Melissa L. Eldridge is a dynamic advocate who is singularly focused on achieving results for her clients. As the Co-Chair of BLG's National School Boards Practice, Melissa is an experienced school boards lawyer with extensive knowledge of school board operations.
Melissa excels in high-stakes cases. She is a trusted advisor to educational institutions in Ontario and across Canada, including Catholic and public school boards, and independent schools. Melissa has a deep understanding of how schools and school boards operate. She advises school boards and independent schools on a range of education law issues, including those pertaining to student discipline, human rights, teacher misconduct, and special education. She brings her unique perspective to her commitment to client service: she is the former General Counsel of one of the largest school boards in Canada and former Governor of the Board of an independent school in Toronto.
Melissa is proactive and practical: she has negotiated dozens of local collective bargaining agreements on behalf of school boards for multiple rounds of local bargaining and she has represented school boards at hundreds of grievance mediations, arbitrations, and human rights cases.
Melissa recently represented school board trustees in response to an application for judicial review related to their decision to sanction a fellow trustee. She regularly appears before administrative tribunals and labour relations boards, including the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, the Ontario Labour Relations Board, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, and the Ontario Divisional Court.