Philippa Geddie began her legal career with Downtown Legal Services, acting as Division Leader of Housing before articling at the Office of the Children’s Lawyer. After her call to the bar in 2010, she served as counsel for the Children’s Lawyer before moving to private practice at litigation boutique Phillips Gill LLP as a Children’s Lawyer panel agent, representing numerous child clients in appeals of their commitment to secure treatment facilities. In 2011, she joined the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee, first as litigation counsel and then as client and investigations counsel.
As counsel for the Public Guardian and Trustee, Philippa provided a wide range of legal services to Ontarians experiencing cognitive impairment and/or serious mental health issues, from representation in class actions to defence against fraud, misappropriation, and medical abuse. In serving clients who often fell into multiple overlapping categories of disadvantage, such as low income status, mental/physical disability, and social isolation, she was privileged to work closely with an array of community services, family members, and professionals, approaching problems in an interdisciplinary and collaborative manner whenever possible.
Philippa was thrilled to return to Downtown Legal Services in 2022, at first supervising the Housing division, and then joining the Disability, Health, and Income Security Division for its launch in 2024.