Janelle Anderson is a business lawyer and governance professional who advises boards, executives, founders, and leadership teams on how to structure, govern, and operationalize organizations for growth, resilience, and long-term success.

Her practice integrates corporate governance, commercial contracting, regulatory compliance, risk management, mergers and acquisitions, and employment advisory to support organizations navigating complexity, scale, and change.

Janelle brings an integrated approach to legal problem-solving, combining legal expertise with systems thinking, organizational design, and practical business insight. Janelle is known for her ability to translate complex legal, regulatory, and organizational challenges into practical, business-aligned solutions, helping organizations understand how strategy, structure, accountability, and risk interact in practice. This allows her to design solutions that not only address legal requirements but also actively improve operational clarity and strategic execution.

Her advisory style is collaborative, pragmatic, and engaged. She works alongside boards, executives, and senior management to surface underlying strategic and organizational dynamics, enabling clearer decisions, stronger alignment, and better long-term outcomes. She ensures solutions are designed to reflect an organization’s objectives, operating realities, and risk tolerance and to actively enable business strategy, operational performance, and organizational resilience.

Clients most often engage Janelle when facing:

• Major projects, procurements, or strategic initiatives
• Rapid organizational growth or scaling challenges
• Complex ownership, governance, or corporate structures
• Regulatory change or elevated risk exposure
• Governance redesign or board evolution
• Workforce transitions, leadership change, or organizational restructuring

In these contexts, Janelle acts as both legal counsel and strategic advisor, helping leadership teams frame issues, evaluate trade-offs, and design durable solutions.

PRACTICE FOCUS

Janelle’s practice centres on strategic governance, complex commercial contracting, regulatory risk management, mergers and acquisitions, and employer-side employment advisory.

Core Practice Areas

• Corporate Governance & Board Advisory
• Commercial Contracting & Procurement Strategy
• Regulatory Compliance & Enterprise Risk
• Mergers & Acquisitions and Corporate Structuring
• Employer-Side Employment Advisory
• ESG Strategy & Governance

REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE

Governance & Organizational Strategy:

• Advising boards, executives, and founders on governance design, including board and committee structures, delegation frameworks, policies, procedures, reporting systems, and governance modernization initiatives.
• Supporting governance frameworks for complex corporate structures, including holding companies, partnerships, joint ventures, and project development entities.
• Designing subsidiary governance models and enterprise-wide governance frameworks for multi-entity organizations.

Commercial Contracting, Procurement & Project Development

• Advising organizations on commercial contracting strategy, including risk allocation, pricing structures, performance frameworks, and negotiation strategy.
• Negotiating and drafting complex commercial agreements for major projects, strategic partnerships, service delivery models, and infrastructure development.
• Designing standardized contracting template suites and procurement packages for internal procurement and business development teams.
• Supporting major project and infrastructure initiatives through contracting, governance integration, and risk structuring.

Regulatory Compliance & Enterprise Risk:

• Designing and leading regulatory compliance management frameworks in highly regulated environments.
• Conducting enterprise risk and compliance assessments and developing integrated governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) systems.
• Advising boards and executives on regulatory risk exposure, compliance governance, and regulatory engagement strategies.

Mergers, Acquisitions & Corporate Structuring:

• Advising on all aspects of mergers and acquisitions, including transaction structuring, legal due diligence, drafting and negotiating transaction documents, and managing closing processes.
• Supporting post-transaction integration, including governance redesign, operational alignment, employment transitions, and stakeholder communications.
• Advising on corporate reorganizations, ownership restructuring, and strategic growth initiatives.

Employer-Side Employment:

• Drafting and negotiating employment agreements, executive contracts, contractor arrangements, and workplace policies aligned with organizational culture, risk profile, and growth objectives.
• Advising employers on strategic workforce matters, including executive compensation design, incentive structures, performance management systems, employee ownership and participation programs, and retention strategies.
• Supporting leadership teams through workforce change, organizational restructuring, executive transitions, and complex employment issues.
• Advising employers on employment risk management, compliance, and dispute avoidance strategies.

SELECT COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT AND VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE

• Board Member, Governance Professionals of Canada (2025-present)
• Cohort Leader, Dispute Resolution Program, College of Law, University of Saskatchewan (2021-2023)
• Director, Governance & Risk Committee Chair, Friends of the Broadway Theatre (2020-2021)
• Representative, Legal Services Task Team Working Group (Joint Initiative of Ministry of Justice and Law Society of Saskatchewan) (2018)
• Representative, Chief Justice of Canada’s National Action Committee on Access to Civil and Family Justice (2016-2018)
• Board Member, Public Legal Education Association of Saskatchewan (2017-2018)
• Member and Co-Coordinator, Saskatchewan Access to Justice Working Group (2016-2018)
• Member, Children’s Wish Foundation Saskatchewan Chapter Advisory Board (2016-2018)
• Member, Dean’s Forum on Access to Justice Steering Committee (2013-2015)
• Editorial Board Member, Saskatchewan Law Review (2013)
• Coordinator, Legal Advice Clinic, CLASSIC: Clinical Legal Assistance Services for Saskatoon Inner City (2012-2013)

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

• Member, Law Society of Saskatchewan (Bar admission: 2015)
• Member, Governance Professionals of Canada
• Member, Institute of Corporate Directors

EDUCATION & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• Global Competent Boards Designation & Certificate (GCB.D), Competent Boards, 2023
• Designated Governance Professional (GPC.D), Governance Professionals of Canada, 2022
• Regulatory Compliance and Legal Risk Management for Financial Institutions (Certificate), Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, 2019
• Juris Doctor (Great Distinction), University of Saskatchewan, 2014
• Bachelor of Arts (Honours), Regional and Urban Planning, University of Saskatchewan, 2010

PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS AND RECOGNITION

• Recognized in the 2025 Canadian Lexpert Directory as a “Leading Lawyer to Watch” in Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG)