Legal advice that’s embedded in your business

Aliya founded Verist Legal to give companies senior employment legal judgment without adding to headcount.

Aliya works with companies that have no in-house lawyer, with in-house teams that need employment depth, and with US companies who have Canadian employment obligations. She also advises executives on compensation and equity, restrictive covenants, and severance negotiations.

She has deep expertise in employment and labour and breadth across commercial contracts and privacy. She enjoys helping businesses navigate their legal obligations surrounding complex workforces, including multi-province, multi-entity, unionized, high-turnover, and Canada-US operations.

She has nearly a decade of experience, starting out litigating at Canada's largest plaintiff-side employment firm, where she learned why employers end up in lawsuits, what matters to employees, and why claims settle. In BigLaw, she defended the kind of lawsuits she used to bring, and advised some of the world's largest companies on issues from onboarding through termination, workplace investigations, executive compensation, restrictive covenants, and the employment aspects of M&A transactions. While in-house at lululemon athletica inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) she led policy design, new market entry, and workforce compliance across Canada and the US. She then built the legal function inside Paladin Security Group Ltd., Canada’s largest private security provider, a multi-entity company with a 34,000+ union and non-union workforce.

Her insights have been featured on CBC, the National, and Human Resources Director Canada. She was co-host of Global News' Employment Law Show and a contributor to CLEBC's Annual Review of Law and Practice, Employment Law Chapter. She is also a regular speaker for the Chartered Professionals of Human Resources BC and Yukon.