Half-day OsgoodePD program explores insurance disputes from all angles

Insurance disputes contain all the ingredients Katherine Di Tomaso needs for a long and fulfilling legal career.

“Two main features that have kept me interested and engaged in the area of insurance law are the complexity of the legal issues and the ability to serve clients by helping them solve their legal problems,” says Di Tomaso, a lawyer with Toronto law firm Stieber Berlach LLP.

“Insurance law is a professionally rewarding area for any litigator to practice in and 20 years later, I’m still passionate about it and the opportunities it provides to serve others while developing excellent legal skills,” she adds.

On September 30, Di Tomaso will get a chance to share her enthusiasm with attendees as co-chair of OsgoodePD’s Insurance Coverage Litigation: Critical and Emerging Issues program.

Di Tomaso was exposed to the legal world from a younger age than most, raised by civil litigator-turned Ontario Superior Court Justice Guy Di Tomaso.

“I was very fortunate that my father and his peers would always include me in their discussions, sharing stories about their cases and the legal profession, which really nurtured my interest in the law and in helping people. It’s a service profession and that was ingrained within me at an early age,” she says.  

Di Tomaso excelled in a variety of subjects in law school at Western University, earning both the Bereskin & Parr LLP Prize for Intellectual Property Law and the Canadian Bar Insurance Association’s Wilcox Award for national excellence in Insurance Law. And she kept her options open by articling at a full-service law firm. 

“In practice, I found that I always gravitated towards insurance law issues,” she says. And Di Tomaso has hardly looked back since. At Stieber Berlach, she now defends a variety of insurance-related matters on behalf of businesses, governments, insurers, individuals, and public entities such as children’s aid societies.

Her co-chair Gord McGuire typically works on the opposite side of the insurance law bar, but shares Di Tomaso’s passion for the practice, despite starting his legal career as a generalist civil commercial litigator at a large full-service firm.

“A number of years in, I discovered insurance law and fell in love, particularly when it came to acting for policyholders when insurance companies refuse to pay,” says McGuire, a partner at Adair Goldblatt Bieber LLP, where his practice is largely restricted to insurance coverage disputes and broker negligence claims.

According to Di Tomaso, the Insurance Coverage Litigation program is specifically designed to appeal to insurance disputes lawyers who act for claimants, as well as those defending claims. 

“Gord and I have top-tier expert speakers representing both sides of the bar offering their unique perspectives, which makes for an inclusive and valuable program,” she says. “Our program attendees benefit from presentations that show what is happening on both sides of a file.”

Sessions at the half-day event will also provide critical updates on a number of legal issues, including relief from forfeiture, new developments in home and property insurance and the ongoing ramifications of the landmark Loblaws case.

In addition to lawyers who act on either side of insurance coverage disputes, McGuire says the program is suited for in-house counsel and other professionals in the insurance industry, including claims adjusters and public adjusters.    

“What really distinguishes this program is that the presenters are typically senior leaders in their field, offering practical guidance and tips that you can put to use in your own practice,” he says.

For Di Tomaso, the program will mark a significant milestone in her own professional development. As a regular attendee at OsgoodePD since her 2004 call to the bar, she has a history with Osgoode’s insurance programs – first as an audience member and later as an expert speaker. But this year, she will complete the set by serving as co-chair for the first time, alongside long-time program leader McGuire.

“I’ve been to a number of insurance-focused programs at OsgoodePD in the past and I’ve always been very impressed by the subject matter, the expert speakers and the well-written materials. I refer to the valuable materials in my practice as a resource and tool to help my clients,” she says. “Gord was very gracious to allow me to come on board to the leadership team for this program. He is a key leader in the Osgoode Professional Development Managing Insurance Claims program, where his keen ability to pinpoint the critical issues facing the insurance coverage community is unmatched. His extensive network and deep connections within the industry enable him to bring together top experts to address the most pressing challenges of the moment.”

The program qualifies for a total of four Law Society of Ontario CPD hours, including 45 minutes towards the professionalism requirement. An online replay will be available on November 6, but Di Tomaso encourages insurance professionals to tune in live in order to get the most out of the expert speakers.

“Our audience can look forward to knowledgeable speakers who are eager to engage with the OsgoodePD community, share their knowledge and answer pressing insurance coverage litigation questions,” she offers.

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