PC: ceomedium
Stephen Gleave is an experienced Canadian lawyer who specializes in labour and employment law. With over 30 years of experience, Stephen can lay claim to an impressive career, having handled more than 300 labour and commercial arbitrations, 50 trials, and 50 labor and civil injunctions. He has been consistently recognized for his expertise in his chosen branch of law, having been featured in the ‘Best Lawyers in Canada’ guide and the ‘Best Lawyers Global Business’ list.
Stephen studied at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, where he earned his LL.B. He then pursued his graduate work at England’s prestigious Oxford University. He spent the majority of his career practicing law in Toronto before moving an hour’s drive to the Greater Hamilton Area. He currently practices law in downtown Hamilton, while maintaining a residence in Ancaster, one of that city’s rural suburbs, where he owns a functional farm.
Outside of his professional life, Stephen Gleave enjoys fly fishing and recreational jogging. A self-described nature lover, he also delights in running his farm, which includes Carolinian old-growth forests, fruit orchards, beehives, and even a herd of Scottish highland cattle.
Q: As a labour and employment lawyer, what legal subjects do you tend to deal with in the course of representing your clients?
Stephen Gleave: In my legal practice, I deal with a wide range of subjects, most of which relate to ensuring that private companies are in compliance with government employment standards. Some of my typical areas of operation are human rights, including discrimination and harassment in the workplace, and issues surrounding termination and severance. I also handle matters concerning labour relations, such as collective bargaining and resolving disputes through arbitration.
Q: How has Canadian labour and employment law changed since you began practicing more than three decades ago?
Stephen Gleave: The law is a living thing. With every act of Federal and Provincial Parliament or new judicial precedent, it changes slightly. So, in one sense, considering there have been 30-plus years of legal tweaks and nudges since my career started, the law is substantially and measurably different. But in another sense, certain basic tenets of labour and employment law remain constant, even with the passage of time. Some of those tenets include the safeguarding of employee rights, the duty of employers to provide safe working conditions, and fairness in workplace relations. So, the details of the law have changed, but the foundation remains constant.
Q: Do any moments from your career stand out as particularly rewarding?
Stephen Gleave: Over the years, there have been one or two cases that I’ve won that made me especially proud. Without delving into the details, I felt strongly that the parties I represented were unduly wronged, and I worked very hard to win for them what I felt they deserved. So when the rulings came down in their favour, there was an extra kick of joy and satisfaction. Beyond that, being included in the ‘Best Lawyers in Canada’ guide and named to the ‘Best Lawyers Global Business’ list was pretty gratifying.
Q: What prompted you to purchase a farm as your primary residence?
Stephen Gleave: After almost three decades of living and working in Canada’s largest city, I finally had my fill of urban life. I’ve always been a lover of nature, and right around the turn of the decade, I decided to fully embrace that side of myself and move to the countryside. Ancaster is a wonderful town, and it’s provided me with exactly the sort of calm and pastoral setting I wanted. These days, I spend my free time tending to fields, orchards, forests, beehives, and even some livestock. My family and I have started to raise Scottish highland cattle, which has been an interesting and rewarding learning experience.
Q: Do you miss living in the big city at all?
Stephen Gleave: The funny thing about Ancaster is that it’s a combination of a rural community and a suburb of Hamilton, Ontario, which is a city of over half a million people where I currently maintain my law office. Hamilton is just down the road from Toronto; perhaps an hour’s travel by car. So, to answer your question, first, I still work in a fairly large city from Monday to Friday, and second, our farm isn’t actually all that far away from Toronto. We take day trips back there fairly often—whenever we have theatre tickets or want to catch a professional ballgame, for example. Do I or my family miss living in the heart of that city? No. We don’t regret the decision to move away from all that hustle and bustle. We’re quite content where we are now.
