We restrict our legal practice to Media and Defamation Law. This includes pre-publication review and litigation services for some of Canada’s most respected publications and writers, acting for both plaintiffs and defendants in defamation proceedings and by providing reputation management strategic advice.
We are passionate in advocating for the proper balance between freedom of expression and the protection of one’s reputation. We have appeared before all levels of Court in Ontario and before the Supreme Court of Canada.
We assist clients who have been approached by media (those for whom we do not act) to assist them in responding to inquiries to ensure accurate, fair, and balanced reporting of and concerning them.
Since the advent of Social Media we have been involved in the management of our client’s reputations and have strongly advocated that content providers such as Google be held responsible for defamatory content published on their sites once given notice of the defamatory nature of the content.
We have also contributed to the Ontario government’s review of the current Libel and Slander Act.
Howard Winkler has been Peer Rated as a Best Lawyer in Canada in the area of Defamation and Media Law since the inception of the rating system in 2006. He has been described by CBC as one of the Country’s leading experts in Defamation Law and he is the author of the Defamation Law Chapter in the Bullen & Leake & Jacobs, Canadian Precedents of Pleadings (Carswell).
There is often overlap between the areas of practice engaged in by Winkler Law and Intellectual Property law. In this regard, we have established a close working relationship with Mr. John Simpson, the founder of Shift Law, to provide the necessary subject matter expertise to provide full service to our clients. Shift Law was recently peer rated as one of the Top 10 Intellectual Property Boutique law firms in Canada.
