Denise Baker

First Year of Call
2003

Areas of Practice
Municipal Law

Description
Denise Baker is Chair of WeirFoulds LLP and a Partner with a practice focused on municipal and land use planning matters and related litigation.

In her leadership role, Denise guides the firm’s strategic direction while continuing to advise municipalities and land developers on complex land use planning and municipal finance issues. With more than two decades of experience, Denise has appeared on numerous occasions before the Ontario Land Tribunal and its predecessors, as well as the Ontario Court of Justice and the Divisional Court. While litigation is sometimes necessary, Denise emphasizes that mediation and negotiation often provide a more effective way to resolve disputes between parties with opposing interests.

Denise is widely recognized in her field, ranked by Best Lawyers in Canada, the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, and Chambers Canada. She has contributed to the profession through leadership roles, including serving as Co-Chair of the first generation Cambridge Forum on Land Use Planning and as Chair of the Ontario Bar Association’s Municipal Law Section.
Denise currently teaches the next generation of planners on the Role of the Expert Witness before the Ontario Land Tribunal and previously taught planning law at the University of Waterloo.

She is a member of Lambda Alpha International (Simcoe Chapter) and frequently speaks at programs hosted by the Law Society of Ontario, the Ontario Bar Association, and the Ontario Professional Planners Institute.