Skip Navigation

About Iris

Iris has a broad-based commercial litigation and arbitration practice with a focus on complex international commercial and investor-state arbitration. She has extensive experience in complex multijurisdictional and multifaceted disputes, including matters relating to bilateral and multilateral investment treaties, and is a member of the Investment Treaty Arbitration group at Blakes.

Iris advises and represents clients in a variety of industries, including financial services, agri-business, pension plans, construction and resource extraction.

Iris' past international experience includes a secondment at the London office of a prominent U.K. law firm, where she was part of a legal team advising a large financial institution in connection with multi-jurisdictional regulatory investigations. Prior to completing her legal studies, Iris interned at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva, Switzerland in what was then the Division on Investment, Technology, and Enterprise Development. While there, she worked on bilateral investment treaty issues as part of the Work Programme on International Investment Agreements.

Select Experience

Recent representative matters include:

  • Represented the intervener before the Alberta Court of Appeal in a case concerning the application of the Cape Town Convention on international interests in mobile equipment, particularly security interests in aircraft, within Canada (Avmax Aircraft Leasing Inc. v. Air X Charter Limited, 2022 ABCA 252)

  • Counsel to a Canadian company in an ICC arbitration against an international counterparty regarding an aircraft work contract dispute

  • Co-counsel to a Canadian investor in an arbitration under the UNCITRAL rules against the government of a host state, under a bilateral investment treaty

  • Co-counsel to a Canadian company in an international commercial arbitration under the ICC Rules against a contractual counterparty, in connection with an investment project in a foreign state

  • Advising a Canadian company on dispute resolution issues in connection with the divestiture of an investment abroad

  • Co-counsel to a consumer products company in a domestic commercial arbitration relating to a warehousing services agreement

  • Advising a Canadian-based investor in connection with potential investment claims under NAFTA and the CPTPP relating to investments in Mexico's energy sector

  • Advising a Canadian investor on potential domestic implications of a foreign regulatory investigation into an investment abroad

  • Advising the Canadian subsidiaries of European and American based multinational companies in respect of a potential investment claim against Canada

  • Co-counsel to the Six Nations of the Grand River in an ongoing large and complex action against the federal and Ontario governments

  • Co-counsel to a technology and power transmission company in a large arbitration arising from a dispute relating to the construction of converter stations

  • Advising companies in the oil and gas sector on investment treaty considerations in relation to provincial government measures

  • Co-counsel to a client in defence of a third-party claim relating to contaminated lands

  • Co-counsel to a client in defence of a third-party claim relating to an environmental impact assessment study

  • Co-counsel to the owner of an energy plant in a complex multi-party construction litigation involving several interrelated court actions

  • Co-counsel to a supplier of industrial gases in a contract dispute with a distributor

  • Co-counsel to a mining and natural resources company in an appeal of a decision of the Ontario Mining and Lands Commissioner relating to an easement over unpatented mining claims

  • Co-counsel in an arbitration of disputes under right-of-way agreements between governmental corporations and energy pipeline companies

  • Co-counsel in an arbitration of disputes between two air carriers over payments to be made under a capacity purchase agreement

  • Co-counsel to a mining and natural resources company in a judicial review application related to a federal environmental assessment

Awards & Recognition

Iris has been recognized as a leading lawyer in the following publications:

  • The Best Lawyers in Canada 2025 (International Arbitration)

  • Benchmark Canada: The Definitive Guide to Canada's Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys 2024 (Future Star)

  • The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory – 2022–2024 (Commercial Arbitration)

  • Benchmark Canada: The Definitive Guide to Canada's Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys – 2020–2023 (40 & Under Hot List)

  • Lexpert Rising Stars 2022: Canada's Leading Lawyers Under 40

Professional Activities

Iris is a member of the Canadian and Ontario Bar Associations and The Advocates' Society.

Publications
Professional Appearances
Education

Admitted to the Ontario Bar – 2009
IBBA, York University, Schulich School of Business – 2005
JD, University of Toronto – 2008

More insights

Save Profile

Select sections to customize your PDF

Cancel