Simon Chester

Simon Chester is counsel within Gowling WLG's General Counsel team, responsible for the firm’s Integrated File Opening and Conflicts Assessment Project. He also leads a group that analyzes outside counsel guidelines, using Kira Artificial Intelligence software.

Simon’s career has spanned law teaching, a decade in the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General, and eclectic experience as a partner in other Bay Street firms, dealing with research, knowledge management, intellectual property and legal opinions.

He held senior leadership positions in the American Bar Association, being the first non-American to chair ABA TechShow, and served as a consultant on conflicts of interest to both the International Bar Association and the Canadian Bar Association. He was the first non-American to be president of the College of Law Practice Management. He co-founded Slaw, the most widely read legal blog in Canada.