Howard Levitt (born 1952) is a Canadian lawyer, author, and columnist. He is a senior partner at the Toronto employment law firm Levitt Sheikh LLP. Levitt has published six employment law books, including The Law of Dismissal in Canada. He writes a weekly column for the Financial Post. Early life Howard Alan Levitt was born in 1952. Levitt was raised in Hamilton, Ontario. He attended the University of Toronto, where he obtained his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1977. He did courses at Harvard Law School, following that, obtaining his Negotiation and Advanced Negotiation Certificate under Roger Fisher. Career Legal career Levitt was called to the Ontario Bar in 1979. He started his career as an employment lawyer specializing in wrongful dismissal. Levitt worked on several prolific cases in his early career. In 1987, he represented Betty Stone, who worked for the Toronto branch of the National Council of Jewish Women. Stone lost her employment as executive director after investigating the political contributions of fundraiser Patti Starr. Known as the Patti Starr affair, the legal proceedings received prominent news coverage and he acted for her before the Houlden Commission. This case contributed to the collapse of the David Peterson provincial Liberal government since many cabinet ministers were involved with Starr. Levitt also represented Yolanda Ballard, the long-time companion of the Toronto Maple Leafs owner Harold Ballard. After Ballard died in 1990, Yolanda had a legal dispute with his children over the estate, documented extensively in the news. In the early 1990s, Levitt represented Marek Machtinger, a car dealership employee who disputed the severance pay and termination clause against his former employer. He argued the dismissal did not meet Ontario's Employment Standards Act (ESA). The Machtinger v. HOJ Industries Ltd. case reached the Supreme Court of Canada in 1992, in which Levitt won the appeal. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favour of Machtinger, stating that employers must comply with the requirements of the ESA. Levitt has acted as lead counsel in more employment law cases before the Supreme Court of Canada and at more provincial Courts of Appeal than any other lawyer in Canadian history. Levitt developed his career at Lang Michener, which has since rebranded itself as McMillan LLP. In 2011, Levitt started his employment law firm, Levitt LLP. His clients have included the Business Development Bank of Canada, Corus Entertainment, CPA Canada, Rogers Communications, Shaw Communications, and