Seema Shafei works primarily in labour, employment and human rights law across both the federal and provincial sectors. At the forefront of her work, she is dedicated towards addressing power imbalances inherent to the employment relationship.

Prior to her call to the bar, Seema sat on the bargaining committee of her University Local and distinctly remembers when she presented its proposals to the Employer. It was in this moment she realized that the collective bargaining process provided workers with a unique voice that they otherwise would struggle to attain individually. She decided then that she wanted to spend her legal career working to advance the interests of labour unions and workers more broadly.

Seema has consistently sought out work that addresses systemic inequities, including advocating for workers with disabilities, defending tenants against landlord exploitation, and protecting women sexually harassed in the workplace. She is interested in the potential for labour unions and tenant unions to work together towards advancing the interests of the working class as a whole while using both legal and extralegal means. She has written about this for the Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice.

Prior to joining Champ & Associates, Seema worked at a prominent union-side labour and social justice firm. Seema is hopeful for a world in which everyone’s work provides them with a sense of stability, growth, and dignity.