NANA YANFUL
Nana Yanful (she/her) is a lawyer based in Tkaronto who is deeply committed to advocating for racial justice, state accountability, and human rights in her legal and community work. With over 20 years of experience in community building, advocacy, equity, and diversity work, she brings a wealth of knowledge to her legal practice. A graduate of the University of Toronto and the University of Windsor, Faculty of Law, Nana completed her articles at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and was called to the Bar in 2014.
Nana is the former founding Legal Director at the Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC). She played a crucial role at BLAC by developing the legal clinic’s test case litigation strategy and spearheading their first interventions. These interventions included a landmark decision by the Court of Appeal for Ontario regarding anti-Black racism and sentencing (R v Morris, 2021 ONCA 680), a Charter challenge that supported the rights of Black sex workers, a Coroner’s Inquest that shed light on systemic anti-Black racism present in immigration detention, policing, and healthcare settings, and a police discipline appeal that paved the way for future cases to consider systemic racism when assessing the reasonableness of a police officer’s use of force.
Before joining BLAC, Nana worked as a criminal defence lawyer in Toronto. She also worked as an equity specialist, advising on and investigating human rights and health equity issues in healthcare and public health settings. Nana received the Community Service Award from the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers and was named one of Canada’s Top 100 Black Women to Watch. She was awarded the Ontario Bar Association’s President’s Award in 2021, and in 2020, Lexpert recognized her as a Rising Star: Leading Lawyers under 40. Nana is proud to serve on the board of the Collective of Child Welfare Survivors.
Services
Assisting organizations with their policies and procedures using an equity lens; Providing advice to organizations, firms and lawyers on issues of race and the law; Providing training on anti-Black racism and racial justice issues.
Conducting independent investigations into allegations of harassment and discrimination in unionized and non-unionized workplaces.
Assisting with your Ontario Human Rights Code or Canadian Human Rights Act claims; representing individuals and non-profits in constitutional and public interest cases engaging Charter rights, particularly criminal law and human rights issues.
Assisting with your complaints against the police to the Law Enforcement Complaints Agency.
Witnessing oaths, declarations and affirmations, signing affidavits and certifying documents to be true copies of the original.
✳︎ Get in touch.
Please contact me at info@yanfullaw.com or use the form below.
Please note that emails or telephone calls do not create a Lawyer-Client Relationship. Persons do not become clients unless and until Yanful Law agrees to act for them in a signed agreement. If you email us, we cannot guarantee the confidentiality of any email transmission through this website. If you wish to provide confidential information, please wait to speak to us by telephone.