Gillian Hnatiw & Co.

About Gillian Hnatiw & Co.

Gillian Hnatiw & Co. is a civil litigation and administrative law firm based in Toronto's financial district, at 120 Adelaide Street West. Gillian Hnatiw founded the firm in November 2019 after 15 years at Lerners LLP, where the path ran from articling student to partner, followed by a stint at Adair Goldblatt Bieber LLP, a small litigation firm. The firm now has four lawyers, supported by law clerks and an administrative assistant. Its practice centres on professional negligence, health law, and civil claims arising from sexual, physical, and psychological abuse, harassment, and assault, acting for both plaintiffs and defendants, individuals and corporations. Lawyers at the firm also handle employment disputes, human rights matters, and general commercial litigation.

The firm's lawyers argue cases at every level of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada. Taylor Bain describes a trauma-informed approach to litigation practice, and Sydney McIvor applies a trauma-informed approach to the workplace and sports-related investigations conducted at the firm. Reported matters have included the Motherisk hair-testing litigation, a proposed class action against the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, and R. v. Jarvis, a Supreme Court case on voyeurism and the reasonable expectation of privacy. The firm also publishes a multi-part blog series that walks through how Ontario's civil law treats sexual assault and battery claims.