Melanie Petrunia is a Halifax-based lawyer and adjudicator. She spent eight years with the federal Department of Justice, representing the Canada Revenue Agency in tax litigation matters. She returned to private practice in 2017 and, after five years as a partner with a boutique litigation firm, she established Petrunia Law in 2022, specializing in tax litigation and alternative dispute resolution. 

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As part-time faculty at the Schulich School of Law, Melanie has taught an upper-level seminar on Administration of the Income Tax Act and spent many years coaching Dalhousie’s team at the Donald G. Bowman National Tax Moot.

 

An experienced adjudicator, Melanie has served  as a member of the provincial review boards for the Criminal Code and the Involuntary Psychiatric Treatment Act. She has been a member of the Appeal Division of the Social Security Tribunal of Canada since 2019. Melanie has conducted over 250 hearings, settlement conferences, and mediations. Petrunia Law offers arbitration and mediation services as well as workplace investigations.

 

Community involvement and advocacy are key values of her practice—Melanie’s volunteer work is focused on providing access to justice for under-served communities. She is proud to serve as the administrative law advisor on the Advisory Board for PATH Legal, which provides support to those who are currently incarcerated or have suffered a miscarriage of justice.

 

Melanie's involvement in local organizations extends well beyond the law—she’s served as a board member for the Avalon Sexual Assault Centre, Khyber Centre for the Arts, the OUTeast Queer Film Festival, Dalhousie’s community campus radio station CKDU-FM, and Wellness Within.

 

Melanie was elected to Council with the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society in 2019 and served as the Society's President for 2022-23. Keeping in line with her community work and personal interests, she’s a member of the Gender Equity Committee, and past member of the Finance, Complaints Investigation, Governance, Credentials and Racial Equity Committees.