Neshama Nicole Nussbaum is a lawyer based in London, Ontario and has a particular focus on, and extensive experience with, law and policy issues related to gender identity and gender expression. Formerly a sole practitioner practicing in the areas of employment, human rights, and family law, Nicole joined Legal Aid Ontario in December 2012 and assists unrepresented litigants navigate a wide variety of family law issues. She also acts as project lead of the TransForming Justice project, a legal needs assessment of trans people in Ontario, which is administered by the HIV & Aids Legal Clinic Ontario with funding from Legal Aid Ontario and the Ontario HIV Treatment Network.

 

Nicole is a former president of the Canadian Professional Association for Transgender Health, and a past-chair and current executive member of the Canadian Bar Association’s Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Section. She is also a former member of the Law Society of Upper Canada’s Equity Advisory Group. In 2014 Nicole instructed the first course in Canada to deal specifically with Gender Identity and the Law, offered in the Department of Women’s Studies & Feminist Research at Western University. Nicole has consulted and conducted trainings on trans human resources issues for a number of corporate and union clients and has guest-lectured and presented on transgender issues at many conferences. Her efforts to advance the position of trans people in Canada was recognized as a recipient of a Senate of Canada, Canada 150 medal.