Leonard J. Griffiths

First Year of Call
Ontario, 1985

Areas of Practice
Commercial Transactions

Description
Leonard Griffiths is certified by the Law Society of Upper Canada as a specialist in environmental law. Through his broad-based environmental practice, Len assists clients with corporate transactions including mergers, acquisitions and financings, environmental management systems and litigation. He represents clients before administrative tribunals and defends clients charged with environmental offenses.

Len counsels clients on matters regarding air, water, hazardous and non-hazardous wastes, chemical substances management (import, export and use), product liability, occupational health and safety, and a wide range of other regulatory issues.

He assists clients domestically and internationally to develop and undertake major projects and transactions. He also conducts environmental assessments and compliance audits and has been involved in the decommissioning and remediation of many facilities and properties (brownfields).

Len is past vice-chair of the Environmental Specialist Committee for the Law Society of Upper Canada, past chair of the Environmental sections of the Canadian Bar Association and Ontario Bar Association, and a founder of the Canadian Centre for Environmental Arbitration and Mediation.

Len is the editor and a contributing author of Contaminated Property in Canada and Sustainable Development in Canada: Into the Next Millennium (2000), and is the chief editor of The Environmental Law Journal. He composed a chapter in Directors’ Duties in Canada, 4th Edition, published in Canada by CCH Canadian Limited in 2009. Len presents at conferences in Canada and the United States on a variety of environmental, health and safety issues.

Len is a former Adjunct Professor, University of Toronto Law School (Natural Resources and Energy; Sustainability).

Len is a former and original board member of Plug’n Drive, a non-profit organization committed to accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles and infrastructure to maximize environmental and economic benefits. He was a founder and director of the Mississauga Wolverines Youth Basketball league.