Practising labour and employment law

Heather Hettiarachchi

Clark Wilson LLP, Vancouver

Pros:
• This area has a significant impact on people’s lives because, at its core, it deals with matters relating to a person’s livelihood. Yet at the same time, it is broader than a single individual’s right to earn a living.

• The labour and employment lawyer must have a sound knowledge of a number of other fields of law including human rights, privacy, workers’ compensation, bankruptcy, constitutional law, and business law.

• It is very satisfying when you are able to structure a good settlement in a wrongful dismissal case or a human rights case and sometimes even restore a fractured employment relationship.

• Labour law is a very complex yet exciting area of law as you often deal with sophisticated parties who have built up a good relationship over the years. In these situations, the parties are able to quickly “cut to the chase.”

• When you practise in the area of labour and employment law, a better part of your time is spent before tribunals as opposed to the courts. As a result, you are generally able to resolve matters more speedily.

• Representing your client at the bargaining table gives you good insight into different business models and industries.

Cons:
• You don’t have the luxury of dealing with a single large file; you have to work on several files at the same time. This can be challenging and sometimes frustrating because you lose your momentum when you are switching back and forth the between files.

• You must keep abreast of developments in many areas.

• You have to deal with unrepresented claimants on a fairly regular basis. This is a very trying experience.

• Business lawyers often wait to seek advice on labour and employment issues until the eve of closing a large transaction.

Charlotte Willson

Heenan Blaikie LLP, Toronto

Pros:
• Labour and employment law is an exciting area of the law where lawyers have diverse practices and the work is anything but routine. 

• Labour and employment law is unique in that the amount of solicitor work (i.e. providing written legal opinions) is roughly equivalent to the amount of litigation (i.e. representing clients in front of a court or an administrative tribunal). 

• The issues that fall directly within a labour and employment lawyer’s bailiwick are quite varied. For example, labour and employment lawyers handle matters involving employment standards legislation, union certifications, etc.

• As well, other areas of the law that are not specific to labour and employment factor quite heavily in this area of practice, such as human rights, tax, and tort law (i.e. an allegation that an employer defamed his or her former employee).

Cons:
• Despite its many positive attributes, labour and employment law is not without its drawbacks. Most notably, because the practice area is diverse, it often takes junior lawyers a long period of time to master all of the pertinent skill sets. 

• Labour and employment law is not the most lucrative practice area. While lawyers in this practice area can earn very respectable incomes, those who choose to practise in other areas of the law, such as intellectual property or securities, will typically have greater opportunities to earn larger sums of money.