Catherine E. Willson

She was founding partner of Willson Lewis LLP before moving in 2014 to GSNH LLP. She is a leading practitioner in construction and equine legal fields and participates on a number of boards as well as lectures extensively and publishes on a variety of legal issues.

Civil Litigation

Catherine was an executive member of the Civil Litigation Section of the Ontario Bar Association for many years where she tackled issues important to justice and organized and participated in many educational conferences. She is also a member of the Advocates’ Society and the American Association for Justice. She publishes and writes on issues of civil litigation.

She was a legal expert for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business providing advice through the internet member service “Ask the Experts”. Catherine writes legal articles for the National Credit News, Canada’s Monthly Credit News Journal.

Construction Law

As an active member of the Toronto Construction Association (“TCA”), she founded and organized the “Lunch Time Sizzler” seminar series providing educational seminars to industry members. She is Chair of the Environmental Committee of the Toronto Construction Association and a past member of the Industry Practices Committee and Green Building Committee.

Catherine publishes articles in the Construction Law Reports and other national publications on issues relevant to construction law. She is recognized as a leading practitioner in Ontario working with owners, developers, project managers, general contractors, sub contractors and architects in both large and small projects.

Employment Law

She was a longstanding board member of the Executive Advancement Resource Network (“EARN”), an employment resource network for mid to senior level business managers in career transition. She has spoken at the Survivability Conference for Mature Workers in Toronto on employment issues and is a regular speaker at the Cannexus National Career Development Conference in Ottawa. Catherine has also lectured extensively and published for national and other publications on issues of employment law.

Her clients consist of large and small businesses, and individuals going through career transitions.

Catherine’s services include, but are not limited to:

employment contracts and consulting agreements
wrongful dismissal
conflicts in the workplace
termination packages
work place assessments (Bill 168)

Family Law

Catherine has over 25 years of experience representing people through matrimonial separations and divorces. She will help resolve the issues arising on a separation as quickly and cost effectively as possible.

She has extensive experience preparing cohabitation, marriage and separation agreements. She believes in negotiating toward a cooperative settlement where everybody wins, especially the children, before pushing a matter through the Courts.

Catherine’s services include, but are not limited to:

divorce, separation, custody, support, property issues
separation agreements
cohabitation and marriage contracts
settlement negotiations and mediation

Equine Law

Catherine is an industry member of the Ontario Equestrian Federation and a member of the international Equine & Animal Lawyers Association. She was the legal representative for the Horse Racing Alliance of Canada, a national lobby group fighting for tax reform. Her work has been published through the horse racing industry and highlighted in newspaper articles.

She is an Honourary Governor of the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair (“RAWF”), Chair of the Risk Management Committee and a former member of the Finance Committee of the RAWF.

Catherine publishes extensively in HorseSport Magazine on issues of equine law and is currently writing a book with the help of Self-Counsel Press on legal issues related to the horse industry. She has given conferences across Canada on equine law for Equine Canada, the Ontario Equestrian Federation, the American Association for Justice and the Jockey Club of Canada.

Her clients come from many horse related industries including sport horses, thoroughbred and standard bred racing, breeding, and other horse related businesses and activities. She advises on contracts, syndicates, litigation, disputes, and tax issues related to horses.