Sheilagh Turkington
Arbitrator and Mediator
LLB, MA, BA (Hons)
A senior member of the bar, Sheilagh has more than 25 years of experience in labour and employment law, both in the public and private sectors.
After completing honours undergraduate and graduate degrees, Sheilagh received her law degree from the University of Toronto and she is a member of the Law Society of Ontario.
Before commencing an arbitration and mediation practice, Sheilagh practised law as a senior partner at a prominent Toronto labour law firm. In that context, she had held various management positions, including Executive member and Co-managing Partner.
Her legal experience has involved a range of workplace settings, such as public and private education, universities, industrial facilities, private enterprise, professional practices, public service employment, sports and arts workplaces, health care, non-profits, and beyond.
Extensive experience
In private practice, Sheilagh was a labour, administrative law and civil litigator with extensive hearing experience. She appeared before labour, professional regulatory, disability benefits and other administrative tribunals as well as courts.
Through peer recognition, Sheilagh was included within Best Lawyers in Labour and Employment Law as early as 2010.
She is knowledgeable and familiar with a full gamut of issues that arise in labour and employment law settings, from contract interpretation to employment-related statutes, and to the many legal and practical threads making up the fabrics of workplaces. Her broad and extensive experience means she also is equipped to understand and address the inevitable range of employment issues that have no precedent.
Sheilagh has worked with parties in small and large private business settings and wider public institutional settings.
Proven expertise
A frequent speaker on labour, human rights and civil and administrative law issues, Sheilagh has been an invited presenter at programs offered by numerous professional and publishing institutions, including Lancaster, Osgoode Professional Development, the Law Society of Ontario, the Canadian Association for the Practical Study of Law in Education, and the Ontario Bar Association.
She has also been called upon to assist organizations with governance matters as well as to advise and train in relation to internal and external workplace and broader sector policies.
Sheilagh co-authored the leading text, Education Labour and Employment Law in Ontario (Thomson Reuters), for 16 years prior to her move to an arbitration and mediation role.
Services
Labour Arbitration
Sheilagh is available to act as arbitrator of grievance disputes between labour parties, whether in the public or private sector.
She offers fair and efficient proceedings towards determinative resolution with timely decisions.
In addition to regular hearing days, evening or weekend days may be available in some circumstances. Please contact us to discuss availability if this is your need.
Mediation
Sheilagh will mediate disputes as part of a labour arbitration appointment or as a stand-alone mediation appointment. This includes labour disputes as well as civil or private arbitration disputes, such as those involving employment, human rights, or long-term disability claims. She has years of experience engaging in mediation in all such areas. As mediator, Sheilagh offers an informed, practical and effective approach to assist parties to resolution, without having to resort to full litigation. She recognizes that many parties in mediation are seeking to resolve an immediate dispute but with investment in the possibility of maintaining an ongoing working relationship.
Neutral Adjudication
Sometimes parties need disputes assessed and decided by a neutral so that everyone can move on. Some disputes fit clearly under existing decision-making frameworks while others do not.
Sheilagh is available to act as a third-party adjudicator of disputes or complaints under private adjudication agreements, workplace policies or alternative dispute resolution frameworks.
If you have a dispute you want adjudicated but do not have a formal adjudication process in place, contact Sheilagh to discuss elements of possible frameworks for proceeding.
Contact us
Questions about working together? Let us know what you have in mind and we will be in touch shortly.