Sarah’s practice is focused on municipal litigation including municipal law, land-use planning, development, administrative and expropriation law.

She regularly appears before the Ontario Land Tribunal “OLT” and all levels of court in Ontario acting for municipalities, private landowners and developers.

Some of the specific issues that Sarah deals with include: appeals and motions at the OLT; expropriation matters; official plan and zoning by-law amendments; minor variance and consent applications; site plan approvals and agreements; expropriation representation; development charges; conflict of interest and municipal election matters; drafting municipal bylaws and resolutions; freedom of information and privacy matters; court applications for property matters such as title rectification and recognition of prescriptive easements and rights of way.

Sarah earned her law degree at the University of Ottawa and was called to the Ontario Bar in 2013. She is the Chair of the Municipal Section Executive of the Ontario Bar Association, sits on the Municipal Section Executive of the Canadian Bar Association, and is a member the Central-East Regional Council for the Ontario Bar Association.

After too many years fighting for clients in a slow, expensive and user-unfriendly court system, Doug decided there was a better way to solve their family law problems. So, since 1998 a significant part of Doug’s practice has been providing representation for clients in mediation and arbitration processes and acting as a mediator or arbitrator for spouses who both wish to resolve their family issues this way instead of through litigation. This better way now takes up about 15% of Doug’s practice.

Also, in 1998 Doug received the recognition of the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) as a “Specialist in Family Law” and he has maintained this status to the present. Doug was the first lawyer in Simcoe County to receive this recognition. Doug is also one of very few lawyers in the province who has a wealth of knowledge in the topics of Adoption Law and the Representing of Children in Custody and Access Disputes. He co-authored a legal text on Adoption Law in Canada several years ago.

Since graduating from Law School at the University of Windsor in 1982 and being called to the Bar of the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1984, Doug has provided sound legal advice in all areas of family law including child support, spousal support, property division, corporate/business issues that impact on separation or divorce, child protection, child custody/parenting plans, etc.

Doug has been a guest speaker at the University of Windsor Faculty of Law, at the Ontario Provincial Police Academy and has contributed articles to local newspapers and legal publications throughout his career. Doug has also contributed to the legal and local communities through his work for, and memberships in, the Rotary Club of Barrie, Rainbows Canada, Simcoe County Family Law Lawyers Association, Ontario Bar Association and the Office of the Children’s Lawyer.

Doug retired from practice in October 2019 and now acts as a consultant in our Family Law department.

Tushar Sharma is an associate lawyer practicing in the area of municipal law. Before entering private practice, Tushar served as in-house legal counsel for two large Ontario municipalities, where he provided advice on a range of complex municipal and regulatory matters. In these roles, he worked closely with municipal staff and council members, advising on matters related to municipal governance, procurement, enforcement, building permit administration, and municipal finance.

Tushar earned his law degree from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and was called to the Bar in Ontario in June 2020. During law school, he was involved with Pro Bono Students Canada’s Family Law Project, assisting in the delivery of free legal services to self-represented litigants. Prior to studying law, Tushar completed a Bachelor of Science in Biology at the University of Alberta.

Outside of his legal practice, Tushar enjoys reading, weight lifting, travelling, and spending time with family and friends.