Erin J. Baker (she/her/hers)

Through a practice focused on civil litigation, Erin J. Baker has gained extensive experience representing a wide range of both individual and corporate clients. Erin has appeared numerous times at the Provincial and Superior Court levels in Alberta and British Columbia, including the Court of Appeal of Alberta.

Erin has significant experience with large scale, highly technical and document-intensive domestic and international multi-party arbitrations and mediations. Further, Erin has a background in managing large scale litigation and arbitration matters involving multiple in-house counsel, business groups and external counsel.

Education

She obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree, with distinction, from the University of Victoria in 2004. She majored in anthropology and minored in sociology. In 2007, Erin obtained her Bachelor of Laws from the University of Alberta. While in law school, she volunteered with Student Legal Services gaining experience in both the criminal law and civil law divisions.

Erin came to JSS Barristers as an associate, following the completion of her articles in Victoria, British Columbia. While articling, she advocated in the areas of personal injury and medical malpractice litigation, and gained experience in family law, wills & estates, and conveyancing. She participated in several continuing legal education seminars and was a member of the Young Lawyers of Victoria.

Career in Civil Litigation

Erin's practice includes an emphasis in the areas of employment law, power & regulatory disputes, construction disputes and professional negligence claims. 

Erin regularly acts for the Alberta Lawyers Indemnity Association in defence of professional negligence claims.

In her employment practice, Erin provides opinions to former employees with respect to appropriateness of severance packages, and advises employees in respect of issues associated with wrongful dismissal, in particular in respect of the appropriate notice period, entitlements to stock options and benefits, and constructive dismissal.

Erin also provides advice to employers, including reviewing employment contracts to ensure that terms are consistent with statutory requirements and common law. Erin advises employers in respect of appropriate amounts to be paid to employees upon termination, as well as, among other things, issues relating to non-competition and non-solicitation agreements and violations of confidentiality clauses. Erin provides opinions to employers to assist in responding to allegations of wrongful dismissal and defends claims brought by employees. 

Experience

In her power & regulatory practice, Erin has represented clients in both arbitration proceedings and in Court. In particular:

• Erin has assisted with various force majeure disputes for Buyers under Power Purchase Arrangements in the Alberta power industry, involving issues regarding whether the cause and duration of plant outages were beyond the reasonable control of the owner.
• In 2016, Erin was co-counsel representing TransCanada Energy Ltd. and ASTC Power Partnership in disputes related to the termination of Power Purchase Arrangements.
• Erin was co-counsel representing TransCanada Energy Ltd. and ASTC Power Partnership in obtaining a decision of the Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta, appointing arbitrators and dismissing an application to stay arbitrations commenced in relation to the termination of Power Purchase Arrangements.
• Erin has assisted with matters for the Independent Power Producers Society of Alberta (comprised of all major power generation companies in Alberta) on various matters, including, most recently, in relation to an Application before the Alberta Utilities Commission.

Awards and Recognitions

Recently, Erin was named Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation (2022). Prior, she was named Future Star by Benchmark Litigation (2018-2021). In 2020, she was included on Benchmark Litigation's Top 40 & Under Hot List. 

Personal

In her spare time, Erin enjoys spending time with her husband and son, as well as travelling, cooking, spinning, barre, and reading. 

Publications 

"Unilateral Unpaid Leave of Absence May Not Trigger Constructive Dismissal"
JSSBarristers.ca, November 3, 2022
Co-author with Sarah Miller

"Mandatory Vaccinations in the Workplace"

JSSBarristers.ca, July 22, 2021
Co-author (with Sarah Miller)

"Executive Agreements: What Protection do they Offer?"

Presented to Financial Executives International by Sabri on November 19, 2008 (revised and expanded version of a paper originally prepared by Julie Whitaker of Macleod Dixon LLP)
Co-Author with Sabri Shawa

"Sharing Document Records with the Other Side: Best Practices on Document Sharing in a Complex Litigation Matter"

LESA Seminar "Document Management in Complex Litigation Files" (2015)
Co-Author and Co-Presenter