Michael practices in all areas of estates, trusts, incapacity and charitable giving.
His expertise includes the planning and drafting of wills, trusts and powers of attorney, the administration of estates and trusts, business succession planning, and non-profit and charitable giving.
He also advises clients in both contentious and non-contentious estate litigation matters, including mental capacity matters, guardianship application, passing of fiduciary accounts and disputed wills.
Michael’s experience includes:
Planning and implementing effective estate plans for individuals and business owners
Advising regarding cross-border and international estate and trust matters
Assisting clients with planning for incapable family members
Advising financial institution regarding complex estate, trust and incapacity issues and best practises
Advising individuals and non-profit organizations on charitable giving and related issues
Acting for individuals to implement practical and solution-oriented estate plans, including drafting wills, powers of attorney and trusts for business owners, and parents and guardians of persons with disabilities
Advising executors and estate trustees on how to efficiently manage the estate administration process from beginning to end
Michael is a designated Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP) from the Society of Estate and Trust Practitioners, and is a member of the Estate Planning Council of Toronto. He is also a member of the Trusts and Estates Law and Elder Law section of the Ontario Bar Association.
Michael previously held positions as an estates and trusts lawyer at a national law firm, in the estate and trust group of a major financial institution, and as a lawyer at a Toronto estate and trust litigation firm.
Debra is a dynamic lawyer and natural storyteller who has passionately advocated for children and families throughout her 30 year career. Debra is a Partner with the firm’s Indigenous Practice Group. She is a working with various Indigenous Governing Bodies and First Nations in recovering, revitalizing and drafting their child wellbeing laws in their reassertion of Inherent Jurisdiction over their children and families.
In addition to legislative drafting of First Nations’ laws, Debra also appears in various levels of court representing First Nations pursuant to provincial and federal child welfare statutes. She will also be working with First Nations in relation to unmarked burial investigations and other forms of investigation, employment matters, and other litigation.
Prior to joining Fogler Rubinoff, Debra was a self employed sole practitioner practicing criminal, family and child protection litigation, including high conflict and complex litigation. Debra has also represented children as a Children’s Lawyer with the Office of the Children’s Lawyer in family court proceedings and in child protection proceedings. Throughout her career, her clients appreciated her practical, commonsensical and purposeful approach with an emphasis in moving their matters out of litigation and into restorative family healing through alternative forms of resolution.
Debra has been involved as a volunteer with the Lawyers Feed the Hungry Program, serving breakfast to those who are hungry and in need of a hot nutritious meal. She also volunteered her time with the Flemingdon Legal Clinic providing pro bono legal advice and services. In addition, Debra has frequently presented seminars involving criminal, family and child protection cross over issues as well as being a member of the Cross Over Youth Project Committee with an emphasis in keeping youth in care out of the criminal justice system.
Katherine is a citizen of the Secwepemc (Shuswap) Nation. Katherine has built a diverse practice providing advice and acting in disputes concerning the assertion of inherent jurisdiction and other Indigenous and treaty rights, the duty to consult, commercial matters, public inquiries (including as Assistant Commission Counsel to Ontario’s Ipperwash Inquiry, and counsel to a number of parties at Canada’s Missing and Murdered Women’s Inquiry), coroners’ inquests, employment law and workplace investigations, child welfare matters, and select criminal cases.
Katherine is the recipient of a number of awards for her innovative and passionate advocacy for human rights and the advancement of social justice, including the Minaake Award for Human Rights and Advocacy from the Native Women’s Resource Centre and the Arleen Goss Young Advocates Award from the Advocates Society.
Katherine is regularly asked by law faculties, professional associations and regulatory bodies, First Nations and Tribal Councils, and others to speak and teach in her field of practice. She served as an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law from 2011 to 2019. Katherine was also a member of Ontario’s Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee from 2017 to 2020.
Prior to joining Foglers, Katherine founded and served Indigenous clients through her own firm, Hensel Barristers, from 2011 to 2021. During that time, she was repeatedly acknowledged by The Canadian Legal Lexpert® Directory and The Best Lawyers ™ in Canada in their rankings. In 2021, the Globe and Mail recognized Hensel Barristers as one of the top 19 law firms in Canada practicing in the field of Aboriginal and Indigenous law.
Shirley’s practice encompasses all aspects of commercial real estate. She acts for land owners, developers, banks and surety companies, on matters relating to acquisitions and dispositions, land development, commercial leasing, and real estate financing.
Shirley regularly acts for developer clients on mixed residential, commercial development projects in the Greater Toronto Area, and Golden Horseshoe including subdivision and condominium, from acquisition of land, throughout the development process, to project sales, registration of condominium and final closings with purchasers.
She also acts for land owner groups with respect to cost sharing and infrastructure agreements. In addition, Shirley also practices transactional real estate including the acquisition and disposition of vacant land, agricultural properties and commercial and retail properties. Clients appreciate her business background, which allows her to approach legal issues from a practical business perspective. She is also fluent in Mandarin.
Brian’s practice focuses primarily on general corporate and commercial law, having experience in mergers and acquisitions, financings and other transactions for a range of large and small corporate clients.
In addition, Brian advises on a variety of corporate matters including organization and restructuring, internal governance, directors’ liability, commercial agreements, succession issues, and shareholder and partnership matters.
Brian is also actively involved in the entrepreneurial communities of Toronto and Ottawa. He helps entrepreneurs and start-up companies establish and grow their businesses by providing advice on business structuring, fundamental start-up contracts, shareholders’ agreements, intellectual property and rounds of financing.
Osgoode Certificate in Fundamentals of Indigenous Peoples and Canadian Law
Jen is a partner in the Capital Markets and Securities group. Jen acts for both companies and registered dealers in a broad range of industries, and has extensive expertise working with junior issuers listed on the TSX Venture Exchange and Canadian Securities Exchange.
In over 20 years of practice, she has been involved in numerous significant financings (public offerings and private placements) and complex commercial agreements for clients in the natural resource, cannabis and sports sectors. Jen also provides strategic advice on matters related to corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions and reorganizations, and has assisted clients in navigating many challenging financial and regulatory environments. She currently sits on the TSX Venture Exchange’s Ontario Advisory Committee which provides advice and recommendations to the Exchange on all policy, operational and strategic issues that are likely to have a significant impact on the public venture capital market and the role of the Exchange.
Jen has previously contributed as a legal commentator on CBC Metro Morning, and for the Globe and Mail and CBC Investigative Reports series. She is a professor at Brock University in sports law, as well as a frequent lecturer at Osgoode Hall Law School and the TSX Venture Exchange. She was recently appointed by the Ministry of the Attorney General as a part-time adjudicator on the Ontario Land Tribunal. Jen also previously served as an instructor in various continuing legal education topics, and as a director and treasurer of several non-profit organizations.
Bill’s practice focuses exclusively on Aboriginal and Indigenous law.
He began practicing in this specialty as in‐house lawyer for Grand Council Treaty #3, and was a member of the legal team which represented Ontario First Nations in the 1981 First Ministers Conference which resulted in the inclusion of s. 35 in the Constitution Act, 1982.
Legislative drafting for Indigenous clients has remained one of the main bases of his law practice but he has also acted for First Nations in claims and other matters including, most recently, acting as legal counsel for Henvey Inlet First Nation in the creation of the environmental laws and land tenure system for Henvey Inlet First Nation’s 300 MW wind energy centre, one of the largest Indigenous projects in Canada. He advises First Nations in Ontario and in other provinces in relation to the legislative and executive functions of Indigenous governments, and is Past Chair of the OBA’s Aboriginal Law Section.
Bill Taggart’s comprehensive review of the Anishnabek Nation Governance Agreement appears in Key Developments in Aboriginal Law, Volume 2 edited by Thomas Isaac and published by Thomson Reuters.
Bill is recognized as a leading lawyer in the 2023 edition of The Best Lawyers™ in Canada in aboriginal law.
John is a Partner in our Business Law Department.
John’s practice involves an extensive range of corporate and commercial matters including mergers and acquisitions, business dispositions, business re-organizations, real estate and other types of joint ventures and the preparation of commercial documents such as stock option plans, shareholder agreements, partnership agreements, co-tenancy agreements and employment agreements. John provides services for companies in a wide range of industries including property management, real estate brokerage and manufacturing.
David’s practice is focused on advising condominium Boards and managers in a wide variety of condominium governance issues.
As condominium corporate counsel, David advises Boards of Directors with respect to an array of matters including first year budget deficit claims, Tarion claims, shared facilities disputes, reserve fund expenditures, enforcement matters, by-laws and review of all manner of agreements. Frequently, David is asked to be the chair at owners’ meetings and has acted as an independent chair appointed by the Superior Court. David also teaches portions of the Condominium Law Course for the Association of Condominium Managers of Ontario at Humber College and in-house management company sessions.
Elliott has developed a reputation for expertise in securities law and for his ability to negotiate and complete complex and innovative transactions.
Elliott practices all aspects of corporate, commercial and securities law, with a focus on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance. He represents a range of public and private companies in diverse industries, including real estate services, technology, investment brokerage & management, solar energy and mortgage investments. He has established various types of pooled and other investment funds and advised lead and significant investors. On an ongoing basis, Elliott advises a number of Canadian reporting issuers and investment funds in connection with securities and regulatory compliance and corporate governance matters.
