Retired
Location: Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Phone: 519-837-0500
“From 1980 until his retirement from the practice of law in 2024 Stephen provided legal services to clients in the areas of environmental municipal and planning law. For 44 years, Stephen served a wide range of clients, including international government contracts, federal and provincial government agencies and tribunals, reginal and local municipal governments, private development companies, first nations, individual landowners and public interest groups. He helped his clients to understand their rights and obligations; worked with them to develop creative, practical and cost-effective solutions; and successfully negotiated and advocated for them before tribunals and the courts. While Stephen no longer practices law, the lawyers of Garrod Pickfield LLP continue to benefit from his strategic advice, expertise and experience.”
Career Summary
Stephen obtained his law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1978. That same year, he also received his Masters degree in Environmental Studies, becoming the first student to successfully complete the joint LLB/MES program at York University. He successfully completed the Bar Admission Course and was admitted to the Ontario Bar in April, 1980. Prior to studying law, Stephen studied chemistry, math and geography at McMaster University, graduating summa cum laude with an Honours degree in urban-economic geography in 1974. From 1979 to 2009, Stephen taught environmental, municipal and planning law to planning and environmental studies students at the University of Waterloo on a part time basis, as an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Urban and Regional Planning in the Faculty of Environmental Studies. From 1980 until his retirement from the practice of law, he practiced full time, exclusively in the areas of municipal and planning law and environmental law, serving a broadly based clientele. Stephen was a founding partner of Garrod Pickfield LLP.. He is the author of several publications and frequently spoke at conferences and professional development seminars. Stephen also practiced and taught mediation and other alternative dispute resolution techniques in the context of environmental, municipal and land-use planning disputes. Stephen retired from the practice of law, in 2024, and now enjoys sharing his strategic expertise and experience with the lawyers of Garrod Pickfield LLP, as a part time advisor to the firm
- Environmental law
- Municipal and Planning law
- Osgoode Hall Law School, Toronto, Ontario, Canada – 1978
- York University, Osgoode Hall Law School, North York, Ontario, Canada
- LLB/MES program – 1978
- Major: Environmental Studies
- McMaster University – 1974
- Honors: summa cum laude
- Honors: With Honours
- Major: Urban-Economic Geography
Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Urban and Regional Planning in the Faculty of Environmental Studies
