Lester and Associates

About Lester and Associates

Lester and Associates is a small law firm in Cobourg, Ontario, founded by Alison Lester in 2022. Lester grew up in Cobourg, earned a BA in English literature from the University of Toronto in 2002, and graduated from McGill University's law school in 2005 with an LLB and a Bachelor of Civil Law. After being called to the Ontario bar in 2006, Lester spent six years at Gilbert's LLP, an intellectual property litigation firm in Toronto, then returned to Cobourg. In 2012, Lester acquired the local practice of Brad Halls, a lawyer who had worked in the area for more than thirty years. Partnerships followed, first as Irvine & Lester starting in 2014, then as Irvine Lester & Low, before Lester opened Lester and Associates independently in 2022.

The firm's work centers on real estate, wills and estate administration, and corporate law, along with trademark prosecution, a combination not common at a firm this size. Lester is a registered trademark agent, the only one based in the Cobourg and Port Hope area, and belongs to the College of Patent and Trademark Agents and the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada. Lawyer Madiha Khan joined the firm in May 2025 after in-house roles at Equitable Bank and Deloitte, and the team also includes four experienced staff members: Rachel Finlay, Pat Griffin, Carrie MacInnis, and Darlene Ridge.