Lee T. McMillan
Managing Lawyer
Lee T. McMillan
Principal and Managing Lawyer
Lee McMillan is a Calgary litigator focused on employment and contractor disputes, including wrongful dismissal, severance, constructive dismissal, discrimination, and breach of contract. He also represents clients in shareholder oppression claims, professional disciplinary proceedings and general civil litigation.
Lee has advised hundreds of Calgarians on employment-law matters. Employment law is often decided in the details—the wording of an agreement, the structure of a compensation package, or the circumstances surrounding a dismissal. Lee works through those details to identify the strongest available arguments and a practical path toward resolution.
Legal advice must also make financial sense. Lee gives clients a realistic assessment of their potential recovery, legal costs and litigation risks before recommending that they proceed. His goal is to ensure that clients understand both their legal rights and whether pursuing those rights with a lawyer is likely to leave them better off.
Lee’s broader civil practice includes complex shareholder oppression claims under Alberta’s Business Corporations Act. He brings a practical understanding of corporate law, finance, business structures and financial recordkeeping to these matters.
Lee has appeared before the Alberta Court of Justice, Alberta Court of King’s Bench, Alberta Court of Appeal and Manitoba Court of King’s Bench. He has also represented professionals in disciplinary proceedings before administrative and regulatory tribunals.
Lee holds civil-law and common-law degrees—a B.C.L. and an LL.B.—from McGill University’s Faculty of Law. Before attending McGill, he graduated in the top three per cent of his class at Carleton University and received the Senate Medal for Outstanding Academic Achievement.
His education also included study in England and Scotland and an internship with a litigation-finance firm in Manhattan.
Lee is a lifelong Albertan and longtime Calgarian.
Selected courtroom decisions
- Hudye Inc v. Rosowsky, 2020 ABQB 296;
- Pisclevich v. Manitoba, 2018 MBQB 52;
- Burby v. Ball, 2017 ABQB 300;
- Kostic v. Piikani Nation, 2017 ABCA 53 ;
- Hudye Inc v. Rosowsky, 2016 ABQB 724.
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Basic Information for Employees Terminated Without Cause
What if my employment contract contains a termination clause?
While a termination clause can negatively impact the amount of termination pay that you are owed, the clause has to be worded in a very particular manner. Even if you do have a termination provision, there is a very good chance that it may be unenforceable. Do not assume the worst, run your employment agreement by an employment attorney today.
What if the Labour Standards Board has already told me I don't have a case?
The representatives at the Labour Standards Board are not lawyers. They are not trained in the common law and are not equipped to advise you on your full rights. Your entitlement to notice under the Code is only one aspect of a much broader spectrum of employment rights. Talk to an employment specialist, even if you have already spoken to the Board.
What if my employer has given me a deadline to sign my severance package?
Your right to fair compensation does not go away just because an employer has imposed a deadline. In fact, a short-term deadline is usually a red flag that your employer has offered you a bad severance package. Even so, it is important that you speak to a Calgary-based employment lawyer as soon as possible. We strive to accommodate same-day phone consultations whenever possible.
I am worried about my reputation in the industry. I do not want to burn any bridges.
There is no shame in standing up for your rights. At the end of the day, you and your employer have a contract, and they should be living up to their end of the bargain. Most severance negotiations are highly professional, private and confidential, and do not jeopardize an employee's prospects of future employment. In fact, it is in your employer's best interest to see that you secure comparable employment elsewhere.
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