Julia Chumak

Julia is an associate in Lawrences’ Litigation Group. Her practice focuses on various areas of civil litigation, including estates, employment and corporate commercial litigation.

Prior to being called to the Ontario Bar, Julia began working at Lawrences in the Litigation Group as a summer student after her first year of law school at Osgoode Hall. In this role, she assisted with legal research and drafting for the Third Edition of Dispositions Without Trial, authored by Robert J. van Kessel and Edwin G. Upenieks. Thereafter, Julia completed her articling requirement with the Litigation Group at Lawrences.

During law school Julia was a Dean’s Fellow for first year students in Legal Process and Civil Procedure. Julia also volunteered as the Student Representative for Osgoode Hall with the Women’s Lawyer Forum Section of the Ontario Bar Association.

Julia received several awards and scholarships at Osgoode Hall, including the J.Edward (Ted) Thompson Q.C. Memorial Scholarship for the student entering their third year of law school with the highest standing in the program of Litigation, Dispute Resolution and the Administration of Justice, the Kenneth Gibson Morden Memorial Prize offered to the student with the highest standing in the subject of Evidence Law and the Justice M.M. Van Camp Prize awarded to the student with the highest standing in Family Law.

In addition to this, Julia has authored various professional development and legal writing pieces, including a presentation used at the Superior Court of Justice Fall Education Seminar, and a legal column entitled “Employer considerations: Mandating COVID-19 vaccines in the workplace.”

Representative Work

• Obtained summary judgment of over $150,000.00 for a client who was wrongfully terminated by their employer
• Acted as co-counsel at the Ontario Court of Appeal with respect to a will challenge regarding the interpretation of a single dispositive clause of an asset that was worth approximately $83,500.00 at the time the will was drafted, and over $1 million at the time of death of the testator
• Assisted a vendor client on the sale of its commercial property to a purchaser who failed to close the transaction in breach of the Agreement of Purchase and Sale that the parties had signed, by bringing a motion to secure the release of the purchaser’s deposit to the vendor and negotiating an expedited settlement for damages without the need for a long trial
• Involved in an ongoing complex partnership dispute which has involved an initial application that has since been converted into an action; with conflict of laws issues; at least 3 separate motions including a successful motion for the interim appointment of a court appointed monitor; and at least 5 separate leave to appeal and reconsideration motions across all levels of Court, including a leave application to the Supreme Court of Canada
• Palichuk v Palichuk, 2021 ONSC 7393: Successful in responding to an application seeking to exclude a client from care and control over client’s mother based on unfounded allegations of undue influence and alienation
• Blake v Blake, 2019 ONSC 1464: Successful in obtaining a dismissal of a summary judgment motion which sought to dismiss a client’s claims regarding the moving party’s misappropriation of estate funds and property, which decision led to a further appeal before the Divisional Court of Ontario
• Regularly attends and represents clients at mediations, pre-trial conferences, motions, examinations for discovery and various Small Claims court matters