Erica McLachlan

Erica has a broad litigation practice with a focus on public law, including constitutional, administrative and human rights law, as well as class actions. She has advised not-for-profits, charities, associations, government organizations and agencies, individuals and corporations in a number of contexts, including:

• Education

• Developmental services sector

• Religious institutions

• Governance

• Public health, social assistance and social services

• Social housing

• Indigenous treaty and constitutional rights

• Privacy

• Regulatory compliance

• Immigration and refugees

Erica has experience acting for clients on matters before all levels of court and different administrative tribunals. She has appeared before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

Prior to joining Circle Barristers, Erica practiced at a leading national law firm in Toronto where she focused on public law. During her articles there, she was seconded to the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (“CCLA”) where she worked on a variety of matters aimed at defending civil liberties and advancing Charter protections in Canada. Subsequently, she worked at a disability rights boutique that specializes in advancing the rights of individuals with developmental disabilities, as well as supporting the developmental services sector, not-for-profits and charities.

Early in her practice, Erica clerked at the Federal Court, where she regularly encountered administrative law issues falling within the Court’s jurisdiction, such as those related to immigration and refugee law, intellectual property and Aboriginal law, among others.

During law school at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, Erica was a Donner Civic Leadership Fellow with the CCLA, worked with the South African Society for Labour Law in Johannesburg as an International Human Rights Fellow, and was Co-Lead of the Digital Verification Corps with Amnesty International.