Navigating legal matters can be challenging, but having the right lawyer by your side can make all the difference. With 500 lawyers recognized in this year’s Toronto’s Top Lawyers list, the city is home to exceptional legal talent across a wide range of specialties. This special feature offers a closer look at some of the legal professionals featured on this year’s list, highlighting their expertise, insights and dedication to helping clients navigate life’s most important decisions. Discover how their experience, knowledge and commitment to their clients make them trusted advocates when it matters most.
Lorne Fine
Fine & Associates Professional Corporation- Family & Divorce Lawyers
Fine & Associates is a Toronto firm practising family and divorce law, with offices in North Toronto, Markham and Oakville. Founder Lorne J. Fine (B.A., York University; LL.B., Osgoode Hall) was called to the Bar in 1992 and is a qualified arbitrator with certificates in negotiation, collaborative law and mediation.
What’s a common misconception people have about your area of law?
Many people believe they have to move out of the Matrimonial Home before they are legally separated. In Ontario, that isn’t the case. Spouses can be living “separate and apart” under the same roof. The test in order to determine the date of separation is when there was “no reasonable prospect of reconciliation”. A court may look at a number of criteria in order to determine the “date of separation” including, living arrangements (separate bedroom, lack of sexual intimacy), not having meals together, not going out socially, separate holidays, financial separation, etc.
How do clients describe you and your firm?
Clients describe both my self and my firm as knowledgeable and professional. They have also stated that we are kind and compassionate in that we recognize that our clients are experiencing an extremely stressful time in their lives. Clients have advised that they appreciate having my firm assist them in navigating complex situations with clarity and objectivity. They have also expressed appreciation in our ability to deescalate their conflict in order to achieve that best possible outcome and that we strive to resolve matters quickly and effectively.
Breanna Needham
Luceo Legal
Breanna Needham is a commercial litigation lawyer with a focus on matters involving serious misconduct. She founded Luceo Legal, a boutique civil litigation firm in downtown Toronto, following experience at two of Canada’s largest law firms, a leading litigation boutique, and an international law firm. Breanna is consistently recognized for her work in fraud disputes and complex commercial litigation.
What types of matters do you and your firm handle?
Got fraud? Get help! Luceo Legal represents clients throughout Ontario in navigating complex litigation and commercial disputes. Breanna has extensive experience working on cases involving investigations and injunctions to trace and recover misappropriated funds. She represents companies and individuals in confidential, high-profile, and high-stakes proceedings, including matters involving fraud, misappropriation of corporate assets, breach of confidence and removal of confidential information, oppression, breach of fiduciary duty, restrictive covenants, and other complex matters involving shareholders, employees, directors, officers, and nuanced business relationships. Lawyers refer their clients to Breanna because they trust her ability to untangle sophisticated schemes, identify practical paths forward, and deliver strategic advocacy in complicated proceedings.
Mitchell “Mitch” Rose
Rose Dispute Resolution
Mitchell Rose is a Chartered Mediator and Qualified Arbitrator and Principal of Ontario-based Rose Dispute Resolution. With more than 30 years’ legal experience, he works exclusively in dispute resolution, helping counsel-represented parties reach practical outcomes across a broad range of business, commercial real estate, employment and estate matters.
What do you want your clients to know about you/your firm?
Besides in-person services, I offer a Managed Virtual Hearing Room as a full-time mediator and arbitrator in Ontario. This means I can offer cost efficiency, broader geographic reach and convenience, as well as confidential, secure hearings. As a non-practising lawyer member of the Law Society of Ontario, I draw on a 30-year legal career, and my extensive experience as a mediator, to bring a deep understanding of legal principles, risk assessment, and conflict management to every neutral appointment.
What types of matters do you handle?
I assist lawyers and their clients in resolving employment, commercial, real estate and
estate-related disputes through mediation and arbitration. As a mediator, I help parties negotiate practical and cost-effective settlements. When settlement is not possible, I serve as an arbitrator to render a binding decision. In either situation, for the dispute types I handle, my goal is to provide an efficient, respectful, and effective process that helps parties achieve resolution with confidence.
Lai-King Hum
Hum Employment Law
Lai-King Hum is the Principal Lawyer at Hum Employment Law. Called as a lawyer in Ontario and Quebec, she and her team have expertise in employment law, management side labour, and all aspects of workplace investigations.
What’s a common misconception people have about your area of law?
The team at Hum Employment Law often encounters individuals with a common misconception and fear that after losing your job, you will lose the employer’s termination offer unless you sign back immediately. However, being guided by that fear into accepting the initial severance offer can mean leaving potentially life-changing settlements on the table. We want you to understand your rights and if you should negotiate your exit package. If managed correctly, losing a job can actually be a pivotal, windfall opportunity. For long-term employees, large termination packages are common. We’ve seen situations where a two-month offer has turned into a year’s salary or more after negotiation. People can end up with a fraction of what they are entitled to if they don’t act on legal advice, or are afraid to do so. Imagine walking away from $100,000 and what that could be worth when invested for decades. We have an advantage. We act for employers as well. We know what tactics are being used. And we understand you, and your rights – we will fight for your fair and proper termination payout. Before you leave any money on the table, consult a lawyer and know your rights.
Aly Haji
RxLaw
RxLaw defends healthcare professionals in complaints, investigations and legal proceedings and advises healthcare businesses on regulatory risk and strategy. Founder Aly Haji went to pharmacy school before law school, clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada and prosecuted for regulators. A McGill and Cambridge law graduate, he teaches at the University of Toronto and writes award-winning papers on healthcare regulation.
How do clients describe your firm?
Clients say that we speak their language. Most of our team were healthcare professionals, so clients do not have to explain how their practice runs, what a patient record has to show or why a note reads the way it does before we can defend them. They say it is a relief not to have to translate, and it saves them money: no one is billing time to learn how their profession works. They also say we are direct. We tell them what the file looks like, what a committee is likely to do with it and what it will take to change that, grounded in a real understanding of how those decisions are made and how the institutions behind them work. They get an honest read of the risk, not reassurance.
And they say we do not back down. We advocate forcefully and fearlessly, we hold the College to its own standards, and we treat our client’s licence as what is at stake, because it is. Healthcare businesses describe us differently: as the firm they call when the rules are unclear and a decision has to be made anyway.
The line we hear most, from people who responded on their own before they found us, is that they wish they had called first.
What’s a common misconception people have about your area of law?
That a complaint is a conversation. It is a legal proceeding from the first letter. Healthcare professionals are trained to be candid, and most believe that if they explain what happened in their own words, the College will see it their way. But the response is evidence. It is measured against the standards of the profession, not against good intentions, and it stays on the file.
A second misconception is that the outcome is minor. In Ontario, a caution or a remediation order is posted on the public register beside the professional’s name, where employers, insurers and patients can find it. For a pharmacist, a dentist or a nurse, that entry follows them into job applications, partnership talks, and on mortgage and financing applications for years. We treat every complaint as a threat to a licence.
A third is that retaining a lawyer looks like an admission. It does not. Regulators have their own lawyers and consult them throughout. The professional should have the same. Once we are retained, the professional stops facing the College alone. We control what goes to the College, hold the process to its rules and protect the record at every stage. The time to call is before anything is sent.
Annamaria Enenajor
Ruby Shiller Enenajor, Barristers
Ruby Shiller Enenajor, Barristers, is one of Canada’s leading criminal defence firms, with an unwavering commitment to justice and a long history of advocacy in significant criminal and constitutional cases. It is known for securing exceptional results through meticulous preparation and innovative legal strategies. Its lawyers bring experience, creativity and a deeply collaborative approach to defending clients facing serious and complex criminal charges.
What’s a common misconception people have about your area of law?
A common misconception about defence lawyers is that our role is merely to help our client avoid conviction. But there’s more to it. Our focus is also on ensuring that the state is held to the highest standards when exercising its extraordinary power to investigate, prosecute and punish. Criminal cases are rarely as simple as they may first appear. The initial evidence can be incomplete or unreliable, investigations can be flawed, and important context can be overlooked. A strong defence requires careful attention to the facts, to the law and to the circumstances of the person at the centre of each case—the client. By insisting on fairness, accountability and proof beyond a reasonable doubt, defence lawyers protect not only their clients but also strengthen the integrity of the justice system itself.
Jeffrey A. Preszler
Preszler Injury Lawyers
Founded in Ontario in 1959, Preszler Injury Lawyers now stands up for injured people across Canada, coast to coast. We represent individuals and families, never insurance companies, in car accidents, slip and fall, wrongful death, institutional abuse, and long-term disability claims. Our lawyers are licensed in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Nova Scotia.
What do you want your clients to know about you/your firm?
Preszler Injury Lawyers has been standing up for injured people since 1959. We represent individuals and families, never insurance companies. Our commitment is to deliver exceptional customer service, direct access to experienced lawyers, and outstanding results as efficiently as possible.
We understand that our clients are often facing some of the most difficult periods of their lives. That is why we make communication, accessibility, and transparency central to everything we do. Our clients have direct access to their lawyers, receive timely responses, and are kept informed throughout their cases. We provide straightforward, honest advice so clients understand their options and remain in control of important decisions.
We are committed to maximizing compensation while minimizing unnecessary delays. Although litigation timelines are often dictated by the legal system and factors beyond our control, we proactively advance our clients’ claims and work toward the best possible resolution in the shortest reasonable time. We prepare cases thoroughly and are always ready to go to trial when necessary to protect our clients’ interests. Initial consultations are free, and we work on a contingency fee basis which means that clients pay no legal fees unless they receive compensation.
At Preszler Injury Lawyers, outstanding results and exceptional client service go hand in hand. Our clients deserve not only excellent legal representation, but also the confidence that their lawyers are accessible, responsive, and working tirelessly on their behalf.
Fred Wu
Wu Law
Fred Wu is the founder and principal of Wu Law, a Toronto litigation boutique focused on commercial litigation, intellectual property disputes, and technology-related litigation. He represents businesses, founders, and professionals in complex legal disputes. Fred combines strategic advocacy with practical advice to help clients resolve conflicts efficiently and effectively.
When should a business involve a litigation lawyer?
Ideally, before a dispute becomes a lawsuit. Businesses often face decisions where commercial strategy, intellectual property, and litigation risk intersect. I help clients identify what actually matters, assess their options, and choose the strategy that advances the business objective — whether that means going to court or finding a better way out. Litigation should serve the client’s objective, not become an end in itself.
What’s a common misconception people have about your area of law?
That intellectual property disputes are purely legal problems. They are usually business disputes first. A trademark may embody years of goodwill; copyright may protect commercially important creative work or software; a patent may be fundamental to a company’s competitive position. I start by understanding the client’s business and the asset at stake, then build the strategy that protects it. My scientific background helps when the subject matter is technical.
Meysa Maleki and Jen-Yii Liew
Maleki Liew LLP
Meysa and Jen are the founders of Maleki Liew LLP. They have extensive experience in all aspects of separation and high conflict divorce, including complex financial matters and parenting litigation. They have advocated for clients at all levels of court in Ontario including the Court of Appeal for Ontario. As Senior Policy Advisor to former Ontario Cabinet Minister, Meysa oversaw the implementation of the government’s Domestic Violence Action Plan. She is the author of the book, “The Conflict Resolution Grail.” She has been a guest speaker on numerous radio shows across the US and Canada.
What qualities make the most successful attorney-client relationships and why?
Separated couples come to you at one of the most difficult times of their life. A good client-lawyer relationship is based on ensuring you are available to calm their nerves when a letter arrives from opposing counsel or an important attendance is around the corner; to answer their questions promptly; and to be direct with them when necessary instead of choosing to be a mouthpiece that may ultimately disadvantage their case. Clients appreciate the honesty and integrity of the lawyer who tells them the way it is, not what they want to hear. Ultimately, clients trust the lawyer who works extremely hard on their behalf and ensures the evidence is clearly and cogently represented in their case.
Jessica Brown, Sarah Boulby and Oren Weinberg
Boulby Weinberg LLP
Boulby Weinberg LLP is an elite boutique family law firm providing customized dispute resolution strategies for an array of family disputes. We advise and represent our clients in simple, amicable separations as well as highly contentious divorces. While offering clients an approachable and relaxed atmosphere, our family lawyers provide a comprehensive understanding of the most complex family law issues at local, national, and international levels.
What types of matters does your firm handle?
Our team handles the full spectrum of family, support, and divorce issues, including parenting concerns (decision-making responsibility/custody and parenting time/access), child and spousal support, property and financial division, and domestic agreements (including marriage/cohabitation contracts and separation agreements). We are also uniquely experienced in complicated international matters, such as multi-jurisdictional families and child abduction cases, as well as issues impacting high-net-worth families, including business valuation and division, inheritance and wealth protection, and family trusts.
Why should someone retain Boulby Weinberg LLP?
Our knowledgeable team has a complete toolbox of dispute resolution options at its disposal to resolve issues and minimize conflict as efficiently as possible. Our firm members have extensive experience resolving complex family and divorce cases through a variety of dispute resolution processes, including mediation, arbitration, and litigation. No matter how difficult the case, we are able to create legal solutions tailored to each client’s unique circumstances and concerns.