Senior Legal Advisor

Location: Toronto or Port Hope, ON Canada Type: Permanent Group/Grade: Management Date: December 2, 2024   The Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) is Canada’s largest nurses’ union. We are powered by our members — 68,000 nurses and health-care professionals, and 18,000 nursing student affiliates — who provide care in hospitals, long-term care, public health, the community, clinics and industry.   Our mission is to defend the rights of and advocate for nurses and health-care professionals who care for the health of Ontarians. We empower members and fight against unfair and unsafe treatment, negotiate and enforce our contracts, offer benefits and insurance, provide tailored education and development opportunities and much more. We confront governments, administrations and other policymakers head on to fight for high-quality public health care.   ONA is seeking to hire a Senior Legal Advisor to join our Legal Department. The successful candidate will act as senior counsel for ONA in complex litigation, support the delivery of legal services across the organization, and provide legal advice and opinions to the leadership team; act as a lead on behalf of the legal department in designated specialty area(s).   This is what else you can expect from this dynamic role: Advisory, Research, Opinion Work, and Reports

• Provide strategic and legal advice to ONA, the CLO, the CEO, the senior executive team, the management team, staff, the Board of Directors, and Local and Bargaining Unit Leaders.
• Work with the CLO and the Manager of Litigation to coordinate, support, and assist in delivering and supporting legal services to ONA.
• Conduct legal research on legal issues as required. Provide legal advice, prepare written legal opinions, and memoranda on a broad range of issues that arise across the organization.

Litigation

• Prepare and litigate a range of cases including judicial reviews/court matters, significant /complex arbitration cases or cases with provincial implications, overflow arbitration cases, labour board matters (Public Sector Labour Relations Transition Act, Labour Relations Act: certification/decertification applications, successor employer/related employer applications, unfair labour practice, jurisdictional disputes, duty of fair representation complaints), appeals under the Occupational Health & Safety Act, proceedings before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, overflow cases before the College of Nurses and other regulatory bodies, and other special proceedings including public inquiries, coroner’s inquest, and commissions.
• Acts as co-counsel with junior counsel and in doing so, mentor other counsel in their litigation skills and practice development.

Leadership: Education, Direction, and Lead

• Prepare and provide educational presentations to staff, leaders, and membership.
• Develop litigation and labour relations directions in relation to ongoing issues and drive optimal resolution of provincial litigation as assigned in conjunction with the CLO and Manager of Litigation through strategy formation, direction & advice.
• Act as the lead in a specialty area or issue as assigned.

Support to the Litigation Team

• Provide substantive legal advice and support to the Manager of Litigation.
• Provide substantive legal advice to the Legal Coordinators as needed.
• Lead the litigation team in professional development matters in coordination with the Manager of Litigation.

What we are looking for: The successful candidate will possess -

• LL.B/Juris Doctor (J.D) is required.
• Called to the Bar of Ontario. A member in good standing with the Law Society of Ontario.
• A minimum of eight (8) to ten (10) years of relevant experience including demonstrated knowledge and practice in labour law and related areas including in the courts, rights arbitration, labour board, human rights, privacy, health & safety, and other areas.
• Demonstrated litigation and oral advocacy skills as well as drafting of legal opinions, pleadings, submissions, and factum.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience in labour relations issues in health care relevant to Registered Nurses and other Regulated Health Care Professionals.
• Demonstrated experience with teaching, educating, and mentoring staff.
• Demonstrated inter-personal skills and proven success in relationship building.
• Must have good judgement, strong analytical, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills.

The successful candidate must be able to travel, possess a valid driver’s license and have access to an automobile for business use.   All interested candidates may apply via ONA Jobs by 4:30 p.m. on December 16, 2024.   The Ontario Nurses’ Association is committed to employment and pay equity within its staff. Applications are encouraged from equity groups including individuals of Indigenous descent, racialized individuals, individuals with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ persons. We also provide accessible employment practices that are in compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (‘AODA’). If you require accommodation for a disability during any stage of the recruitment process, please notify Human Resources.   Thank you for your interest in joining us. Only those selected for an interview will be contacted.