Ascent Employment Law

About Ascent Employment Law

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Ascent Employment Law is a British Columbia firm that practices exclusively in employment, labour, and human rights law. Three partners, David Brown, Richard Johnson, and Trevor Thomas, founded the firm in 2020, and it's grown to a team of lawyers, paralegals, and a mediator working from five offices around the province, in Vancouver, Kelowna, Victoria, Vernon, and Prince George. The firm's LinkedIn page lists Vancouver as its headquarters, but Brown doesn't practice from there: Brown works out of Kelowna, having already spent years advising employers and employees in BC's Interior before Ascent came together. Ascent represents both sides of the employment relationship, handling wrongful and constructive dismissal, workplace investigations, human rights complaints, and disputes in unionized and federally regulated workplaces.

The firm merged with associate counsel Veronica Ukrainetz's practice in 2023; Ukrainetz had run it independently since 2007 and now works mainly with employers as a strategic advisor and mediator. Ascent became a certified B Corp in 2022, meeting B Lab's standards for accountability and transparency and scoring at least 80 points on the B Impact Assessment. Partner Richard Johnson holds an Advanced Certificate in Workplace Investigations from Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, sits on the Board of Directors of the Lawyers Assistance Program of British Columbia, and teaches workplace investigation and harassment prevention workshops through the firm's training program.