Denise Baker is co-managing partner at WeirFoulds LLP. Her practice is focused on municipal and land use planning law where she acts on behalf of municipalities, private landowners, and resident groups. She predominantly advises landowners and municipalities with respect to land use planning and development matters including municipal finance matters, Planning Act applications and appeals, and Heritage Act matters. She appears regularly before municipal councils, Committees of Adjustment, the Conservation Review Board, and the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (formerly the Ontario Municipal Board). She also appears before the Ontario Court of Justice and the Divisional Court. She is actively involved in using mediation and negotiation to effectively resolve disputes between parties. She is the past chairwoman of the municipal law section of the Ontario Bar Association and speaks at Law Society of Ontario and Ontario Bar Association seminars. She previously taught planning law to both undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Waterloo, and is a member of Lambda Alpha International (Simcoe Chapter). She is repeatedly recognized by Best Lawyers in Canada and in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory in the field of municipal law, and was ranked by Chambers Canada in 2024.
