Our Team

Steve Mendelssohn (B.A., L.LB) is a founding partner in Watershed LLP.  Steve has a unique perspective on legal services after spending 20 years as an executive with some of Canada’s largest private sector employers, where he held a number of positions including Vice President, Labour Relations and Human Resources and Employment Law Counsel.  In these roles Steve was responsible for procuring legal services, as a result, he has a deep appreciation for the challenges and opportunities that his clients experience in dealing with legal service firms.

In his career, Steve has administered over 250 different Collective Agreements across all ten Provinces and has been the chief spokesperson in Collective Bargaining in over 200 rounds of bargaining with all of the major Trade Unions, including Teamsters, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), Canadian Autoworkers (CAW), Communication, Energy and Paperworkers (CEP), Steelworkers, Labourers International (LIUNA), Bakery, Confectionary and Tobacco Workers (BCT), and public sector Unions including Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Canadian Office and Professional Employees (COPE).  He regularly advises clients on Collective Agreement interpretation, and workplace issues.  Steve also works extensively with non-union employers in maintaining a positive and engaged labour relations climate.

In addition to his labour relations experience, Steven has been a leader of the Human Resources function in both Union and Non-Union environments.  His depth of experience allows him to assess HR related issues from an industry perspective, while still having the expertise to provide legal advice and counsel to his client groups.  Additionally, Steven has significant experience with change management and restructuring initiatives from an operational perspective.  This allows him to fully understand the implications and implementation issued faced by his clients.

Steve has also been responsible for leading the training function at Canada’s largest private sector employer.  He has developed and delivered training programs on a variety of topics, including Labour Relations, Violence and Harassment in the Workplace, Managing Under a Collective Agreement, Leadership Development and Negotiation Strategy.   He has designed, developed and delivered training programs to many of Canada’s largest employers. He has been a guest speaker at a number of continuing education programs and has been a course instructor in Labour and Employment Law at Sheridan College and guest lecturer at the University of Toronto.