James is a Toronto-based lawyer specializing in business and human rights, transnational corporate accountability, and international human rights. He represents plaintiffs in all kinds of human rights and social justice claims, with a focus on cases that raise novel and/or complex issues of transnational justice. He also advises NGOs and international organizations within these areas.
James has appeared at all levels of court in Canada, including the Supreme Court of Canada and multiple provincial Courts of Appeal. He is President of Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights (CLAIHR) and serves on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Council on International Law (CCIL).
James holds a Juris Doctor from Osgoode Hall Law School, where he graduated with various class prizes and the Silver Medal, and a Master of Laws from Yale Law School. After completing his JD he clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada for Justice Ian Binnie. James also holds a BSc in Computer Science and Cognitive Science from a university in Montreal presently named after a former slaveholder.
Christine Silversides is General Counsel of York University. Christine has practised law for more than 30 years, including ten years of private practice in downtown Toronto, followed by almost seven years as senior corporate counsel for a $7 Billion TSX-listed corporation. Since mid-2006, Christine has provided in-house legal advice and counsel to York University.
Christine began her legal practice at a firm located on Bay Street, working closely with a practice group known for rigorous training of junior lawyers and excellence in drafting clear and concise documents, artfully communicating the business and legal arrangements among parties to complex commercial transactions and real estate developments. Since 1992, Christine has consistently shared her experience and skills with students and lawyers alike, both teaching and mentoring others. Given her unusually broad range of practice experience, from real estate, corporate-commercial, securities, administrative litigation and general litigation, Christine has found that she is well-suited to the teaching of legal drafting in a wide variety of practice areas.
As the principal legal counsel for York University, Christine provides legal guidance and counsel in executive and policy decision-making and serves as a member of the executive leadership group. She provides strategic leadership in all matters with legal implications for the University. Working with multiple stakeholders and numerous agendas on complex matters, she deals with sensitive matters that involve high risk, including financial and reputational risk to the University community and/or ramifications for liability. Ms Silversides leads a team of legal counsel and other professionals and strategically prioritizes matters to ensure maximum use of in-house counsel and other professional resources. Christine has a broad portfolio, providing leadership of the Office of the Counsel, the Information and Privacy and Copyright Offices, the AODA Office, and the Licensing Office.
Madam Justice Melanie Kraft was appointed to the Superior Court of Justice on April 6, 2020. She graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1994. Upon completion of her articles with Epstein Cole LLP, she was admitted to the Bar of Ontario. She practiced family law exclusively with the firm, becoming a partner in 2001.
Justice Kraft’s practice covered a broad range of family law issues and involved various dispute-resolution mechanisms, including the negotiation of domestic contracts in complex financial matters and acting as counsel in contentious parenting, support, and property disputes.
Given Justice Kraft’s long-held commitment to improving the public’s access to justice, she has supported and participated in programs developed to support this objective. This includes her past participation in the Intensive Poverty Law Programme at Parkdale Community Legal Service; her service as Duty Counsel at the Ontario Court of Justice, and her service both as a Dispute Resolution Officer and as Advice Settlement Counsel at the Superior Court of Justice.
Justice Kraft has been an Adjunct Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, where she co-taught Family Law with Aaron Franks and Roslyn Tsao. She has obtained certificates in mediation from both the Collaborative Decision Resource Centre in Boulder, Colorado, and the Program of Instruction for Lawyers at Harvard Law School.
Kerry Wilkins, a recovering government lawyer, has written one book (Essentials of Canadian Aboriginal Law, 2018), edited another (Advancing Aboriginal Claims: Visions, Strategies, Directions, 2004), and published articles in various Canadian law journals and essay collections, usually having something to do with Indigenous peoples and/or Canada’s constitution. He has also taught courses at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.
Jonathan Odumeru (he/him) is the course director and instructor for the upper-year Lawyer as Negotiator (LAN) course, after being a member of the LAN Teaching Team since 2019.
Mr. Odumeru is Senior Litigation Counsel at the TD Bank Group, where he co-leads TD’s Canadian Investigations practice, and manages significant litigation matters. He is also a member of TD’s Human Rights Practice Team, and co-leads the TD Legal pro-bono initiative. Prior to joining TD, Mr. Odumeru was a litigation associate at McCarthy Tetrault LLP, and completed his articles at a small firm. Mr. Odumeru is called to the Bar of Ontario and has appeared before all levels of court in Ontario, as well as the Supreme Court of Canada.
Mr. Odumeru is an advocate and mentor in the 2SLGBT+ and Black legal communities, regularly speaking on panels, and has led several inclusion and diversity initiatives.
Mr. Odumeru received his BSc from the University of Guelph in 2007, and completed his JD at Osgoode in 2010. In 2011, Mr. Odumeru received an LLM with Distinction in International and Comparative Commercial Law from the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London). He went on to receive a postgraduate diploma in International Development in 2021, and a Masters in Public Policy with Distinction from the London School of Economics in 2022, where he focused on Climate, Human Rights, and Development policy issues.
Shannon Moldaver is the Principal of Shannon Moldaver Dispute Resolution Inc., providing services in mediation, workplace restoration, teaching, training, coaching, facilitation and education design. For mediation, investigation and/or training, she has been hired by several public and private sector organizations including various government agencies, hospital teams, banks, corporations, non-profit organizations, universities and colleges. She is a member of the ADR Chambers Inc. panel for her mediation work.
Shannon is an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School and has held the role of lead instructor of many courses at Osgoode Professional Development (OPD), and currently co-directs and teaches the OPD negotiation certificate course.
Shannon has a Master’s Degree in International Relations, an LL.B. and an LL.M. (Dispute Resolution) from Osgoode Hall Law School.
Before law school, Shannon worked in various capacities for the City of Toronto, including working directly for the Mayor at the time as well as holding a position in Human Resources. After law school, she worked at a litigation firm in downtown Toronto, ultimately running her own practice. Areas of practice included commercial, employment and family litigation. She then worked for the Law Society of Ontario for over 20 years initially mediating as Complaints Resolution Counsel and subsequently took on the role of Professional Development & Competence Counsel before opening her own mediation practice.
Jennifer L. King is a partner at Gowling WLG and is National Co-Lead of the firm’s Administrative Law Practice Group. She also serves as co-lead of the firm’s ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) advisory services practice. Ms. King a member of the firm’s Climate Change and Environment Group and Toronto’s Advocacy Department.
Ms. King’s litigation practice includes environmental law, administrative law, constitutional law, corporate and contractual disputes, professional liability, tort, public health, land use and municipal law, and Indigenous rights.
Ms. King has appeared before all levels of court including the Supreme Court of Canada, tribunals including the Ontario Land Tribunal, and Institutions of Public Government including the Nunavut Impact Review Board. Ms. King has also acted as counsel on public inquiries and for clients on environmental assessments.
In her advisory practice, Ms. King supports clients in navigating complex regulatory and public law regimes and assists in negotiating complex land and Inuit impact benefit agreements.
Ms. King speaks and writes on various professional topics including on environmental law and climate change, ESG, municipal law, freedom of information, emergency and disaster recovery and legal practice and procedure. She serves on the advisory boards and as faculty for two Osgoode Professional Development Certificates – ESG, Climate Risk and the Law and the Law of Emergencies: Practical Strategies in Disaster Preparedness, Management and Recovery. Ms. King is a Climate Governance Expert with the Canada Climate Law Initiative.
Ms. King was admitted to the Ontario bar in 2007, and the Nunavut bar in 2019.
Matthew is a partner in Gowling WLG’s Ottawa office and National Co-Lead of the firm’s Administrative Law Practice Group (Canada).
Matthew is a member of the advocacy department and the Copyright Group, practising primarily in the areas of copyright law, administrative law and appellate advocacy.
Anthony Sangiuliano is a postdoctoral researcher affiliated with the Connected Minds research program at York University and the Jack and Mae Nathanson Centre on Transnational Human Rights, Crime, and Security at Osgoode, as well as the Tort Law and Social Equality Project at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. He has previously served as a judicial law clerk at the Ontario Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. He was an Articling Student at the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General – Constitutional Law Branch, a Research Associate at Lenczner Slaght Royce Smith Griffin LLP, and Commission Counsel of the Ottawa Light Rail Transit Inquiry.
Anthony’s doctoral research was awarded the Canadian Bar Association Viscount Bennett Fellowship and the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada. His writes on a wide range of subjects encompassing antidiscrimination law, health law, constitutional and administrative law, and contracts and torts. His work has been published in the Osgoode Hall Law Journal, the Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence, the McGill Law Journal, the Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, the University of Toronto Law Journal, and the American Journal of Law and Equality. It has been cited by the Supreme Court of Canada. His interdisciplinary research methodology applies techniques derived from analytical philosophy to legal studies.
Adam is a partner at Epstein Cole LLP and has worked there in some form or another since 2013. Adam was called to the bar in 2013 after completing his clerkship for the Senior Family Justice, the Associate Chief Justice and the Judges of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.