Edwin Upenieks, a partner with the firm Lawrence, Lawrence, Stevenson LLP in Brampton, Ont., focuses on litigation, mediation and arbitration. He has been certified by the Law Society of Ontario as a specialist in civil litigation since 1998.

He graduated with high distinction from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Science in 1978 and earned his Bachelor of Laws from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1981. Mr. Upenieks was called to the Ontario Bar in 1983.

Practising as a litigator since his call to the bar, Mr. Upenieks chairs the litigation group at the firm. His areas of practice include corporate and commercial litigation, real estate litigation, expropriations, partnership and shareholder disputes, estates litigation, and assessment of costs.

He represents corporations, law firms, and individuals before all levels of court, including the Ontario Court of Appeal.

In addition, Mr. Upenieks handles mediations and arbitrations. He completed the mediation program at Harvard University in 1995 and is certified by the ADR Institute of Canada as both a mediator and arbitrator.

Mr. Upenieks has been a deputy judge in small claims court since 2010 and was pro bono duty counsel from 2010 to 2013 for the Law Society of Ontario.

In 2015/2016, he served as the elected president of the Ontario Bar Association, after holding various positions in the organization since 2007. He has held a number of roles with the Canadian Bar Association, including vice-chair and the national membership committee chair.

A writer on legal topics, in 2016 Mr. Upenieks published the second edition of Enforcing Judgments and Orders, a standard legal textbook. He has taught the Bar Admissions Course at Sheridan College and given lectures for the Ontario Bar Association, the Law Society of Ontario, The Advocates’ Society, the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association, the Peel Law Association, the Young Lawyers' Division East, the Institute of Law Clerks of Ontario, Queen’s Law School, and the American Bar Association.

Mr. Upenieks was honoured with the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Ontario Heart of Gold Award in 1997, the Peel Law Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017, and the Ontario Bar Association's Linda Adlam Manning Award for Volunteerism in 2018.