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42 www.canadianlawyermag.com FEATURES TOP LABOUR & EMPLOYMENT BOUTIQUES a successful case end up paying most of their damages to their lawyer, he says. "So, there is a substantive change that the government needs to be looking at," Whitten says. The HRTO is also suffering from a lack of judges, leading to delayed and cancelled hearings, say Whitten and Lublin. Law Times reported in June a "historic" surge — a 30-per-cent increase — in complaints about decisions and delays in the province's 37 administrative tribunals. The most common complaints were regarding decisions and long delays. "There's not enough vice chairs to deal with the volume of complaints. And, so, reflect all of the changes in terms of the struc- ture of the labour market and the structure of the workplace and the client and the ability of employees to unionize without facing serious barriers," Barrett says. With Ford's changes, Ontario is back where it started, says Barrett. Another area in Ontario that requires urgent reform is the human rights process, the status quo of which negatively impacts both employees and employers, says Whitten. The issue, he says, is that the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal cannot award costs. While employers often find themselves settling baseless human rights complaints because it's less expensive than fighting, employees with these things are languishing. And it's both employers and employees [that] are suffer- ing," says Whitten. Whitten & Lublin's work has a 50/50 split for employees and employers, a balance they say gives them a competitive advantage in the field and likely attributes to their success. The two formed the firm 11 years ago and it has grown to 12 lawyers. "We understand the issues from both sides of the table. It gives us a strategic advantage when advising clients and, frankly, it gives us insight into how things needs to be done," says Lublin. "Our sword is sharp on both sides of the table," says Whitten. Those are characteristics of Sherrard Kuzz LLP clients. Thank you for helping us remain one of Canada's Top 10 Labour & Employment Boutiques. As voted by Canadian Lawyer. 250 Yonge St #3300, Toronto, ON M5B 2L7 | www.sherrardkuzz.com 416.603.0700 | 24 Hour 416.420.0738 | @SherrardKuzz BOLD DEDICATED INNOVATIVE DETERMINED FOCUSED CREATIVE