34 lawyers · Established 1974 · Middlesex County (London), Waterloo Region, Essex County (Windsor) and 1 more location
One of 188 law firms listed in London, and one of 46 handling Family Law.
Free consultationCohen Highley LLP is a multidisciplinary, full service law firm, founded in London, Ontario in 1974, and every one of its offices offers full legal services. Two of them are in London, the head office and a South office, and there are also offices in Kitchener, Strathroy and Sarnia. In 2023 the firm opened its sixth branch, in Windsor.
Laura Gurr, the managing partner, works in the multi-residential housing group and focuses on condominium law and affordable housing. Matt Newton-Reid, the co-managing partner, is a civil litigator who mainly handles personal injury.
Clients can be served in more than one language. Vera Dokter, born in Portugal and raised in Strathroy, gives legal advice and services in Portuguese as well as English, and built a practice in London before joining Cohen Highley in 2024. Aesha Patel, part of the real estate, wills and estates group in Kitchener, is fluent in English, Gujarati and Hindi. Faisal Nasim speaks Urdu and Hindi fluently and is qualified as a barrister in the UK and as an advocate of the High Courts in Pakistan.
Cohen Highley's lawyers also take questions on the firm's On Air segments: Julien Luckasavitch on what title insurance is, and John Nicholson, a medical malpractice lawyer, on the key elements of a malpractice suit. Kate Schoffer has written about the end of mortgages under the Housing Services Act and what it means for non-profit housing providers. Kristin Ley, a partner, is practice group leader for two teams, multi-residential housing and commercial litigation, and is one of the co-chairs of the Osgoode Residential Tenancies Program, held every year.
Harris Cohen, a London native, founded the firm shortly after being called to the bar in 1973, and Frank Highley joined it in 1991. When Harris Cohen died, the staff mourned the loss of their founder, colleague, mentor and friend.
In early 2001 Paul Steacy and Brian Phillips, law partners for more than 20 years, moved together to join the firm's corporate/commercial, real estate and estate team. For its 50th anniversary, Cohen Highley planned a series of events celebrating past and present staff, its clients and its community.
Family Law
Personal Injury
Business & Corporate Law
Real Estate Law
Wills, Estates & Trusts
Employment & Labour Law
Landlord & Tenant
Civil Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Construction Law
Administrative & Regulatory Law
Health Law
The housing group represents clients at the Landlord and Tenant Board, the Condominium Authority Tribunal, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario and in court, backed by more than 30 years of work for residential landlords. Owners of land lease and mobile home communities get help with matters such as provincial water and sewage rules and buying or selling those communities, and retirement and care home operators get help with licensing, leasing and Retirement Homes Act issues.
Condominium clients range from developers and boards through to individual unit owners, and the work covers development, management and litigation. On the non-profit side, Shereen Goncalves has helped many housing clients obtain property tax exemptions.
The personal injury group handles motor vehicle collisions, snowmobile accidents, medical malpractice, birth trauma and birth injuries, historic abuse and police negligence. It also takes on short and long-term disability claims and WSIB matters.
The family team pairs collaboratively trained lawyers, for people who'd rather settle out of court, with litigators for cases that need a judge. Its work includes equalization of net family property for married spouses, cohabitation agreements, and property disputes argued on unjust enrichment or a resulting trust.
Our guide: How to Get a Divorce in Ontario
The firm acts for specialists in medicine, dentistry, chiropractic, optometry and psychology across Ontario, including buying and selling practices and reorganizing them for tax planning. David L. Brown acts for dentists, physicians and other professionals and their professional corporations.
Franchise work is done for both franchisors and franchisees. Succession planning can include moving ownership to employees through phantom shares, an employee stock ownership plan or an employee ownership trust. Faisal Nasim, a partner in the corporate group, regularly helps foreign companies set up operations in Canada and has acted as local counsel for international firms.
On expropriations the real estate lawyers can act for a government ministry or municipality, or for a landowner who's received a notice. In Kitchener, Victoria Young's real estate work takes in agricultural as well as residential and commercial deals, along with rezoning applications and severances.
Joshua Laplante, a litigator whose practice is limited to estate disputes, powers of attorney, guardianship and estate administration, represents executors and beneficiaries alike. Tyler Hortie, who leads the real estate, wills and estates group and runs the Kitchener office, does estate planning for parents of children with disabilities.
Employment clients include both employers and employees. The firm represents them at the Ontario Labour Relations Board, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario and the Ministry of Labour, and in court up to the Court of Appeal, and it negotiates in collective bargaining and advises on the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
The commercial litigation team takes on business disputes involving contracts, shareholders and intellectual property, including copyright, trademark and passing-off claims.
On construction matters the firm acts for property owners, developers, builders and subcontractors. Christian Jannetta, a partner in commercial litigation, practises mainly in construction and employment law.
Wheelchair accessible
LGBTQ+ friendly
By appointment
Contingency
Free consultationAccountability for the quality of the work on every file, and to every client, is a core commitment at Cohen Highley, along with meeting clients' needs while acting fairly, firmly and with integrity. Harris Cohen's own vision for the firm was responsive service and effective solutions for each client, a stable, nurturing and enriching workplace for employees, and a firm that contributes to the larger community it belongs to. Those core values, first written down by Harris Cohen in an application, have stayed consistent ever since.
In family matters, the firm's policy is to encourage resolution without litigation where possible. Every office is fully accessible and complies with the firm's AODA Customer Service Standard Policy, and all lawyers and staff are to be trained under it, including in how to interact with people who use an assistive device or rely on a guide dog, another service animal or a support person.
The City of Waterloo asked the court for more time to perfect its appeal, which had been due on May 14, 2019, and the motion was dismissed. Matt Newton-Reid, appearing as Matthew Reid, acted for the responding parties.
This was an appeal from Myers J.'s dismissal of a motion for an interim stay of an order of Chief Justice Morawetz dealing with the moratorium on evictions. The court held that the order under appeal was interlocutory and quashed the appeal. Kristin A. Ley and Joseph J. Hoffer were among counsel for the Federation of Rental Housing Providers of Ontario.
Decisions where the firm's lawyers appeared as counsel, from public court records. Past cases don't predict future results.
One London Place, 255 Queens Avenue, 11th Floor, London, ON N6A 5R8
One of the London offices is on the 11th floor of One London Place at 255 Queens Avenue, a tower completed in 1992. Besides offices, the building has a restaurant, a fitness centre and an underground lot with 382 parking spaces.
In Kitchener the firm is in Suite 1001 at 55 King Street West, a 12-storey building in the downtown core. It's a few blocks from Kitchener City Hall, the Waterloo Regional Offices and the provincial courthouse, and a short walk from an LRT stop.
The Strathroy office is at 39 Front Street West. Strathroy sits 35 kilometres west of London, and agriculture, food processing and auto manufacturing are among its main industries. Janet M. Gibbons, who's based there and was called to the bar in 1979, acts for agricultural and business clients as well as individuals and families.
The Sarnia office is on Christina Street North. In Windsor, Becca (Pillon) Beneteau does corporate and real estate work for private companies across Southwestern Ontario, including Windsor-Essex County, which is Becca's home area.
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Class ActionsThis listing was generated by AI from public sources in October 2026. It may contain errors, and we can’t guarantee it’s accurate or complete. Before you rely on anything here, verify it on the firm’s own website. Verify licence status in the Law Society of Ontario directory ↗
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