Shantona practices civil, commercial, and public litigation at both the trial and appellate levels. Her experience spans a wide variety of areas, including civil and commercial litigation, class actions, administrative law, constitutional law, public inquiries, and national security law. Shantona has particular expertise in appellate litigation, having been counsel in over 40 appeals at the Ontario Court of Appeal, the Divisional Court, the Federal Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of Canada. In 2022, she acted as co-Lead Counsel to the Public Order Emergency Commission (the Rouleau Commission), a public inquiry into the federal government’s first-ever use of the Emergencies Act. In 2023, Shantona received the Advocates’ Society’s prestigious Douglas K. Laidlaw Award for Excellence in Advocacy.  Also in 2023, Shantona was appointed Lead Counsel for the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions. 

Shantona is recognized as a leading litigator by major industry publications including Chambers Guide to Canada’s Leading Lawyers, Lexpert, Best Lawyers, and Benchmark Litigation. Shantona was selected as Best Lawyers “Lawyer of the Year” in Appellate Practice in 2022 and is on Benchmark’s list of the “Top 100 Women in Litigation”.

The Chambers Guide to Canada’s Leading Lawyers notes that Shantona has been described as: “She has established a first-class reputation as a litigator with specific expertise in appellate advocacy. She is excellent.” (2024); “One or the strongest appellate and tribunal counsel in Canada” (2023); “A superlative advocate” (2022); “One of the best young civil appellate advocates in Canada” (2021); “A brilliant legal analyst” (2020); “Her performance earns her respect, as sources note that ‘the judges rave about her’” (2019); “An ‘outstanding’ litigator and a ‘force to be reckoned with’” (2018); “One of the smartest lawyers out there right now"; "A brilliant advocate” (2017).

Shantona is a leader in the legal community. She is a Director of the Advocates’ Society, and former co-Chair of its Appellate Advocacy Practice Group. In 2021, she was named a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America.

A former law clerk to the Justice Ian Binnie of the Supreme Court of Canada, Shantona is the co-Executive Director of the Supreme Court Advocacy Institute, a national non-profit organization offering advocacy training to counsel appearing before the Supreme Court of Canada.

Born and bred in Montréal, Shantona is bilingual (English/French) and is called to the Bar in both Ontario and Québec.

Before practicing law, Shantona trained as a Middle Temple Fox Scholar pupil barrister in London, interned at the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, participated in the non-partisan Parliamentary Internship Programme, and worked in the music industry in Montréal. She obtained her B.C.L. from the University of Oxford; her B.C.L./LL.B. from McGill University; and her M.A. and B.A. from Queen’s University.