Who she is

“When you’re part of a large team working on a major project, each person at the table has a different perspective and are motivated in a different way,” says Olena Wynnycky. “My role is to take those perspectives into account and bring them all together to help achieve a common goal.”

It’s that approach to practising law that makes Olena, who has worked as a senior in-house counsel for the bulk of her career, so valuable to clients. What’s more, she can rely on her engineering background in giving legal advice on large infrastructure and construction projects. “I’ve worked with engineers and technical people for most of my career,” she says. “I understand what their struggles are.”

Trained as a corporate and commercial lawyer with a focus on major projects files, Olena brings to the table a mix of international experience, practical business knowledge and strong communication skills to help clients understand the best path to solving their legal problems.

Away from the office, Olena is an outdoors enthusiast and traveler, preferably to places where she can go on long hikes in the mountains.

How she got here

After completing an engineering degree and then her law degree at McGill University (B.C.L., LL.B.), Olena started practising at Stikeman Elliot in the firm’s corporate department. After a few years working overseas in Eastern Europe, she returned to Montreal and joined the legal department at SNC-Lavalin She has since taken up senior in-house roles at Algonquin Power and Alstom, before joining Simplex Legal as a Senior Lawyer in 2021. Olena is fluent in English, French and Ukrainian with a good working knowledge of Russian.