Warren Urquhart
Toronto,,Ontario
Summary
Software consultant turned into privacy professional. Call to the Bar Date - June 2023. Current articling student for the Ontario government , working in the policy and legal practice areas of private and public sector privacy, data protection, commercial and more. Freelance writer published in major publications such as the New York Times and Toronto Star, writing about tech, innovation in the legal field, privacy and data policy.
Overview
7
7
years of professional experience
Work History
Articling Student
Ontario - MPBSD And MOI
08.2022 - Current
- Articling placement in the Civil Law Division for Ontario's Ministry of Infrastructure and Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery. Call to the bar date - June 2023
- Conducted legal research and drafted memoranda for legal practice areas such as Privacy, data and Freedom of Information (FIPPA, HIPPA), Constitutional Law, corporate governance (OBCA, CBCA, ONCA) Consumer Protection, Procurement, Real Estate and more. Developed policy in all above areas
- Researched Canada's private sector and government privacy legislation through case law, academic sources to find likely outcomes of litigation, including constitutional challenges
- Research on privacy law and freedom of information used by legislative and policy drafters for private and public sector privacy, freedom of information
- Researched case law surrounding Ministry legislation to see legality of policy proposals from Members of Provincial Parliament
- Summarized and analyzed Privacy and Data related Case Law and decisions from Ontario's Privacy Commissioner to discuss the impact on every ministry's privacy and freedom of information practice. Would periodically present findings to Privacy lawyers across all Ministries
- Privacy issues researched and analyzed include; data retention and governance by government, hospitals, agencies and businesses, liability for data breaches, privacy torts
- Drafted amendments and clauses to multi-million procurement contracts with the Ontario's vendors, including information technology agreements
- Edit and created briefing notes for private sector partners to assist in regulatory compliance, in areas such as privacy, construction, real estate and insurance. Identified regulatory trends to assist private sector partners
- Strong understanding of FIPPA and all provincial privacy laws, PIPEDA, GPDR, CASL and would use knowledge in assisting privacy counsel and policy clients
- Wrote Land Title Act research memos to help adjudicator decisions in Land Title Tribunal
Freelance Writer - Law and Tech +
Self Employed
05.2016 - Current
- Freelance writer specializing in articles on tech, law, policy, the legal profession and more (Effects of zoom in the court room, ChatGPT and the legal profession, Canadian Bill of Digital Rights). Work has appeared in the Toronto Star, LexisNexis' The Lawyer's Daily (now Law360), New York Times
- 2023-2025 Internet Policy and Law Foundry Fellow (sponsored by the Internet Education Foundation). Works with fellows in writing, developing and shaping policy and conversation about internet, privacy law, data governance and tech issues
- 2023 Presenter at Mozilla's Annual Conference. One hour session discussing data protection, governance and consumer rights. Compared Canadian, American and European privacy legislation (CCPA, PIPEDA, GPDR), their affect on organizations and consumers. Discussed how damages for data breaches are calculated by the Courts
- Honours: Article selected by the Managing Editor of The Lawyer's Daily Managing Editor’s as one of the Best of the Week. Two articles featured in Osgoode Hall Law School's Monthly Ovations and Media Highlights. Article topics include: The Effects of Zoom in the Court Room, Filipino Representation in the Legal Community
Content Editor
Canadian Legal Innovation Forum
05.2021 - 07.2022
- Wrote content for the Canadian Legal Innovation Forum Website and its webinars, pertaining to innovative legal subjects such as E-discovery, knowledge management, compliance, privacy, data reaches, governance and more
- Organized webinars, conferences with record attendance featuring partners from Canada's leading law firms (Fasken, Blake's), in-house counsel
Summer Law Student
Financial Services Regulatory Authority Of Ontario
04.2021 - 09.2021
- Provided legal research and drafting support to legal counsel in insurance, credit unions, pension, privacy, mortgages, tax, immigration
- Created and updated regulatory guidance for private sector partners, such as Insurance Agents to assist in regulatory compliance
- Assisted counsel in FSRA's Policy, Enforcement, Litigation and Procurement departments
- Drafted research memos and notice of Proposals for Financial Services Tribunal Hearings
- Researched case law for possible actions taken through Ontario statutes such as the Insurance Act, Pension Benefits Act, Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act
Implementation Consultant
Ceridian Dayforce
01.2018 - 08.2019
- Select Clients: The Green Bay Packers, Fontana America Inc, Krueger International Inc.
- Led and assisted in the Implementation of Dayforce’s Work Force Management Module. Used SQL, Asana, LucidChart, Tableau and Power BI for implementation
- Consulted and advised client stakeholders on current WFM, HR and data practices (Privacy Policies, data governance, privacy policy scheduling, workflows, timesheet review, pay rules and policies), led and participated in Discovery/Requirement gathering and UAT testing
- Handled sensitive data of thousands of employees, including Social Security Numbers
- Managed 2-5 projects at a time that ranged from 6-12 months, clients normally ranging from 500-5000+ employees, contracts from $200 000 to $1 000 000+
- Average Project NPS score of 10
Education
J.D. - Law
Osgoode Hall Law School - York University
Toronto, ON06.2022
Skills
- Legal Research and drafting
- Article writing (journalism, opinion and content)
- Data security, protection and governance, privacy by design
- Policy analysis, development
- Cloud Technology Consulting
- Freedom of Information requests, access (public sector and health)
Interests
Weightlifting, digital minimalism and hockey
Timeline
Articling Student
Ontario - MPBSD And MOI
08.2022 - Current
Content Editor
Canadian Legal Innovation Forum
05.2021 - 07.2022
Summer Law Student
Financial Services Regulatory Authority Of Ontario
04.2021 - 09.2021
Implementation Consultant
Ceridian Dayforce
01.2018 - 08.2019
Freelance Writer - Law and Tech +
Self Employed
05.2016 - Current
J.D. - Law
Osgoode Hall Law School - York University
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