Carissa N. Tanzola

About Carissa N. Tanzola

Carissa Tanzola has been managing partner of Filion Wakely Thorup Angeletti since January 1, 2025, and continues to act for employers facing difficult workplace problems. Workers' compensation, health and safety on the job, and disability management and accommodation sit at the heart of Carissa's practice, for unionized and non-unionized employers alike.

Called to the Ontario bar in 2008, Carissa first spent several years with a management-side labour and employment firm. A term as a Vice-Chair of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal followed. Carissa came to Filion in 2019 and has helped grow the firm's workers' compensation and occupational health and safety work ever since.

Carissa's cases are heard in court and before arbitrators, and also at the Ontario Labour Relations Board, the WSIB, the WSIAT and other administrative bodies. Carissa co-wrote a Carswell guide for employers on Ontario workplace safety and insurance, speaks and teaches often for legal and industry audiences, and has twice chaired the Ontario Bar Association's Labour and Employment Section.

Early on, a mentor told Carissa that being unapologetically yourself is a superpower, and it's advice Carissa still lives by. As managing partner, Carissa's goal is to protect what makes Filion strong while readying it for the next 40 years. With clients, Carissa keeps human rights duties front and centre, reminding employers that those obligations can never be forgotten. And for newer lawyers, the advice is simple: stay curious about the issues, the context and the why, because that's where legal skill and sound judgment come from.