Municipal Law Chambers
5 lawyers · Established 1996 · Halton Region, City of Toronto
One of 173 law firms listed in Oakville, and one of 14 handling Administrative & Regulatory Law.
Virtual appointmentsVirtual appointmentsAbout Municipal Law Chambers
Municipal Law Chambers is a small group of independent lawyers based in downtown Oakville, with additional meeting rooms in BCE Place in Toronto's financial district for clients who work in the city. Gordon E. Petch founded the firm in 1996 after three decades practising municipal and environmental law, including time heading the municipal and environmental law departments at Borden & Elliot and Holden Day Wilson in Toronto. The firm's five lawyers now concentrate on municipal law and the fields it touches most: real estate development, environmental law, expropriation, and property assessment and taxation, along with tax law, wills and estates, and collaborative family law.
The lawyers bring varied paths into that work. Russell D. Cheeseman, called to the bar in 1986, pairs an Osgoode Hall law degree with a master's in environmental studies from York University and has appeared before bodies from the former Ontario Municipal Board to the Niagara Escarpment Commission. Stephanie Fleming studied law at the University of Sheffield in England, taught English in Japan for five years beforehand, and now writes on Ontario planning legislation. Milovan Prelevic holds a tax LLM from the University of Cambridge and previously worked at Ontario's Ministry of Finance. Lynne Daubaras, whose career began at a Bay Street firm, practises estates law and collaborative family law through a separate professional corporation.
Practice areas
Milestones & recognition
- Gordon E. Petch founded Municipal Law Chambers in 1996, after three decades in municipal and environmental law that included heading the municipal and environmental law departments at Borden & Elliot and, before that, Holden Day Wilson, both in Toronto.
- In its 2026 rankings, Best Law Firms rated Municipal Law Chambers Tier 3 in Toronto for both municipal law and real estate law.
- Milovan Prelevic was called to the bar in Ontario in 2002 and in Alberta in 2006, and holds a Master of Laws in Taxation from the University of Cambridge (2004).
In the community
- Gordon E. Petch has been a guest lecturer at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and has presented papers on environmental law to International Bar Association meetings in Vancouver and New Zealand.
- Russell D. Cheeseman has served as an executive member of the Canadian Bar Association Ontario's Municipal Law Section and has presented at seminars for the Law Society of Upper Canada and the Canadian Institute.
- Milovan Prelevic taught as the Samuel Belzberg Lecturer at the University of Alberta Faculty of Law from 2004 to 2006 and has spoken at York University and Osgoode Hall Law School.
- The firm publishes regular legal updates on Ontario planning and municipal legislation, including recent pieces on Bill 17, the Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, 2025, and the 2024 Provincial Planning Statement.
Good to know
Wheelchair accessible
Virtual appointments
By appointmentLawyers 5
Gordon E. Petch
Barrister
Administrative & Regulatory LawReal Estate Law
Lynne Daubaras
Wills, Estates & TrustsFamily Law
Milovan Prelevic
Tax LawWills, Estates & Trusts
Russell D. Cheeseman
Barrister
Administrative & Regulatory LawReal Estate Law
Stephanie Fleming
Associate
Administrative & Regulatory LawCivil Litigation & Dispute Resolution
This firm’s lawyers at a glance
- Called to the bar
- 1972–2019 · median 32 years in practice 4 of 5 lawyers
- Law schools
- Osgoode Hall Law School, University of British Columbia Law School, University of Sheffield, University of Western Ontario 4 of 5 lawyers
- Languages on the roster
- English, French, German, Japanese, Russian, Serbo-Croatian
Who handles what
Offices 2
Royal Building, 277 Lakeshore Road East, Suite 211, Oakville, ON L6J 1H9
The neighbourhood
The firm's Oakville office is on Lakeshore Road East, the commercial spine of the town's downtown that runs toward Oakville Harbour on Lake Ontario. That stretch sits within Oakville's downtown heritage conservation district, put in place in 2013 to protect a streetscape built up largely over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It's a fitting address for a firm whose day to day work is often about how towns like Oakville grow and change: zoning, subdivision approvals, development charges, and disputes over property assessment.
For clients based downtown, the firm also keeps meeting rooms in BCE Place in Toronto's financial district rather than staffing a second full office, a satellite arrangement built for convenience rather than a Toronto headquarters.
Frequently asked questions
- Does Municipal Law Chambers represent developers and landowners in front of municipal councils?
- Yes. The firm acts for municipalities, developers, and landowners on real estate development matters, including zoning, subdivision plans, and development charges, and its lawyers appear before municipal councils and tribunals such as the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal across Ontario.
- Can the firm help if my property has been reassessed or expropriated?
- The firm handles property assessment appeals arising from MPAC reassessments, and it represents both landowners and expropriating authorities in expropriation matters, including disputes over land value, business interruption, and injurious affection.
- Does Municipal Law Chambers handle wills, estates, and tax planning?
- Yes. Milovan Prelevic's practice covers tax law along with wills, estates, and trusts, and Lynne Daubaras handles estate planning, business succession planning, and estate administration through a separate professional corporation.
- Does the firm offer collaborative family law?
- Yes. Lynne Daubaras practises collaborative family law, an approach that aims to resolve family and estates disputes through cooperation rather than a courtroom process.
- Where is Municipal Law Chambers located, and can it help clients based in Toronto?
- The firm's office is in downtown Oakville, with additional meeting rooms in BCE Place in Toronto's financial district for clients who work in the city. Its lawyers also travel across Ontario for municipal and environmental law matters.
- How long has Municipal Law Chambers been practising municipal law?
- Gordon E. Petch founded the firm in 1996 after roughly three decades already spent in municipal and environmental law, and the firm has stayed focused on that area since.
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Bankruptcy & InsolvencyListing compiled from the firm’s public website in August 2026. Verify licence status in the Law Society of Ontario directory ↗