Edgar-Andre Montigny, PhD, LLB, completed his doctorate in Canadian history in 1993. His thesis examined public policy and the care of the dependent aged in late nineteenth-century Ontario. He then spent several years teaching history and Canadian studies at various Ontario universities. While he was a graduate student, he joined the Board of Neighbourhood Legal Services (NLS). His work with NLS inspired him to become a lawyer.

He studied law at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law and articled as a judicial law clerk at the Superior Court of Justice, focusing on administrative law issues before the Divisional Court. He has since served a diverse client population focusing on issues of law and disability. From 2009 until 2016, he was a staff lawyer at ARCH Disability Law Centre where he advocated for persons with disabilities on a range of employment, accommodation and other human rights issues. Together with Kerri Joffe, he prepared a paper, commissioned by the Law Commission of Ontario, on the rights of persons subject to Court Appointed guardianships. He also served on the Advisory Board that helped produce the Law Commission of Ontario’s report on Legal Capacity, Decision-making and Guardianship in Ontario. Since 2017 he has had his own practice focusing on issues of capacity and substitute decision-making. He is an active volunteer at the Ontario Bar Association, particularly the Administrative Law Section. As well as teaching courses in history and human rights, he has taught a variety of courses on issues related to law, society and disability.