, before zonking out. For many it’s a time to zero in on plans for the year, or what the zodiac has planned for you (if you’re into that) before the new year zooms into view and you’re zigzagging all over.
Whatever you’re into, here’s to 2018! All the best in the new year!