Michael Finley

About Michael Finley

Major corporations and municipalities work with Michael Finley, and so do small businesses and individuals. Much of that work is regulatory defence: inspections, investigations and prosecutions under Ontario and federal environmental statutes, a process that can feel overwhelming without the right help. Finley is a partner with Gowling WLG's Climate Change and Environment Group in Toronto, and the broader practice covers environmental, municipal, administrative and civil litigation.

Finley's approach to client work is straightforward, practical advice, delivered in both English and French.

Finley has appeared before a wide range of forums: the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, the Court of Appeal for Ontario, the Superior Court and the Ontario Court of Justice, plus the Ontario Land Tribunal and the Environmental Review Tribunal. In the federal carbon pricing references, Finley was one of the Gowling WLG lawyers acting for the Canadian Public Health Association as an intervener, at the Court of Appeal for Ontario and later at the Supreme Court of Canada. Public inquiries are part of the record too, with a role representing the City of Windsor at the Public Order Emergency Commission and a stint as commission counsel to the Long Term Care COVID-19 Commission. Called to the Ontario bar in 2014, Finley joined the firm's partnership at the start of 2023.

Off the clock, Finley sits on the Ontario Environmental Industry Association's water committee and belongs to conservation groups such as Ducks Unlimited and the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters. A keen outdoorsman, Finley's also a gardener, a dedicated parent and a collector of cookbooks.