Jennifer Hawkins is based in Calgary. She was called to the British Columbia Bar in 2006 and to the Alberta Bar in 2017. Jennifer has a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University, and she received her law degree from the University of Alberta (Dean’s List) in 2005.

She is trained in trauma-informed practices (Forensic Experiential Trauma Informed, Mount Royal University, 2018) and in principled engagement with Indigenous Peoples (University of British Columbia, 2021). In 2022, Jennifer completed a Mediation and Conflict Management Course from Harvard Law School Executive Education.

Jennifer is trusted by executives, union leadership, and employees alike for being knowledgeable, sincere, and fair.

Areas of Practice

Jennifer has practiced exclusively in the areas of employment, labour, and human rights law throughout her career, first at a national and then boutique law firm in Vancouver, and then at two post-secondary institutions where she ultimately managed a team of labour relations specialists. In her practice, she has represented private and public sector clients, both provincially and federally regulated.

Jennifer’s current focus includes conducting independent workplace assessments and investigations into various issues, such as bullying, harassment, discrimination, and other workplace misconduct. Jennifer was a partner at Western Canada’s largest workplace investigation firm for four years prior to founding Hawkins Lang & Price.

Federally Regulated Employers Investigator (National Registry)
Jennifer is an experienced investigator for federally regulated organizations under the Canada Labour Code. Jennifer has worked exclusively in a neutral capacity since August 2019, conducting workplace investigations for federally and provincially regulated clients. Her work has involved unionized and non-unionized workplaces, and she has interpreted and applied provincial and federal health and safety and human rights legislation.

Mediator
Jennifer has a keen interest in assisting parties in resolving conflict. Her years of working in-house in the post-secondary sector provided her with countless opportunities to engage in informal mediation processes and creative problem solving. She regularly facilitated discussions with multiple stakeholders and unions to negotiate a mutually agreeable path forward. More recently, Jennifer has engaged in complex facilitation and mediation process flowing from workplace disputes including at the executive level.