Best Lawyers in Canada for Insurance Law
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Al Esterbauer is a senior counsel in the Koskie Minsky Civil Litigation practice. With more than 38 years of experience litigating a diverse spectrum of complex actions, Al has recently added mediation and arbitration to his practice. He has a broad range of litigation expertise in areas of professional liability, real estate, insurance and commercial cases. Al’s litigation practice has concentrated in the area of professional liability in the defence of claims against lawyers, but he h...
Arie Odinocki is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Insurance Law. Arie, who practices law in Toronto, Ontario, has been recognized since 2020. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Arie is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Damian Shepherd is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Insurance Law. Damian, who practices law in Edmonton, Alberta, has been recognized since 2025. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Damian is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Rob Durante was called to the Ontario Bar in 1997 after completing his articles with a law firm focused on defending insurance companies in personal injury claims. During that time, Rob developed a strong interest in representing individuals rather than insurers. He joined Oatley Vigmond LLP in 1997 and has since devoted his practice to advocating for people and families affected by serious injuries. Based in Barrie, Ontario, Rob’s work is centered on pursuing fair outcomes for clients ...
Seema Lal is a Partner and Co-Chair of the Construction and Infrastructure Practice Group, and member of the Commercial and Business Litigation Practice Group at Singleton Urquhart Reynolds Vogel LLP. Seema is focused on the negotiation and preparation of construction contracts, procurement issues, builders’ liens, disputes; and construction dispute resolution, including claims for extras and delays. She seeks to provide strategic legal advice to assist her clients in making informed an...
Kate Mazzucco is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Insurance Law and Personal Injury Litigation. Kate, who practices law in Toronto, Ontario, has been recognized since 2021. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Kate is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Peter Yoo is a partner at Beard Winter LLP and practises largely in the area of insurance defence litigation, with an emphasis in the areas of third party tort claims and related coverage matters, first party Statutory Accident Benefits claims (including loss transfer and priority matters), property/commercial general liability claims (including coverage and subrogation), E & O claims (including Director/Officer liability and professional negligence) and product liability claims. Peter ha...
Jennifer Therrien is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Insurance Law. Jennifer, who practices law in Ottawa, Ontario, has been recognized since 2026. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Jennifer is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Jason is a “go-to” resource for clients who need timely and practical legal advice from an experienced courtroom litigator. Clients appreciate Jason’s ability to quickly get to the heart of their matter and provide a pragmatic, effective solution. Jason has acted as lead counsel in a broad range of complex insurance and commercial litigation disputes in areas include insurance coverage, construction defect disputes, directors’ and officers’ claims, professional n...
Kathryn Kirkpatrick is Counsel and an experienced litigator in the Construction and Infrastructure and Insurance Practice Groups at Singleton Urquhart Reynolds Vogel LLP. Her extensive experience includes representing large institutional, private and municipal clients in diverse civil proceedings. She has represented clients in claims involving large multi-party construction projects; malicious prosecution, false arrest, negligent investigation, assault and breach of Charter rights; negligent...
Michael Dery is a Partner and the group leader of the firm’s Aviation Practice. Mr. Dery is also a past-member of the firm’s Executive Team and served in that role for ten years, from 2011 to 2021. He is also editor of our Aviation Law Blog . With a concentration on aviation law, Mr. Dery represents aviation insurers, airlines, aircraft owners, flight schools, UAV operators, Approved (Aviation) Maintenance Organizations, and Fixed Base Operators in complex litigation and regulator...
Jason is a civil litigator partner in the McKercher LLP Regina office. He practices primarily in the areas of insurance defence, commercial litigation and construction law. Jason appears regularly before the Court of King’s Bench and the Court of Appeal and has acted as counsel on a number of applications for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. He has experience appearing before numerous courts and tribunals, including the Provincial Court of Saskatchewan, the Federal Court,...
Jill McCutcheon is a partner within the Regulatory Services Group and co-leads the Insurance and Reinsurance practice. She specializes in insurance - corporate, regulatory and transactional matters. She provides advice to the property and casualty, life and reinsurance sectors of the insurance industry. She advises on all aspects of the law, whether federal or provincial, and acts as counsel to insurers, reinsurers, banks, credit unions, intermediaries, cover holders and MGAs, third-party adm...
Mario Welsh is a recognized leader in the field of civil and commercial litigation, construction law and professional liability. He has appeared before every level of federal or provincial court - from the Court of Québec to the Supreme Court of Canada as well as before various administrative tribunals. He joined BCF in 2014, and has since been managing partner of the Québec office. Mario excels in several other areas of law, including class actions. He has been involved in some...
Philip W. Nykyforuk is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Health Care Law, Insurance Law, Medical Negligence and Personal Injury Litigation. Philip W., who practices law in Calgary, Alberta, has been recognized since 2019. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Philip W. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.