Message from the Chair

  • September 21, 2018
  • Lawrence A. Conmigo

Dear Insurance Law Members,

I would like to begin by thanking Christopher Martyr, our Past Chair, for all his efforts, including ensuring that our section continues to have a diversity of voices in our profession. I would also like to thank the 2017-2018 Executive and our section members for their time and contributions. I would also like to welcome both those returning and those joining the Insurance Section for the first time.   

The Insurance Law Section boasts a large complement of lawyers from various fields of practice and with different levels of experience. For this coming year, it is our Executive’s goal to provide section members with a variety of programs and newsletter articles to reflect that reality and to assist them with tools for their practice. Kindly mark your calendars for the following upcoming programs:

“The Essentials of Loss Transfer” program, hosted on September 13, featured three great speakers: Mark Donaldson, Joe Lin and Shari Novick. The interesting practice of loss transfer was tackled at this program. 

We have partnered with the Health Law Section to deliver the “Advancing and Defending Future Care Costs Claims” program which will be held in Ottawa. Our popular program on “Motor Vehicle Tort Litigation in Ontario” is scheduled for November 2, 2018. 

We will end 2018 with our third annual “Ethics and Civility in the Courtroom and Beyond.” We have partnered up with our friends in the Civil Litigation Section. Some of our speakers include Joe Groia, Chief Justice George Strathy, Justice Lucy McSweeney, Justice Susan Elliott, Kenneth Jull, and Cara Zwibel! I hope everyone can make it to these upcoming programs and I would ask that you please mark the dates for these programs in your calendar.

The OBA Mentorship Program is also a worthwhile initiative aimed at providing younger Calls with the opportunity to seek guidance from lawyers who have experience in the field. I encourage you to consider participating.

As you all know, we are often called upon for our thoughts and opinions with respect to a variety of issues. It is hard to imagine any significant legislative reforms without the robust input from lawyers. Our Section Executive is constantly relied upon for feedback. Quite often the time to respond is very short and submissions have to be turned around rather quickly. I would appreciate your participation and input as these issues come before us. 

Submissions for our newsletter support our section and facilitate discussion on the case law and other legislative developments. I am hopeful that everyone can submit at least one article for the 2018-2019 term.  Case comments as well as articles from others lawyers within your firm or from colleagues outside of your firm are appreciated.  We have a new newsletter editor for this year, Robert Woon. Please correspond directly with Robert with respect to your submissions.

Finally, I would like to end by saying I look forward to working with each and every one of you and would encourage you to please reach out to me with respect to any ideas you may have for upcoming programs or for the insurance section. 

Sincerely,

 

Lawrence A. Conmigo

Chair, OBA Insurance Law Section

 

About the author

Lawrence A. Conmigo is the Chair of the OBA's Insurance Law section. He is a Litigation Counsel at Travelers Canada.  He obtained a Master of Laws (LLM) in Civil Litigation and Dispute Resolution at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University. Prior to his Call to the Bar, he successfully completed his Juris Doctor (JD) degree at the University of Windsor. He was Vice-Chair of the OBA's Insurance Law section and also the present CPD Liaison Executive of the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association. He has appeared before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Financial Services Commission of Ontario, Divisional Court, Workplace Safety and Insurance Board/Appeals Tribunal, and various administrative tribunals.