Conor is head of the MLT Aikins ESG practice group and one of the leading ESG lawyers in Canada. He has extensive experience in the development and implementation of ESG programs, strategies and risk management. Conor acts for a broad spectrum of clients in the energy, Indigenous, mining and natural resources, agribusiness and financial services industries, among others.
Motivated by his family’s history and deep roots in the Canadian coal mining industry, Conor’s personal and professional goal is to live life with purpose and lead broad positive change. Prior to joining MLT Aikins, Conor spent several years as an environmental and regulatory lawyer at a national law firm. More recently, he spent over a decade with Suncor Energy in various senior sustainability roles which involved reporting on environmental and sustainability matters to Suncor’s Environment, Health, Safety and Sustainability Subcommittee of the Board of Directors.
At MLT Aikins, Conor leads a collaborative, cross-functional and multi-disciplinary team of sustainability professionals who advise clients on ESG strategy and program development, ESG activism and disclosure risks, and ESG policy development and training. Conor holds a Global Competent Boards Designation (GCB.D) in ESG, a Certificate in Sustainable Finance and ESG from UC Berkeley School of Law and has been named a Top 40 Lawyer in Canada under the age of 40 by Lexis/Nexis. Conor has been named a Canadian Environmental Thought Leader by Mondaq, speaks frequently across North America on ESG topics and has been featured in the Globe and Mail, Financial Post, Canadian Lawyer, the Canadian Bar Association’s National Magazine, the Daily Oil Bulletin, Investment Executive, Advisor’s Edge and Lexis/Nexis.
- Alberta v. Suncor Energy Inc. 2016 ABQB 264; 2017 ABCA 221. At the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench and Court of Appeal, successfully argued for the ability of companies to conduct regulatory investigations on a legally privileged basis, setting a Canadian legal precedent
- Member, Canadian Bar Association
- Member, Calgary Bar Association
- Volunteer Golf Coach, Calgary Special Olympics
- Organizer of annual Christmas toy drive for Calgary’s Ronald McDonald House and KidSport Calgary
- Editor, Saskatchewan Law Review 2006-2007
- Co-author, “The Alarm Bell is Sounding and the Regulator is at the Door: Emergency Response, Reporting, and Investigations in the Age of Heightened Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement” (Alberta Law Review Volume 55, Issue 2, 2017)
- Sessional lecturer of Energy Law classes (Energy Imports/Exports, Water Law, Administrative Law) at the University of Calgary, College of Law
- Canadian Environmental Law Thought Leader (Mondaq, 2022)
- Lexpert Rising Star (2015)
- Canadian Energy Law Foundation Prize (highest mark in Oil and Gas Law class at the University of Saskatchewan)
- Wascana Energy Scholarship (outstanding academic and athletic achievement)