Roper Greyell is delighted to announce the addition of Andrew Hefford to the firm.
Andrew joins as an associate, and prior to joining Roper Greyell, gained professional experience at a prominent national business law firm in Vancouver, practicing in Labour and Employment law as well as Commercial Litigation.
Learn more about Andrew here.
In the 2024 Edition of The Best Lawyers in Canada™, ten Roper Greyell lawyers were recognized for their excellence in the areas of Education, Labour & Employment, and Workers’ Compensation Law. Delayne M. Sartison K.C., was further recognized as “Lawyer of the Year” for Vancouver in the area of Education Law (for her work in the education sector on behalf of educational institutions). Only one lawyer is recognized as the “Lawyer of the Year” for each specialty and location.
Additionally, Katie Comley and Sabrina Anis were acknowledged as noteworthy individuals to watch within the legal field, earning the distinction of Best Lawyers – Ones to Watch in Canada.
The lawyers recognized in The Best Lawyers in Canada 2024 Edition are:
Education Law (representing educational institutions)
Labour and Employment Law
Workers’ Compensation Law
Best Lawyers – Ones to Watch in Canada
About Best Lawyers:
Best Lawyers has been providing comprehensive coverage of top legal talents in Canada and around the world for over 30 years. Lawyers on the list are reviewed by their peers on the basis of professional expertise. Additional recognitions are also awarded to individual lawyers with the highest overall feedback from their peers for a specific practice area and geographic region.
Best Lawyers – Ones to Watch in Canada recognizes talented up-and-coming lawyers in Canada. The methodology for Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in Canada is the same as that of The Best Lawyers in Canada, dependent entirely on a nomination and peer-review process. To be eligible for Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in Canada, lawyers must be in private practice and have a tenure of three to eight years.
Roper Greyell is excited to welcome four incredible 2023/24 Articling Students to the firm: Amanda Scorda, Elizabeth Lotfali, Lara Israel and Talia Behrmann. All four were 2022 Summer Students at RG, and we look forward to offering them hands-on, practical workplace law experience alongside our dynamic team of lawyers and legal professionals.
Welcome back to RG!
Roper Greyell is excited to celebrate the 2023 Vancouver Pride festivities. This year marks the second in-person Pride Parade following the COVID 19 pandemic, with the festival returning with the theme of “Reconnect” signifying the importance of reconnecting with our local communities.
We continue to channel one of the firm’s core values in community contribution and our commitment to making a positive difference in our local communities by making a meaningful donation of $5000 to Rainbow Refugee.
Rainbow Refugee is a Vancouver-based organization that “promotes safe, equitable migration and communities of belonging for people fleeing persecution based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or HIV status.”
You can learn more about the important work that Rainbow Refugee does here.
As part of our Pride celebrations last year, we were thrilled to support an empowering local organization called Qmunity. Qmunity “works to improve queer, trans and Two spirited Lives.”, and our $5000 donation helped increase their programs and services to serve over 6,000+ people in need last year. We were pleased to learn that our donation assisted with establishing essential services that supports a significant number of people. Some of the services include:
• Eliminating waitlist for at-risk youth accessing free counselling services.
• Expanding the free gender affirming wear program to include bottom wear.
• Adding three new weekly programs for seniors and older adults.
• Offering more appointments for free Trans ID legal clinic.
The new services created to accommodate the increased demand also led Qmunity to:
• Triple the number of seniors and adults in their programs.
• Serve 450% more transgender, and gender diverse seniors and older adults.
• Double the number of youths in their programs.
Learn more about the good work that Qmunity does here.
As a firm, we are celebrating Pride all week by deepening our understanding of Pride and looking at the history of Pride and LGBTQIA2S+ rights in Canada. On Wednesday we hosted Norma Lize from Rainbow Refugee who gave incredible insight into the crucial work they carry out daily. Along with delicious treats, craft activities and colourful decorations, RG truly embraced the spirit of Pride, ensuring we continue to promote an authentic workplace that is diverse and inclusive and where everyone is welcome.
We are thrilled to announce that Roper Greyell has received recognition at the 10th annual Canadian HR Awards for 2023.
Roper Greyell has been honored as an Excellence Awardee in the category of ‘Best Labour & Employment Boutique Law Firm’. This prestigious accolade serves as a testament to our unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional legal services to our clients in the field of Labour & Employment.
This achievement reflects the dedication and expertise of our talented team at Roper Greyell, who continuously strive to provide innovative and comprehensive solutions to the complex challenges faced by our clients.
The Canadian HR Awards is widely recognized as a benchmark for excellence in the industry, and we are honored to have been acknowledged among the top performers and celebrates its 10th year in partnership with HRD Canada and Canadian HR Reporter.
See the full list of awardees here.
At Roper Greyell, we are committed to having a positive impact in our local community. The year-end holiday season is meant to be a time of joy and celebration, however this can also be a challenging time for many individuals. This December, Roper Greyell is donating $10,000 to the Crisis Centre of BC to support their work in our community. The Crisis Centre of BC has been providing help and support to individuals, organizations and communities since 1969. This donation will help support their critical service offerings:
For more information on the Crisis Centre of BC and how you can support their work, visit: https://crisiscentre.bc.ca
Thomas A. Roper, K.C. is one of two 2022 recipients of the Bora Laskin Award. Named in honour of the late Chief Justice Bora Laskin, who was a pre-eminent labour law scholar and labour arbitrator before joining the Supreme Court of Canada, this award was established by the University of Toronto to honour those who have made outstanding contributions to Canadian labour law.
Over the course of his 47-year legal career, Tom has had a significant impact on labour law in B.C through his counsel work, and as one of three special advisers to the Minister of Labour tasked with revamping the B.C. Labour Relations Code in 1992. As a leader within the legal community, Tom’s expertise is highly sought-after by clients, organizations, educators and colleagues. As the Chair of Roper Greyell, he shares his extensive experience and technical understanding of the law as a mentor of young lawyers in the firm.
As noted by the Selection Committee in announcing the award, Tom has “made an indelible mark in the labour relations community,” having “deservedly gained the confidence of both sides of the labour bar in British Columbia as well as universal respect from arbitrators and mediators in the province and beyond.”
Tom will be presented with the Bora Laskin Award on December 14, 2022, in conjunction with Lancaster’s Vancouver Labour Arbitration and Policy Conference.
Congratulations Tom!
Roper Greyell is pleased to welcome Shikha Sondhi to the firm as Director of Finance.
Shikha brings her expertise in financial analysis and controllership to her role at Roper Greyell. She is an experienced leader of financial accounting teams, providing a strategic vision and mentorship to the team.
Learn more about Shikha here.
Roper Greyell LLP has once again been ranked by Chambers Canada as a Band 1 firm for Employment and Labour law in British Columbia and a Band 2 firm in the Nationwide rankings (the only BC-based firm to be included in this Band).
Chambers Canada also recognized five of RG partners as “Ranked Lawyers” in their 2023 Guide:
What clients are saying:
“Roper Greyell provided pragmatic advice that included strategic considerations which allowed us to get to quicker outcomes and avoid unnecessary litigation.”
“The team has an excellent ability to provide advice on complex matters taking into consideration the unique needs of our business.”
About Chambers Canada
Chambers Canada covers lawyers and law firms practicing in all provinces and territories in Canada. The guide recommends lawyers and law firms in over 40 specialist practice areas across Canada, and is published annually each September.
Roper Greyell is pleased to welcome Katie Comley to the firm.
Katie practices in all areas of employment and labour law. Prior to joining Roper Greyell, Katie was part of the Labour and Employment group at a national firm, and most recently practised with a boutique workplace law and commercial litigation firm in Vancouver
Learn more about Katie here.
