Ross & McBride LLP welcomes Toronto’s bakerlaw into our diverse team of legal professionals, as of August 1, 2022.

Founded by David Baker, bakerlaw is a highly-regarded team with over 35 years of experience in disability, human rights, litigation, and constitutional law.

“By adding David and his team to our strong foundation in these practice areas, we’re forging a real legal powerhouse that’s capable of handling large, complex cases,” explained Anandi Naipaul, Managing Partner at Ross & McBride. “The bakerlaw group is joining a formidable team of human rights, employment, and constitutional lawyers at Ross & McBride.”

Wade Poziomka, a partner at Ross & McBride, award-winning human rights lawyer, and practice group leader to the Human Rights Group, played an instrumental role in bringing this arrangement to life. Poziomka is a strong advocate for marginalized members of our community, and is a former applicant-side appointee to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario’s Practice Advisory Committee, as well as the former Chair of the Ontario Bar Association’s Constitutional, Civil Liberties and Human Rights Sections, among other key roles.

“David is a well-known and respected constitutional and charter litigator and I have considered him a friend for the past decade,” Poziomka added. “David’s specialized team will continue the momentum we have achieved in human rights litigation and in building up our capacity to take on these important cases.”

Earlier this year, Ross & McBride recruited Tamara Kronis, who previously held the esteemed position of Associate Chair with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. In that role, she provided strategic oversight and direction to the organization’s leadership, taking significant steps to enhance cross-functional collaboration, remove barriers to innovation, and modernize processes to resolve cases more efficiently. Tamara has advised numerous public and private organizations on governance, environmental and diversity, equity and inclusion issues, and now serves as Senior Counsel at Ross & McBride, working closely with Poziomka.

“The addition of Tamara has benefited the Human Rights Group at Ross & McBride immeasurably. She brings a unique insight to our practice that enhances the services we provide to our clients,” said Poziomka.
For the bakerlaw team, joining forces with Ross & McBride means eliminating a bottleneck that has prevented them from taking on new clients since October. Armed with the resources of a larger, full-service firm, bakerlaw will be able to help more people, sooner.

“It’s been frustrating to have to turn people away for the last nine months due to a lack of capacity,” shared David Baker. “I’m looking forward to being able to say ‘yes’ again.”

Baker added that he looks forward to pursuing cases focused on inclusive communities, technology and artificial intelligence, and to looking at international work related to Canada’s human rights obligations.
“As an exciting first for Ross & McBride, we’re also expanding into office space in Toronto to facilitate this growth in our human rights, charter and constitutional legal services,” says Naipaul. “Together, our national reach and international experience sets us apart as a leader in these practice areas. I look forward to seeing the great work that will come from this collaboration with bakerlaw.”

Dating back to 1890, Ross & McBride is built on a legacy of being a strong voice for our clients and giving back to our community. Our lawyers work collaboratively to provide comprehensive advice on complex issues covering a broad range of practice areas. With diverse clients including financial institutions, non-profit organizations, large public corporations, small family businesses, senior citizens, and young people, Ross & McBride has a long history of providing personalized, effective legal services in Hamilton.