Alyssa Tomkins
Partner
- Year of Call, Yukon Territory (2021)
- Year of Call, Ontario (2007)
Bio
Alyssa Tomkins is a bilingual partner in Gowling WLG’s Ottawa office. Her practice focuses on public law and commercial litigation, as well as appeals and judicial reviews.
Alyssa has argued cases as lead counsel at all levels of court in Ontario, in the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal, in the British Columbia Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, and in the Supreme Court of Canada. She has also acted as counsel in commercial arbitrations, before numerous administrative tribunals and in a public inquiry.
Alyssa’s work cuts across practice areas and has engaged a diverse array of clients dealing with a wide variety of subjects, including breach of contract, shareholder disputes, director and officer liability, bankruptcy and insolvency, defamation, complex construction and infrastructure. Her clients have included individuals, corporations, municipalities, Crown corporations, federal departments, a foreign state, a provincial law society, as well as numerous public interest advocacy organizations. Alyssa was lead counsel for the Law Society of Saskatchewan in its successful appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada in Law Society of Saskatchewan v Abrametz, 2022 SCC 29.
Alyssa is active in the litigation bar and a frequent speaker in the areas of administrative law and civil litigation. She is the past chair of The Advocates’ Society Regulatory and Administrative Law Practice Group and currently teaches administrative law as an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School. Alyssa also taught appellate advocacy for ten years at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Common Law as coach of the Laskin Moot (constitutional and administrative law) team.
In 2024, Alyssa was honoured by Canadian Lawyer magazine as one of the Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers.
Prior to joining Gowling WLG, Alyssa worked with a boutique litigation firm in Ottawa. She also clerked for the Honourable Michel Bastarache at the Supreme Court of Canada in 2007-2008.