Gillian Hnatiw & Co. Welcomes Samantha Eisen

Gillian Hnatiw & Co. is excited to welcome Samantha Eisen to its growing team.

Samantha is a fierce advocate for her clients and uses her background in psychology and prior experience as a family lawyer to help clients navigate difficult legal processes with a focused, balanced and trauma-informed approach. Clients appreciate Samantha’s ability to help them understand what is happening and what to expect, while working creatively and tirelessly to obtain a successful result. Samantha is committed to her clients and works to help them reach their goals in a supportive and respectful environment.

Samantha aims to empower clients by providing options, guidance, and advice, while encouraging clients to make choices that will best serve their individual goals and interests. Samantha is a trained collaborative lawyer and where possible, uses her settlement training to help clients achieve their goals through a negotiated resolution. Where settlement is not possible, Samantha is a dynamic litigator who has successfully appeared before all levels of court, including the Ontario Court of Justice, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Ontario Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of Canada.

Prior to joining Gillian Hnatiw and Co., Samantha practiced family law at a highly respected boutique family law firm in Toronto. Samantha now maintains a broad civil litigation practice, with a focus on cases involving gender-based violence, assault, and abuse.

Samantha is active in the profession and the community. She volunteers for the Luke’s Place Virtual Legal Clinic, providing summary legal advice to survivors of domestic violence and for the Pro Bono Students Canada Family Justice Centre, supervising law students and providing free legal services to parties in need. Samantha is an adjunct mooting advisor for the Walsh Negotiation Competition at the University of Toronto, a position she has held since 2018.

Samantha is currently enrolled in the Professional LLM at Osgoode Hall Law School, specializing in dispute resolution. Her research interests include restorative justice, gender-based discrimination within the legal system, and trauma-informed practices and procedures.