Anyone have an employment lawyer contact in Calgary who is not on retainer with IOL? Maybe we need to go outside Calgary? If you are a person who would like to leverage the guidance please respond.
11 replies (most recent on top)
@d6 Yes, 900 people are getting lawyers, and will all get a 50k bump because everyone is special.
@d9 yes very helpful if you have specific questions or concerns, or something for them to review, like a job offer or a severance offer. Also a career summary ready in timeline/chronological format helps.
Ask around with your colleagues.
Carscallen and Mcleod Law are some reputable smaller firms
Are they actually usefull/helpfull?
My interactions with lawyers has been that they regurgitate general statements and are non-commital to the point of being useless. They make a living by taking relatively straight forward things, and over complicate things with stupid 1700s verbiage no one understands to make themselves relevent.
Anyone have positive interaction with one, specifically for severence. If worth it, ill pay.
Don’t be cheap or narrow focused. Everyone get a lawyer to review what is being offered to them. Every individual case is different.
$500-700 you spend for an hour will save you thousands. Best money you will ever spend in your life.
@OP for the HR professionals reading this, can you confirm that the intent is to NOT offer typical severance (common law)? If they don't offer 24 months (31 years of service), I think there will be some very happy lawyers getting rich here...
@af Don’t forget lawyers are going after monies or reputation and eventually they are going after monies.
@af you have a good point, but I guess the lawyers also want to charge their rates individually and would prefer case by case. I was told that they have to open a file under individual name
Is there any way to set up a group gofund me that we can use as a group? No point in all of us individually getting lawyers when 90% of the questions and concerns we have are all the same… any thoughts or willingness to participate?
I have this contact if you want to reach out. This firm does not have retainer with IOL. From what I’ve known, Gowling WLG has a retainer with IOL
JOHN C. BATZEL
Partner
MILLER THOMSON LLP
525-8th Avenue S.W., 43rd Floor
Eighth Avenue Place East
Calgary, Alberta | T2P 1G1
T +1 403.298.2436
There are many. Just google and check reviews, reputation and give them a call to find out their aptitude, there’s no charge for a call. Imperial has their internal lawyer and one or two large law firms in Calgary on retainer (most likely Bennett Jones) , not all of them. Don’t need an employment lawyer from a large firm. Remember, Imperial doesn’t want a show of this and being in the news etc etc. So they’ll try to settle anything with your lawyer. Just make sure that you’re confident your lawyer can get you more than your offer after their fees.
Try Howard Levitt, represented my wife (unrelated to oil and gas / layoffs but w/in employment law sphere) - his firm is top notch