Overview

Clients trust Gillian with the most complex and highest-stakes cases. Gillian provides creative and strategic roadmaps to deliver success on all fronts – in the courtroom and beyond.
Gillian is a partner in our Litigation Group in Toronto. Her practice focuses on class actions, privacy and defamation law, technology and complex commercial disputes.
Gillian represents a diverse set of clients, including disrupters in the tech industry multinational corporations and media entities. Their issues are unique, and Gillian finds tailor-made solutions for each of them.
An experienced trial lawyer, Gillian has argued lengthy trials, before both judges and juries. She has appeared before all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada. She regularly represents clients in high-profile, sensitive regulatory investigations.
Clients value Gillian’s dedicated advocacy and unparalleled judgement. With each case, Gillian looks beyond the immediate – she steps back with a wider-view lens to consider the different paths a file can take and how those choices can impact the long-term interests, reputation and prospects of the client. By basing her thinking on a broader perspective, Gillian is able to develop and pursue strategies that fit into the whole.
Gillian understands the significant risk class actions carry, both reputational and economic. She has the in-depth experience and the strategy acumen to minimize these risks for clients, and lead them to the right result.
During her career, Gillian has represented a wide array of clients facing class action lawsuits. Among her cases, she represents Meta/Facebook /Instagram in defence of the high-profile teen mental health class actions, alleging, among other things, misleading advertising to minors. She represents Uber in multiple class actions, including those alleging wrongful and misleading advertising on its Uber Eats platform. She represents Intuit (TurboTax) in a class action alleging misleading advertising. She represents Bell in a misleading advertising/Consumer Protection Act class action. She has also represented Uber in a class action commenced by taxi and limo drivers, owners and brokers; a high-end European automaker in competition class actions and an environmental and conspiracy class action. She has also represented food manufacturers, Asian capacitor companies, auto-parts makers and large chemical companies. More of Gillian’s class action cases are listed below under “Notable Experience and Decisions.”
Gillian is also a contributing author to the sixth edition of Defending Class Actions in Canada, published by LexisNexis.
Gillian has advised and represented clients on a wide array of privacy disputes, including on class actions and other claims. Privacy disputes carry significant risk – both legal and reputational. Gillian brings the legal expertise and creative thinking clients need in the high-stakes matters.
Gillian successfully defended Facebook in the Federal Privacy Commissioner’s application against it at Federal Court regarding allegations pertaining to Cambridge Analytica. She also defends Facebook in a class action arising from similar allegations. Gillian represented LifeLabs in a high-profile alleged data breach class action. She represented Desjardins in a class action rising from a decision by the OPC with respect to certain practices in the context of processing claims. Gillian has represented a variety of other clients facing privacy-related claims.
Few issues are as high stakes as a person’s reputation and the right to free expression. Gillian addresses these problems with experience, knowledge and wide-lens strategic thinking. In defamation and media law, Gillian regularly advises clients in relation to a broad range of public statements. For example, Gillian successfully represented Canada’s public broadcaster, CBC, on a 13-week jury trial alleging defamation and invasion of privacy, with the plaintiff seeking $132 million in damages. She also represented CBC in a high-profile $210-million action brought by Subway restaurants.
Political investigations and hearings often involve the most sensitive and multi-faceted issues. Gillian sees the big picture and knows how to get the results clients seek. Gillian is an experienced advisor of high-profile business and political leaders on legal obligations in the political sector, including ethical compliance, conflicts of interest and lobbying law. She has represented senior public office holders and major corporations before federal and provincial parliamentary commissioners. Her success rate is a result of her experience with and understanding of the personal, reputational and strategic significance of these proceedings.
Giving back to her profession and community is important to Gillian. At McCarthy Tétrault, she spearheaded a diversity and inclusion project, Mentorship Plus, which delivers mentoring and support for diverse associates within the firm. She is Law Firm Leader in the Hospital for Sick Children’s fundraising campaign.
Gillian obtained her BA (with distinction) from McGill University, double-majoring in Economics and Political Science, and her LLB (common law) and BCL (civil law) from McGill University’s Faculty of Law.
Leading Lawyer: Litigation: General Commercial - Ontario
Leading Lawyer: Class Actions; Litigation - Corporate Commercial
Commercial Litigation Team of the Year, 2024 – Canada (Privacy Commissioner) v. Facebook, Inc., 2023 FC 533
Impact Case Award – Canada (Privacy Commissioner) v. Facebook, Inc., 2023 FC 533

Practice Areas

• Civil Litigation
• Family Law

Bar Information

Called to the bar: 2009 (ON)