The awards recognize Ontario lawyers' achievements in Canada and internationally
The Law Society of Ontario has unveiled the recipients of its 2025 Law Society Awards.
The William J. Simpson Distinguished Paralegal Award has been given to Zare Paralegal Services founder Michelle Zare. Zare champions injured workers across Ontario, particularly first responders who sustained mental stress injuries. She also co-chairs the LSO’s annual Workers’ Compensation Law program.
The Lincoln Alexander Award has been granted to Antoine L. Collins. A lawyer, artist, and community leader, Collins has headed up DEI and accessibility improvement initiatives as a coordinating member/adjudicator with the Refugee Protection Division at the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. He also co-founded the RPD’s Black Employees Network and is president of the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers’ Ottawa chapter.
Lerners LLP London managing partner and litigator Yola Ventresca has been awarded the Laura Legge Award. She is a first-generation Canadian of Lebanese descent who made history as the first racialized woman to be appointed managing partner of Lerners’ founding office in 2022; she also launched and spearheaded the firm’s workplace investigations practice.
“Yola is an inspiration in her commitment to advancing equity in the workplace. She demonstrates a generosity of spirit as the managing partner of our London office, as a mentor, and through her dedication to the fight against systemic discrimination,” Lerners chair Cynthia Kuehl said in a statement.
The J. Shirley Denison Award has been given to Sharryn J. Aiken, current president of the FCJ Refugee Centre. She co-chaired the Equality Rights Program of the Court Challenges Program of Canada and was president of the Canadian Council for Refugees.
The Law Society Medal has been awarded to wills, estates and trusts law specialist Barry Corbin, prosecutor Norman Farrell, litigator Monique Jilesen, legal journalist Melissa Kluger, law professor Jim Phillips, workplace sexual harassment expert Janice Rubin, and international law scholar Dr. Christopher Waters.
Corbin chaired the Estates Subcommittee of the Civil Rules Committee from 2008 to 2023 and received the Court of Appeal Medallion in 2023 for his contributions to justice administration.
Farrell has prosecuted genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and domestic terrorism cases at international tribunals. At present, he is senior legal advisor in the Department of Justice’s Crimes Against Humanity and War Crime section.
Jilesen is Lenczner Slaght’s managing partner. In this role, she championed inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility initiatives and mentored litigators.
Kluger launched media company Law and Style Media Inc. almost two decades ago. Through its flagship publication Precedent, she tackled topics like mental health, access to justice, addiction, diversity and reconciliation.
Phillips teaches law and history at the University of Toronto. He co-authored the “History of Law in Canada” and has been editor-in-chief of the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History since 2006.
Rubin co-founded and co-leads Toronto workplace investigation law firm Rubin Thomlinson LLP as co-managing partner. She headed up the Canadian Women’s Foundation’s Women Moving Women campaign and advocated for solutions to harassment, discrimination, sexual violence and misconduct in the workplace.
Waters focuses on international humanitarian law, or the law of armed conflict. He teaches at the University of Windsor’s Faculty of Law.
The Human Rights Award has been given to human rights consultant Ritu Gambhir and Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai.
Gambhir focuses on progressing the rights of vulnerable populations. She worked with the federal government and with the United Nations; she has served as a humanitarian affairs specialist with Médecins Sans Frontières and was a senior victims’ rights officer in Haiti.
Lai is a pro-democracy campaigner, writer and publisher of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper in Hong Kong. Presently detained in a maximum-security prison as a result of the enforcement of Hong Kong’s national security law, he was placed on trial for sedition and for collusion with foreign forces.
The 2025 Law Society Awards ceremony will be held on May 28. The event will be hosted by LSO treasurer Peter Wardle.
