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A Brief History About Donnelly Law

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Donnelly Law was founded in 2008 to service leading environmental non-profit and charitable organizations, citizen groups and First Nations. Donnelly Law is counsel to Environmental Defence and is dedicated to fighting for people and groups who work in the public interest. Our mission is to provide high-quality legal and government relations services to those working towards a greener, healthier and just society. Our clients are selected based on rigorous criteria that ensure our lawyers are fully committed to the cases we represent

David Donnelly has been an environmental advocate for over 25 years, with over 20 years experience at the bar.

Quotes and Comments

David Donnelly, a spokesperson for Environmental Defence Canada, says the region needs to improve construction practices if they want to satisfy the concerns of environmentalists.

“Blaming environmentalists for lack of servicing in the GTA is like blaming the weatherman for a green Christmas,” Donnelly says. “It wasn’t our dumb idea to stick a sewage pipe through a major aquifer and the Rouge ecosystem without a full environmental assessment.” “The Big Pipe has done more to promote urban sprawl in the GTA than the cul-de-sac and the three-car garage combined,” Donnelly adds.
— "Just a Pipe Dream", The Toronto Star, Jan. 27, 2007
“Big heart, big brain, big soul – all green.” That’s how Toronto City Councillor Paula Fletcher describes lawyer, urban planner and activist David Donnelly, who happens to live in her Riverdale Ward.
— Earth Angel: The Politico, Sowing the Seeds on Council, Toronto Star, January 27, 2009
The distinguished municipal branch of the Ontario bar thus declares a public duty to crush the province’s most courageous environmental lawyer - that little twerp at the back of the room in the pink socks, with a bicycle helmet. Mr. Bridge says “All rise” and I follow Mr. Donnelly to the coffee shop downstairs. “LAKE SIMCOE MARINA CASE: THE FALLOUT, In an airless hearing room, public dissent goes on trial”
— Globe and Mail, October 18, 2008, by John Barber
“When Huron-Wendat officials heard of the dig a few weeks ago, their Toronto lawyer David Donnelly frantically emailed Tourism and Culture Minister Michael Chan and Vaughan planning officials, demanding without success that the work be halted until the Huron-Wendat could be drawn into the process. “In the old days, at least the First Nations got muskets and beads when we took their sites,” Donnelly said. “Now they can’t even get a
phone call returned.”
— First Nations want say in the preservation of important archaeological sites in Ontario, Toronto Star, Sun., Aug. 29, 2010
“The association hired the Tie Domi of environmental lawyers, David Donnelly, to argue their case. Donnelly is a former executive director of Environmental Defence, a crusader with a reputation for bluntness and an impressive record. (He played an instrumental role in drafting the Greenbelt Act.)”
— Paul Wilson, The Battle Over Lake Simcoe, Toronto Life Magazine, August 2008
“Part lawyer, part activist, and part kid who refuses to grow up.”
— Nicola Ross, Green Do Gooder, Alternatives Magazine, December 2008

Notable Matters and Outcomes

You Can Find Us Here:

276 Carlaw ave Suite 203, M4M 3L1, Toronto ON, Canada

Phone: 416 572 0464 Fax: 416 572 0465