Personnes influentes de Toronto : pleins feux sur Andrew Bratt (disponible en anglais)

Scott: Today i have the pleasure of introducing you to Andrew Bratt who is a partner at Gowling WLG and the head of our national employment labor and equalities group in Canada, welcome Andrew.

Andrew: Thank you Scott pleasure to be here.

Scott: Let's first talk about your background and how you came to be one of the leading employment labor and equality lawyers in Canada.

Andrew: sure that's very flattering of you to say Scott. So I knew from a from a very early stage in my career that I that I loved advocacy in fact I knew that even before I went to law school and I was fortunate enough early on in my career to work with and be mentored by some of the very best labor and employment lawyers in the country and what I realized very quickly in my career is that I was very much drawn to employment law in fact more so than say for example commercial litigation and Ithink it's because of a human element and I think it's the ability to put yourself in the shoes of the employee you're dealing with or in the shoes of your employer client and to you know that allows you to come up with creative solutions to what can be some relatively complex problems the part about employment law that I love the most got is the ability to work with clients on a daily basis to solve important issues that are you know impeding their ability to do what they're trying to do where I excel and I think why I've had some success is in my ability to act not just as a lawyer to our clients but really as a strategic business partner and to solve their problems pragmatically and collaboratively.

Scott: I know that you had the opportunity to work in-house with one of Canada's largest retailers tell us about that experience and how it has helped you to be a better lawyer in understanding your client's needs.

Andrew: yeah it really allowed me to gain a real appreciation for what clients look for in their external counsel you're being retained to help a client achieve an objective it's only when you truly understand what the client is trying to achieve that you can really then figure out how best to utilize your subject matter expertise uh to achieve that objective yeah well along the same lines tell us about your approach to working with your clients my objective in every relationship with every client is to be more than just a lawyer i really want to be a trusted advisor and a strategic business partner and the way you do that is by taking an interest in your clients business.

Scott: Well hopefully this pandemic will be behind us soon but in the meantime what advice do you have for clients in managing their legal issues in the employment labor and equalities area.

Andrew: The advice I've been giving since the day I started practicing as a lawyer is be proactive you know reach out to your employment lawyer sooner rather than later you know certainly we can clean up a mess when there is if and when there is a mess but it's unbelievable how much money that  an organization can save and how much frustration can be avoided uh if situations are dealt with on the front end rather than on the back end.

Scott: On the personal side I know that you have a young family at home tell us how that's worked out for you in working remotely.

Andrew: I'd be lying to you Scott if I told you that it hasn't been challenging at times I've got two young girls a four-year-old daughter Olivia and a seven-year-old daughter Gabrielle um you know at the same time we're trying to sort of manage a busy practice go through a fairly sizable house renovation while having both kids at home almost almost all the time um but that being said you know I will say this I have found that it's been a refreshing change of pace you know the ability to have dinner as a family the ability to be home for bedtime for my girls every single night has really really been different from what I'm used to and I really enjoyed it.

Scott: Well Andrew this has been a pleasure thank you very much and I wish you and your family the very best.

Andrew: thanks Scott the same to you too