Breaking Ground Drilling and Blasting Inc. v. A.D. Hanslip Excavating, 2024 ONSC 6836 – Successfully acted for insurer third partied into an action striking defendant’s claim for coverage and indemnity under a policy issued to the plaintiff.

Thunder Bay (City) v. Great American Insurance Co., 2024 ONCA 837. Acted for insurer on appeal. The court agreed that the lead exclusion in another insurer’s policy did not apply and agreed that the other insurer had a concurrent duty to defend.

Kestenberg Siegel Lipkus LLP v. Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Co. of Canada, 2024 ONCA 607. Acted for excess professional liability insurers. The court held that relief from forfeiture was not available to excuse late reporting under a claims-made-and-reported policy. As such, there was no coverage for a claim reported after the policy had expired.

Workman Optometry P.C. v. Certas Home and Auto Insurance Co., 2024 ONCA 479. Acted as lead counsel for insurers in appeal of COVID-19 business interruption trial decision holding that the SARS-CoV-2 virus does not cause “physical loss or damage” within the meaning of commercial property insurance policies. The Court of Appeal upheld the trial decision and affirmed the decision in favour of the insurers.

City of Thunder Bay v. Great American Insurance Co., 2024 ONSC 1085. Acted as counsel for an insurer and obtained a declaration that another insurer had a concurrent duty to defend. The court held that the other insurer’s lead exclusion did not bar coverage.

Workman Optometry P.C. v. Certas Home and Auto Insurance Co., 2023 ONSC 3356. Acted for an insurer as one of the lead counsel at trial in a class action seeking coverage for COVID-19 business interruption claims. The court held that the SARS-CoV-2 virus and related orders of civil authority do not cause “physical loss of or damage to property” within the meaning of the defendant insurers’ commercial property insurance policies.

Kestenberg Siegal Lipkus LLP v. Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Co., 2023 ONSC 3132. Successfully defended coverage application on behalf of excess professional liability insurers. The court held that there was no coverage for a claim that was not first made and reported during the policy period.

Doria v. Warner Bros. Entertainment Canada Inc., 2023 ONCA 321. Successfully defended appeal of decision striking claim as an abuse of process.

Colliers International Group Inc. v Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., 2022 ONSC 6184. Acted for insurers under a professional liability policy. The court held that a prior knowledge exclusion barred coverage and there was no duty to defend.

Dhaliwal Uppal Dentistry P.C. v. Dominion of Canada General Insurance Co. (Div. Ct. file 306/22) (September 6, 2022). Successfully resisted motion for leave to appeal to the Divisional Court regarding refusals motion in COVID-19 business interruption coverage litigation.

Dhaliwal Uppal Dentistry P.C. v. Dominion of Canada General Insurance Co. (CV-21-00000549-0000, Kitchener) (May 18, 2022). Successfully resisted plaintiffs’ refusals motion in COVID-19 business interruption coverage litigation. The court upheld all 64 refusals and did not order any of the refusals to be answered.

Dhaliwal Uppal Dentistry P.C. v. Dominion of Canada General Insurance Co. (CV-21-00000549-0000, Kitchener) (October 27, 2021 and January 7, 2022). Successfully resisted plaintiffs’ discovery plan motion in COVID-19 business interruption coverage litigation.

Doria v. Warner Bros. Entertainment Canada Inc. et al., 2022 ONSC 4454. Successfully brought motion to strike plaintiff’s claim on the grounds that it amounts to an abuse of process because it sought to relitigate damages that have been previously decided in a binding arbitration.

Vale Canada Limited v. Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Company of Canada, 2022 ONSC 12. Argued forum non conveniens motion in a case involving environmental coverage under primary and excess general liability policies.

Belleville (City) v. Gore Mutual Insurance Co., 2021 ONSC 3054. Acted for insurer on duty to defend motion involving claim by environmental regulator for pollution remediation. The court held that the regulator’s claim was not a “civil action” and that there was no coverage.

Goodfellow v. CUMIS General Insurance Co., 2021 ONSC 3604. Acted for D&O insurer regarding interpretation of an “insured versus insured” exclusion.

Backyard Media Inc. v. HDI Global Specialty SE, 2021 ONSC 2341. Acted for insurer in duty to defend application under a claims-made E&O policy.

Subway v. CBC, 2021 ONCA 25. Acted for university and successfully appealed dismissal of an anti-SLAPP decision. The Court of Appeal accepted that the claim of negligence against our client arose from an expression on a matter related to the public interest and that our client owed no duty of care to Subway.

Farb (Estate of) v. Manufacturers Life Insurance Co., 2020 ONSC 3047. Acted for policyholder in a claim for travel medical coverage for American hospital bills.

Svia Homes Ltd. v. Northbridge General Insurance Corp., 2019 ONSC 7459. Acted for plaintiff in s. 132 direct action proceeding against insurer for construction defect claim.

Subway v. CBC, 2019 ONSC 6758. Acted for university in anti-SLAPP motion in a defamation action brought by Subway.

Pembridge Insurance Co. of Canada v. Chu, 2019 ONCA 904: Acted for appellant auto insurer in coverage litigation with a homeowner’s insurer arising out of a road rage incident. The Court of Appeal agreed that the homeowner’s insurer had a duty to defend the insured, and allowed the appeal.

St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Co. v. AIG Insurance Co. of Canada, 2019 ONSC 6489. Acted for insurer in claim for contribution towards defence costs against three other insurers. The court agreed with our arguments as follows: (a) the other insurers had a duty to defend; (b) defence costs should be allocated on a time-on-risk basis, and not on an equal-shares basis; and (c) the other insurers could not rely on a self-insured retention to avoid reimbursing defence costs paid by St. Paul.

Macfarlane v. Canadian Universities Reciprocal Insurance Exchange, 2019 ONSC 4631. Acted for insurer regarding the duty to defend a defamation claim against a professor.

Pembridge Insurance Co. of Canada v. Chu, 2019 ONSC 1359. Acted for insurer in coverage application arising out of an alleged road-rage incident.

Ali Elkaabi v. Facebook Canada Ltd. and Facebook, Inc., 2018 ONSC 5742. Acted for Facebook Inc. and successfully defended motion for mandatory interlocutory injunction to remove content from Facebook’s platform.

Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. v. Cronnox Inc., 2018 ONSC 1578. Acted for insurer and obtained declaration that a prior-knowledge exclusion in a claims-made E&O policy barred coverage.

Envirochill Cryogen Development Corporation v. University of Ontario Institute of Technology, 2018 ONSC 766. Acted for university in largely successful motion to strike for pleading evidence.

Subway Franchise Systems of Canada, Inc. v. Trent University, 2017 ONSC 4562. Acted for university in a case alleging negligence and defamation in the testing of chicken sandwiches. Successfully resisted franchisor’s attempt to obtain pre-litigation production of test results through a Norwich application.

Freyssinet Canada Limitée v. Parkway Infrastructure Constructors, 2017 ONSC 3914. Acted for subcontractor successfully in a motion on whether an agreement to procure builders’ risk insurance precluded a counterclaim between contractors.

Francis v. Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company, 2016 ONSC 6566. Acted for insurer and obtained decision that section 20(1) of the 1994 SABS (dealing with when payment of loss of earning capacity benefits were authorized) did not violate section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Successfully defended appeal of decision and judicial review of the appeal.

Economical Mutual Insurance Co. and Northbridge Commercial Insurance Co., 2016 ONSC 458. Acted for insurer on hearing on whether the statutory deductible for loss transfer applies per occupant or per vehicle.

Newey v. Dominion of Canada General Insurance Co., 2016 CarswellOnt 8252. Acted for insurer and successfully obtained decision that the applicant was not involved in an “accident” as defined in the SABS.

Durham Regional Police Association and Durham Regional Police Services Board, 2015 ONCPC 08. Acted for college and successfully resisted application by police associations for the determination that a college professor on secondment with the police service is a member of one of the associations.

Sagan v. Dominion of Canada General Insurance Co., 2014 ONCA 720. Acted for insurer and obtained summary judgment on the basis that the claim was time-barred. Successfully defended appeal.

1489018 Ontario Ltd. o/a New Age Recovery Centre Ltd. v. Alexander Martey and The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company, unreported, 2014. Acted for insurer and successfully resisted a claim by a third party provider of medical rehabilitation services directly against insurer for payment of statutory accident benefits.

Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company v. Prest, 2013 ONSC 92. Acted for insurer and successfully brought application that the respondent was not involved in an “accident” as defined in the SABS