Lawyers and Staff
Michael Janigan – Executive Director/General Counsel
Michael Janigan is the Executive Director and General Counsel of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) located in Ottawa, Canada. The Centre provides legal services and research on behalf of Canadian consumers and the organisations that represent them. The work of the Centre primarily involves issues concerned with the delivery of telecommunications, energy, broadcasting, banking, transportation and other important public services. The Centre has been in existence since 1976 and has a small staff of lawyers, researchers and administrative personnel. Mr. Janigan has been the Executive Director of the Centre since 1992.
Prior to assuming his current position, Mr. Janigan was a city and regional councillor representing a downtown ward in the City of Ottawa. He was elected to that position in the community where he carried on a busy litigation legal practice.
Mr. Janigan was born in Ottawa and attended the University of Western Ontario, in London, Ontario where he obtained both his undergraduate degree in science and his LLB degree. He was called to the Bar of the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1980. He is also a member of the State Bar of California. In addition to his position with PIAC, Mr. Janigan is counsel to the law firm of Scott Hempling and Associates, based in Washington, D.C. The Hempling firm provides legal advice to many state regulatory commissions across the United States on issues associated with energy and telecommunications competition and regulation.
John Lawford – Counsel
John Lawford is a research analyst and lawyer with the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) in Ottawa. John has been with PIAC since July 2003. Prior to coming to PIAC, John was a lawyer at a large national law firm doing medical-legal research. John has also been Research Director at a major Ottawa law firm. John was Special Projects Director and Webmaster for QUICKLAW Inc. from 1992 to 1999. He has an undergraduate degree in English and a Law degree from Queen’s University (1990).
John recently has researched and written and two reports for PIAC: one on identity theft (with Philippa Lawson) and one on payday lending. John is active in the areas of e-commerce, privacy, financial services and health law from a consumer perspective.
Michael Buonaguro – Counsel (Toronto)Michael Buonaguro serves as Legal Counsel at PIAC’s Toronto office. Michael is responsible for coordinating PIAC’s work in Toronto, including research and public advocacy associated with the work of the Centre, and representating vulnerable consumers at the Ontario Energy Board. Michael brings to the Centre his experience in litigation and in the energy industry.
Donna Brady – Office Administrator
Donna Brady joined PIAC in the spring of 1992 as full-time office administrator. Her background is in Business Administration. Previous to joining PIAC, she worked as the Administrative Assistant for a City and Regional Councillor.