Vanessa Grant is Co-Head of Private Equity (Canada) and practises business law in the Toronto office of Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP. Her practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, commercial contracting, and corporate governance for public and private corporations, including private equity and venture capital. She also provides ongoing general corporate and commercial legal advice to a number of clients.

She has worked with several national and international clients in various industries, with a particular focus on technology companies and life sciences companies.

Erin Dann is a partner at Embry Dann LLP. She has a busy trial and appellate practice and has acted in over 100 appeals at the Court of Appeal for Ontario and the Supreme Court of Canada. Erin is regularly appointed amicus curiae in criminal cases involving mental health issues and frequently acts as referee in privilege litigation matters. She is a member of the Pro Bono Inmate Appeal Program, is the Toronto co-ordinator for the Supreme Court Advocacy Institute, sits on the Case Review Committee of Innocence Canada, and is an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School. Erin clerked for the Honourable Justice Morris Fish at the Supreme Court of Canada and was called to the bar in 2008.

Deepa Mattoo is a dedicated lawyer and intersectional feminist recognized for her commitment to advancing equity, anti-oppression, and anti-racism. Her extensive career spans various legal and leadership roles. Since 2019, Deepa has served as the Executive Director of the Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic, overseeing multiple departments and directing the Clinic’s intervention and advocacy efforts. She has appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada, Parliamentary committees, and UN civil society meetings, advocating on a broad spectrum of social justice and human rights issues. In 2023, Deepa was appointed to the Domestic Violence Death Review Committee (DVDRC).

Deepa has trained thousands of service providers to support forced marriage survivors, racialized non-status women, and clients navigating immigration law. Since 2017, she has shared her expertise as an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School through numerous speaking engagements and interviews. Deepa’s contributions have been recognized with several awards, including the Spirit of Schlifer Award in 2015 and the Law Society Medal and Women of Distinction Award in 2022 for her advocacy and access to justice efforts. In 2023, she received the Ontario Bar Association Award for Excellence in Promoting Women’s Equality and the Desi Achiever’s Award for her exceptional contributions to human rights and access to justice. In 2024, Deepa was honoured with an Honorary Degree from Humber College for her contributions to social justice and equity.

Geoffrey Turner is Senior Counsel at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP in Toronto, where he has practiced tax since joining Davies as an articling student in 1991. He advises clients on domestic and cross-border tax planning, with extensive experience advising Canadian-based multinationals on international tax matters.

Geoffrey has taught tax law courses since 1999 and is a regular contributor of tax policy articles and commentary. He is currently adjunct professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law where he teaches Canadian Income Tax Law (since 2021), and at Osgoode Hall Law School where he teaches Taxation of Business Enterprises (since 2017). He previously taught International Tax Law at Western University and Osgoode Hall Law School, and co-taught the Advanced Mergers and Acquisitions Workshop at Osgoode.

Geoffrey received his LLB from the University of Toronto in 1991 and his LLM from Osgoode Hall Law School in 2005. Prior to that, Mr. Turner received a BA (Honours) from Queens University (gold medallist in economics) in 1988, and an international baccalaureate from Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific in 1985.

Geoffrey was the Conservative Party candidate for Etobicoke Centre in the September 2021 federal election. He serves on the boards of the Etobicoke Centre Conservative Association as candidate-of-record and the Etobicoke Lakeshore Conservative Association as past-president.

Paul Vayda received a BA from University of Toronto and received his LLB from the University of Ottawa, graduating summa cum laude.

At the University of Cambridge, Mr. Vayda earned a LL.M.(c),with a commercial specialization in a program that included papers in comparative family law, restitution, commercial insurance law, and international intellectual property law.

Mr. Vayda has been a practicing lawyer both as a Barrister and a Solicitor for 40 years, primarily as the Managing lawyer for the CAW (now Unifor) Legal Services Plan, specializing in contract litigation.

After a short retirement, Mr. Vayda is now legal counsel for a very promising green manufacturing company.

As an adjunct professor, now in his 13 year of teaching, Mr. Vayda has taught contracts and Access to Justice at the University of Windsor, and Legal Process and Legal Ethics at Osgoode.

Mr. Vayda’s academic interests include Access to Justice and Legal Ethics.

Hart Schwartz brings to Osgoode 40 years of experience in constitutional and public law. His expertise is in appellate and trial advocacy, with a particular emphasis on comparative legal research. Hart was General Counsel with the Constitutional Law Branch of Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General for most of 1987 to 2022. He served as the Legal Director for the Ontario Human Rights Commission from 2002 to 2008. Hart was also the Legal Director for the Ministry’s Workplace Improvement Office from 2017 to 2018. From 1996 to 1998, he was a Lecturer in law at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. He has also taught constitutional law or appellate advocacy courses at Wilfrd Laurier, Queens Law, Windsor Law and, since 2017, at Osgoode. Hart’s articles can be found in, among others, the Canadian Bar Review, Supreme Court Law Review, National Journal of Constitutional Law, Osgoode Law Review, Criminal Reports and the New Zealand Law Review.