Our people

Ms Banning is a lay Bencher of the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) and General Manager of Maawandoon Inc., a Fort William-based business specializing in Indigenous engagement, capacity and infrastructure development, First Nation governance policy, and procedure development. Previously, she worked within the financial services sector as Chief Credit Officer for a credit union where she managed property and commercial law files and adjudicated a $70-million loan portfolio.

A proud Nishnaabe-qwe band member of Fort William First Nation and lifetime resident of Northwestern Ontario, Ms Banning is the second-ever Indigenous lay Bencher in the LSO’s history. Lay Benchers are appointed by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. They represent the public and do not require a law degree or training. She sits on the LSO’s Audit & Finance, Equity and Indigenous Affairs, and Tribunal committees.

Eric S. Block joined the Class Proceedings Committee in December 2025.

Eric is a partner at Ross Nasseri LLP. An experienced trial lawyer, Eric focuses on high stakes, complex commercial litigation, fraud, cross-border litigation, internal investigations, real estate litigation, trade secret litigation, environmental litigation, product liability, private wealth litigation, and defamation. Eric is also a class actions expert. He has represented defence and plaintiff sides, acting in agricultural, product liability, medical devices, securities, employment spaces, and constitutional spaces.

Prior to joining Ross Nasseri LLP, Eric was a partner in the Toronto Litigation Group of McCarthy Tétrault LLP where he was awarded the mentor of the year and the legacy mentor award. Before this, Eric was a litigator at Paul, Weiss in New York where he worked on many precedent-setting litigations.

Eric has written for the Wall Street Journal and Jerusalem Post, among other publications. He co-authored the book Emergency Law in Canada: Commentary and Legislation. Eric received a degree in jurisprudence from Oxford University in 1997 and an LLM from the University of Chicago Law School in 1998. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 2003.

Gerald Chan is a Law Society of Ontario Bencher (Toronto) and Partner at Stockwoods LLP Barristers. He has served as a Foundation Trustee since 2023 and as Board Chair since 2025.

He practices criminal, administrative, and civil litigation, with a special focus on white collar criminal and regulatory defence. His diverse practice includes regulatory offences, criminal prosecutions, cyber-crimes, and professional disciplinary proceedings. In addition to his trial practice, Gerald acts for clients on appeals and judicial reviews. He has appeared as counsel in over 20 appeals in the Supreme Court of Canada, including cases on data privacy, foreign corruption, insider trading, and medical marijuana.

He is a longtime member of the Probono Inmate Appeal Program through which he argues appeals for marginalized inmates in the Court of Appeal for Ontario. He is also a prolific writer and teacher. He has published numerous books on sentencing, digital evidence, and digital privacy and teaches on the faculty of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada’s National Criminal Law Program and the adjunct faculty of the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law.

Heather recently retired from BDO Canada where she was the Office Managing Partner of the Collingwood office and Group Managing Partner of 11 local regional offices. Over her long career at BDO, Heather was a client-facing partner in the areas of accounting, tax, financial advisory services, and auditing. Heather is now consulting, offering business strategy, and financial oversight to a number of companies across Ontario.

She is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario and Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia.

Jordan Goldblatt is a founding and Managing Partner at Adair Goldblatt Bieber LLP. He is consistently recognized for his advocacy across various practice areas, including general commercial, insolvency, product liability, professional responsibility, administrative, and public law litigation. He has acted for clients before judges, juries, and arbitrators throughout Ontario. He represents licensed professionals, professional associations, insurance companies, and both private and public corporations. Among many areas, Jordan has a robust class proceedings practice, as defence counsel and as class counsel.

Jordan has presented at various conferences organized by the Law Society of Ontario, the Advocates Society, the Canadian Bar Association, and the Ontario Bar Association. Jordan has taught trial advocacy at Osgoode Hall’s Intensive Trial Advocacy Workshop.

Jordan is a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, an invite-only trial advocacy society comprising less than one-half of one percent of American lawyers. He received a LLB from Osgoode Hall Law School and was called to the Ontario Bar in 2005. Prior to co-founding Adair Goldblatt Bieber LLP, Jordan practiced at Lenczner Slaght LLP and Goldblatt Partners LLP.

Lisa has extensive experience in learning and development, change management, and inclusive culture workplace initiatives. She began her career as a Human Rights Investigator for the B.C. Human Rights Commission and then became the first Human Rights Officer for the Peel Board of Education. She shifted into management consulting, specializing in organizational development and strategic projects in the private and public sectors. Returning to her roots in public service, she has since held successive senior human resource roles with Humber River Hospital, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities, and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board.

Her commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion is seen throughout her professional roles as well as in her volunteer work with Justice for Children and Youth, The Women’s Monument Project, and the Neighbourhood Interfaith Group.

Lisa is a Certified Management Consultant. She earned a Public Sector Leadership Institute Certificate from the Rotman School of Management and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Toronto.

Lisa Cirillo has served as CEO of The Law Foundation of Ontario since September 2020. Prior to this, Lisa was Executive Director of Downtown Legal Services, a community-based legal clinic at the University of Toronto law school, since 2010.

Lisa has practiced human rights, education, housing, and family law in a wide variety of social justice organizations including Downtown Legal Services, ARCH Disability Law Centre, and the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

She also has extensive experience in public legal education and information (PLEI). She managed the Family Law Education for Women project, which assisted marginalized women in understanding their rights and responsibilities under family law. She also worked with Community Legal Education Ontario’s Your Rights. Your Language project where she managed PLEI in multiple formats and languages focused on high priority legal issues for newcomers to Canada.

Lisa was appointed to the Philanthropic Foundations Canada Board of Directors in 2024. Previously, she served on a number of boards and committees, including the: Association for Canadian Clinical Legal Education; National Association of Women and the Law’s National Steering Committee; Legal Aid Ontario’s Clinic Law Advisory Committee; and the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s Community Advisory Group.

She earned her Hons. B.A. from the University of Toronto, her LL.B. from Queen’s University, and her LL.M. from Osgoode Hall Law School. She was called to the Bar in 1998.

Nadia Campion joined the Class Proceedings Committee in July 2023.

Nadia is a Commercial Litigator/Partner at Lax O’Sullivan Lisus Gottlieb. Her civil litigation practice includes class actions, complex commercial disputes, shareholder oppression applications, director and officer liability, estates matters, and professional liability. Nadia brings extensive litigation experience, having acted as counsel in trials, arbitrations, and administrative hearings. She has appeared repeatedly before the Superior Court of Justice and the Ontario Court of Appeal, and the Ontario Securities Commission.

Nadia is a frequent speaker, moderator, and writer for various organizations and media publications, including the Advocates Society, Association des juristes d’expression française de l’Ontario, and the Trial Lawyers Association. She is also a former member of the Ontario Bar Association’s executive committees for class actions and civil litigation. In 2019, Nadia was ranked by Lexpert and by Benchmark Litigation as one of Canada’s leading lawyers under the age of 40. She has since been ranked by Lexpert and Benmark as one of the leading 500 lawyers in Canada and top 100 Women in Litigation in Canada. She is also recognized in Chambers Canada and Best Lawyers Annual Guide for class actions, securities, professional liability, and corporate-commercial litigation.

Nadia received a BA from McGill University, JD from Michigan State University, and LLB from the University of Ottawa. She was called to the Ontario Bar in 2006. She is fluent in French.

Nathalie Gondek joined The Law Foundation of Ontario in April 2023, as Associate Counsel to the Class Proceedings Committee.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Nathalie represented plaintiffs in class actions. She has particular experience in cases involving constitutional rights, institutional negligence, product liability, and privacy law. Her work included the negotiation and management of complex national claims processes. She has appeared before different levels of courts in Ontario, and in other provinces.

Nathalie was called to the Bar in 2019. She earned her Juris Doctor from Western University, where she worked as the Student Director of the Dispute Resolution Centre, providing mediation services to the London community. She earned her Hons. B.A. from McGill University. 

Nathalie currently serves as the Public Affairs Liaison on the Ontario Bar Association Class Actions Law Section.

Nathalie Noël has been directing The Law Foundation of Ontario’s brand and communications portfolio since June 2015.

Nathalie has 20 years of experience leading branding, communications, and marketing programs, primarily within the nonprofit sector. Prior to the Foundation, she worked at the Canadian Cancer Society, United Way, and adHOME Creative. She has led strategic planning, brand development, internal and external communications, marketing, fundraising and donor communications, advocacy, public relations, media relations, social media, employee engagement and training, and volunteer development.

Nathalie is an active volunteer with IABC/Toronto, currently serving as Vice President, Data Analytics & Brand Management on its Board of Directors. Prior to this, Nathalie served as Director, OVATION Awards Judging, for which she was recognized with the chapter’s Volunteer of the Year award.

Noah Aiken-Klar joined The Law Foundation of Ontario in January 2023. As Director, Grants & Programs, Noah provides strategic leadership for the Foundation’s granting activities.

Noah comes to the Foundation from RBC where he was the inaugural Director, Youth Social Impact and most recently served as Director, Academic and Strategic Partnerships, Technology, & Operations. Prior to RBC, Noah was the Regional Director of Community Investments at Ontario Trillium Foundation. Noah also spent three years as the National Director of Pro Bono Students Canada where he led a network of 4,000 law student and lawyer volunteers from 21 law schools across the county.

Noah earned his LLB from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and practiced in civil litigation earlier in his career.

Remissa Hirji joined The Law Foundation of Ontario in October 2019 as the Class Proceedings Committee’s first Associate Counsel. She was promoted to Director and Counsel, Class Proceedings Committee in April 2022.

Remissa is an experienced class action lawyer who has dedicated her career to advancing access to justice and promoting the public interest. Well respected for being a determined and dynamic advocate, she has successfully represented clients before the courts of Ontario and Quebec, as well as the Supreme Court of Canada. She has a wealth of expertise in a wide variety of areas, including consumer protection, investor protection and securities, product liability, privacy and pharmaceutical litigation.

Remissa has served on the executive of the Ontario Bar Association Class Actions Law Section for several years and is currently on the board of the HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario. Remissa is frequently invited to speak on topics related to class actions and civil procedure.

Remissa was called to the Bar in 2012. She graduated from Queen’s Law, where she won numerous awards for academic achievement and her dedication to Queen’s Legal Aid.

Shalini Konanur joined the Board of Trustees, as of May 29, 2025. Shalini is a Law Society of Ontario Bencher and has been the Executive Director and a lawyer at the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario since 2008. She practices in several areas of law including immigration, family, human rights, employment, income maintenance, housing, and gender-based violence. Shalini has appeared at all levels of court up to the Supreme Court of Canada and has provided expert advice related to racism, discrimination, and gender-based violence to multiple levels of governments, civil society organizations, the private sector, and the United Nations.

Shalini is a recipient of many awards including the Ontario Bar Association’s Award of Excellence in the Promotion of Women’s Equality, South Asian Bar Association of North America – Public Interest Lawyer of the Year, Canadian Bar Association’s Legal Aid Leader Award, and the Attorney General Victim Service Award of Distinction award. She graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1998 and was called to the Bar in Ontario in 2000.

Mr. Thiele is a partner and the Director of Legal Research at Gardiner Roberts LLP where he has been involved in many high-profile cases and has written extensively on a variety of legal topics.

Mr. Thiele is the Chair of the Canadian Abridgment Editorial Advisory Board. The Canadian Abridgment is a leading legal research service. The Board is a partnership between the Canadian Association of Law Libraries and Carswell and its mandate is to ensure that the Canadian Abridgment remains a leading legal research tool in Canada.