Our Team
Payne Law lawyers have been retained to lead a variety of litigation cases. Our court lawyers have represented clients before various courts, boards, tribunals and appeals all dealing with various disputes including wrongful and constructive dismissal, human rights applications, Canada Labour Code proceedings, tax disputes, defamation actions, EI appeals, and complex appeal proceedings, among others.
The consistent focus of our practice is dispute resolution. 98% of our cases settle well ahead of formal hearing. Where an acceptable settlement cannot be reached, our professionals thrive in trial and appeal settings.
Our Team
Yan David Payne, B.A.(Hons), LL.B. articled at a highly-respected civil litigation boutique in Toronto. He later headed the litigation division of boutique firm in Toronto, taking on full responsibility for important cases and successfully taking numerous cases to trial and to appeal over the years that followed. Ultimately, Mr. Payne’s drive, work ethic and successes led colleagues and clients alike to follow him to his private practice, which was founded in 2005/2006. He has acted as principal and mentor to articling students and to new lawyers over the years. Mr. Payne has been retained to lead a variety of litigation cases. He has represented clients in tax matters, defamation actions, wrongful and constructive dismissal matters, human rights, commercial disputes, contentious estate litigation, and complex appeal proceedings, among others. Mr. Payne has been appointed by the Superior Court of Ontario as Independent Supervising Counsel and has advised and represented a broad range of clients from individual employees to established corporations, from small and medium-sized businesses to domestic, foreign, national and international organizations, from the chief of police, top ranked athletes, university professors, the Mayor of a major Canadian City, to court officials, professional regulatory and insurance bodies, as well as other professionals including lawyers, accountants, and doctors. He has been assigned to mediate and arbitrate a broad range of disputes. Mr. Payne has an outstanding trial and appeal record including numerous widely-reported cases. For example, see the precedent-setting unanimous Ontario Court of Appeal decision of Rausch v. Pickering (City) 2013 ONCA 740 which recognized, for the first time, a duty of care upon a municipality and its by-law officers in the enforcement of by-laws. In Loyst v. Chatten’s Better Hearing Service 2012 ONSC 1653, Mr. Payne secured an impressive wrongful dismissal award for lost wages equal to a 29-month period plus a 15% ownership interest in the company for a total award of $256,902.93 (the decision was unanimously upheld by the Ontario Court of Appeal, see Loyst v. Chatten’s Better Hearing Service, 2013 ONCA 781). In Osinski v. Her Majesty the Queen 2013 TCC 71, Mr. Payne defeated the Canada Revenue Agency and the Department of Justice, overturning $3.8 Million+ in taxes, penalties, and interest in favour of taxpayer. Please visit our Reported Cases section to review numerous other court victories secured by senior member of the bar, Yan David Payne.
Hashim Syed, B.Comm, J.D., is a 2008 law school graduate who was called to the bar in both Ontario and in the U.S. He earned a 3-year scholarship, and a certificate of merit for achieving the highest grade in advanced legal research. He has extensive litigation experience before the Ontario Court of Appeal, Divisional Court, Ontario Superior Court, Ontario Court of Justice, Tax Court of Canada, in addition to US State Courts. He has been retained to handle a broad range of commercial, tax, and civil litigation matters including conflict of laws, international and domestic contract disputes, shareholder disputes, employment disputes, and estate litigation, involving amounts ranging upwards of $15,000,000.00 in value. He recently successfully handled wrongful dismissal trials (including recently securing a $75,000.00 monetary award plus costs of $35,000.00 for employee, despite employer having cause for termination – see Grossi v. Premier Salons Ltd., 2014 ONSC 5028), tax appeals and hearings (for example, Tax Court Judgement reversing $546,000.00 tax assessment in HST collection dispute – see formal Judgement – February 2016, and Tax Court of Canada Judgement in Lesner v. Her Majesty the Queen: Income Tax Judgment Dated August 5, 2014 (Heard July 18, 2014)), and commercial disputes at various levels of court including Superior Court and appellate court. See August 24, 2016 Superior Court decision in Ramos v. Can-Med Pharma Inc., 2016 ONSC 5363 wherein Mr. Syed obtained an Order dismissing an Application brought by out-of-country Applicant for failure to post security for costs. See also Divisional Court judgement quashing an unfounded appeal before it can be heard, thus saving client time and cost and obtaining full indemnity cost award of $25,337.10: Judgement of Justice Kiteley entered Jun 2014. He is familiar with customs in Arabic and Japanese, conversational French, and a basic understanding of Hindi and Urdu.
Karen J. Sanchez, B.A., J.D., articled and began practicing law at a well-established and well-respected boutique firm and she became a contributing member of that practice, eventually handling a broad range of litigation cases. Ms. Sanchez has experience handling court and appellate cases including court victories in Superior Court and before the highest appellate court in the Province. See, for example, General Electric Canada Real Estate Financing Holding Co. v. Liberty Assisted Living Inc., 2013 ONCA 119 where she was successful in overturning a lower court decision. See also recent successful motion staying summary judgement and obtaining security for costs: Talisman v. Kyser, 2013 ONSC 6612. She has appeared at all levels of court in Ontario, before various boards and tribunals (including the Financial Services Commission of Ontario, the Toronto Police Services Disciplinary Tribunal, the Landlord and Tenant Board, the Ontario Disability Support Program, the Human Rights Tribunal, and Ontario Works) and she has worked on Supreme Court of Canada appellate litigation. Ms. Sanchez has the ability to attract media spotlight as was the case recently when she represented 10 applicants at the Human Rights Tribunal (watch Ms. Sanchez and applicants interviewed by CBC and Global News and read more about the front-page news in the Toronto Star and CBC Online) and read Decision of Human Rights Tribunal Adjudicator D. Sanderson obtained by Ms. Sanchez in favour of diverse group of applicants before the Human Rights Tribunal as well as updated March 9, 2016 Toronto Star article reporting on the win. Ms. Sanchez is focused on delivering results in all manner of disputes including employment, human rights, commercial, estates, and tax disputes through focused negotiations, court motions, trials, and appeals. Her academic credentials are excellent including being on the Dean’s Honour Roll and graduating Cum Laude prior to being called to the Ontario bar. Ms. Sanchez is also fluent in Spanish.
Megan Oxenham, B.A., is the firm’s office manager and senior litigation clerk. No stranger to conflict resolution, Ms. Oxenham brings her Bay Street firm experience and her background as Special Assistant to the Premier of Ontario to the Payne Law team. She has been a valued member of the team since 2006.
Sonya (Wan Lan) Shen, is a legal assistant with accounting qualifications. She graduated with a diploma in Advanced Accounting & Business Administration from George Brown College and worked in a law firm prior to joining Payne Law. She is fluent in both English and Mandarin.
Janice Ly started working in the legal field in 2009. She is an accredited law clerk having obtained her diploma from Seneca College’s Law Clerk Program. She is fluent in English and also understands Cantonese.
Jimmie Chen, B.A. (Hons), J.D. is in the process of completing his articles with Payne Law. He has successfully completed his Bar Admissions Examinations and is scheduled to be called to the bar of Ontario in 2017. Mr. Chen is developing a diverse commercial litigation practice which encompasses employment law, commercial disputes. and tax litigation. In addition to moot court competitions and trial practice programs, Mr. Chen has practical legal experience including representing the municipality of Wayne County by appearing successfully before Michigan Probate Court. Mr. Chen is fluent in English, proficient in Cantonese, and speaks conversational Mandarin.
The above does not constitute legal advice and is for information only. Should you require legal advice, please contact us to arrange a comprehensive in-person consultation or feel free to start with the free online consultation form.
