Lawyers Benjamin Piper

Benjamin Piper

Partner

• Location:

  Ottawa

• Phone:

  613-482-2464

• Fax:

  613-235-3041

• Email:

  bpiper@goldblattpartners.com

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Biography

Ben Piper is a lawyer because he believes in fighting for social and economic justice. He loves working for unions because of the essential work they do advancing the rights of working people. For workers outside of a union or other victims of unjust or discriminatory acts, Ben believes in using the law to help balance the scales of power. Ben represents clients in both French and English.

A born and bred debater, Ben is a passionate litigator. He loves diving into the fray to defend the rights of his client, and finding just the right way to frame an argument that will persuade a judge, arbitrator or board. On this front, Ben knows what makes judges and other decision-makers tick, after years of working with judges as a clerk the Supreme Court of Canada and the Ontario Court of Appeal, and then working alongside countless judges from around Canada to design their education at the National Judicial Institute.

Still, being a pragmatist at heart, Ben’s main goal is always to guide his clients through legal processes that can be stressful and overly complicated, and find the solution that will work best for them going forward.

A broad range of workplace issues cross Ben’s desk, ranging from collective agreement interpretation and arbitration, to unjust terminations, human rights issues, professional discipline and constitutional challenges. Ben works for public and private sector unions, for individuals facing problems with their employers, and for individuals or organizations challenging unfair actions or fighting for justice. He has worked on cases involving voter suppression through robocalls, dress codes in hospitals, and disclosure of documents in litigation against the government brought by former residents of Indian Residential Schools.

Ben is particularly knowledgeable about judicial review – a complex area of law that deals with challenges to decisions by tribunals or other parts of government. He regularly brings judicial review applications in provincial and Federal Courts, and also teaches the subject to law students.

Ben’s biggest challenge comes on the evenings and weekends, when he tries his best to mould two (very cute) kids into thoughtful, kind, and engaged people – although he’ll settle for keeping them alive until Monday morning. When he’s not stopping a toddler from seriously hurting himself, Ben likes to run, ski, play frisbee and build things out of wood.