Liane Langstaff

About Liane Langstaff

Companies and municipalities dealing with environmental regulators get strategic advice and courtroom representation from Liane Langstaff, a partner in Gowling WLG's Toronto Environmental Law Group who also co-leads the firm's ESG Advisory Services practice. The work runs from approvals for large mining, energy and infrastructure projects to species at risk, climate change and constitutional challenges.

Science came first. Langstaff earned a BSc in Environmental Sciences at the University of Guelph in 2011, then completed the joint JD/MBA at Osgoode Hall Law School and the Schulich School of Business in 2015. A summer position in 2014 and then articling in Gowling WLG's Environmental Law Group led to a call to the Ontario bar in 2016, and a year later Langstaff clerked at the Court of Appeal for Ontario. Today that litigation grounding shows up in hearings before the Ontario Land Tribunal, the Divisional Court and the Federal Court, and in the carbon pricing references, where Langstaff was part of the Gowling WLG team acting for the Canadian Public Health Association at the Supreme Court of Canada.

Climate risk is a big part of the practice. As a Climate Governance Expert with the Canada Climate Law Initiative, Langstaff speaks with boards and corporate audiences about what climate change and biodiversity mean for them. Client work has included helping companies put corporate climate action plans into place, using carbon offsets to protect and draw value from forest and farm land, and training in-house and municipal legal teams on their ESG duties.

Teaching matters to Langstaff too. Osgoode students have had Langstaff as co-instructor of the environmental law course, and the faculty list for Osgoode's Certificate in ESG, Sustainability Climate Risk and the Law includes the partner's name. Langstaff also co-wrote A Guide to Canada's Impact Assessment Act (2020 Edition) for LexisNexis Canada.