About

Dear Friends/Colleagues/Supporters:

As we work to build this website and officially launch our Firm, I wanted to tell you a bit more about our story as a preview for our work to come. This is the story of why we founded Heron Law Offices: Lawyers for Migrant Communities after a wonderful and supportive time with Edelmann and Co. Law Offices.

Co-founded in 2021 by Will Tao (Principal) and Edris Arib (Case Manager/Director of Operations), we started Heron because we wanted to create a Canadian Law Firm to do law differently. We will start our work in our areas of focus and expertise– Canadian immigration, citizenship, and refugee law. Our bigger dreams, however, hold a bigger vision.

We noticed that our ideal client base is increasingly tech-savy (or eager to learn more), but concerned about their bottom line and the overall cost of legal services. We noticed clients want to be relationship partners in a well-managed process not just treated as the transactional end-product. We noticed that our clients want compassionate forward-thinking representation from lawyers who are themselves from racialized migrant communities, who want to invest in the future of the community, and go an extra step for them in the often-challenging Canadian journey.

We also see immigration as part of a larger conversation and dialogue and utilize the lessons learned from our work to bring about bigger transformative change. We will do this through our partner, non-profit organization The Arenous Foundation https://www.arenous.ca/. We pledge to re-invest our time and resources to re-think the system of settler colonialism and negative racialization that immigration has too often re-produced and create opportunities for those who are our clients and Indigenous communities for whom immigration has most impacted. We have a dream to have The Arenous Foundation be Canada’s leading immigration think-tank and utilize the profit-side of Heron Law Offices to support the advocacy, research, and education to hold decision-makers to account and change Canadian law and policy.

When you work with Heron Law Offices, you not only help you, your family, and your colleagues solve their immigration problems, you invest in the future. You invest in our children, our essential workers, and our families. Our four core focus areas, of (1) international students and international educators, (2) families, (3) temporary foreign workers, and (4) immigration litigation (with a focus at the Federal Court and Immigration Appeal Division) to represent those whose rights are most adversely impacted by the immigration system and who need better representation.

The Heron is considered a symbol by local Indigenous communities for self-determination – and we hold this as a core value. The Heron is also a watcher, a sentinel, a marker for biodiversity. We want to be a litmus test for lawyering with compassion and serving with confidence and grace. We are determined to change the practice of law through representing you and creating a broader conversation around Indigenous sovereignty over Canadian immigration issues. More on those plans to come.

So why are we doing this now? Why are we leaving comfortable positions for this new venture?

We are doing this because we want to build a legacy piece for our families, for our children, and their generation. We are doing this because we love this country but also believe it can be better. We have received training at some of the best immigration law firms in the country and through our work with leading international and national advocacy organizations.

We invite you to join us and are excited for this journey with you.

In Gratitude,