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Paul Tushinski

Senior Partner

Paul Tushinski, C.S., is a civil litigator. He was called to the Bar over 30 years ago and is a partner of the firm. Paul served as Managing Partner of the firm from 2002 to 2018. He was admitted to the Ontario bar in 1985 after receiving his LL.B from the University of Windsor – Dean’s Honour List.  He has received special calls to the bars of Nova Scotia and Nunavut.  He has been certified as a Specialist in Civil Litigation by the Law Society of Ontario (C.S.) since 1995.  Paul has appeared at all levels of court and has argued cases on products liability, insurance coverage issues, class proceedings, hospital liability, access to information, and numerous jury and non-jury trials.  He has been included in the Best Lawyers in Canada since 2006 through to the present in the areas of Commercial Insurance Law, Personal Injury and Products Liability and named Lawyer of the Year 2020 by The Best Lawyers in Canada in Personal Injury Litigation.  He is listed in Lexpert as one of the Most Frequently Recommended leading practitioners in both Commercial Insurance Litigation and Personal Injury-Defence and Repeatedly Recommended in Products Liability. He is a Fellow of The Litigation Counsel of America. He focuses exclusively on defence and represents a broad range of insurers and self-insured corporations. His practice includes claims involving products liability, professional liability, construction claims, class proceedings, environmental disputes, property, general liability and complex insurance coverage matters.  Paul has lectured extensively for the Law Society of Ontario, the Canadian Bar Association, the Ontario Bar Association, the Advocates' Society, the Canadian Defence Lawyers Association, the Toronto Lawyers Association, the Canadian Institute, Insight, and various insurers and self-insureds on a variety of insurance based topics including insurance coverage, products liability, class proceedings, professionalism, ethics, social hosts, jury trials, experts, etc.  He is the Tort Law contributor to the Toronto Law Journal.  Paul is involved with various legal associations.  He is a Past President and former Trustee for the Toronto Lawyers Association, a Past President and a Founding Member of the Canadian Defence Lawyers Association, a past Director of the Advocates' Society and a former member of the Toronto Bench and Bar Committee.  He is the recipient of the 2016 Lee Samis Award for Excellence from the Canadian Defence Lawyers Association, as well as the 2016 Ontario Trial Lawyers Association (Plaintiff Bar) recognition as a leader of the defence personal injury bar.  He is a member of the Ontario and Canadian Bar Associations, the Canadian Defence Lawyers Association, the Advocates’ Society, the Medico-Legal Society and the University Club of Toronto.

Education
Paul graduated from the University of Windsor Law School in 1983 where he earned his LL.B. Paul was called to the Ontario Bar in 1985 and has received special calls to the Bars of Nova Scotia and Nunavut.

Awards
Paul was on the Dean’s Honour Roll at the University of Windsor in 1983 where he stood in the top 10 out of 150 graduating students. At York University, he received a Scholarship in 1979. Paul has been repeatedly recognized in “The Best Lawyers in Canada – Commercial Insurance”.  He is the recipient of the 2016 Lee Samis Award for Excellence from the Canadian Defence Lawyers Association, as well as the 2016 Ontario Trial Lawyers Association (Plaintiff Bar) recognition as a leader of the defence personal injury bar.  Paul was named 2020 Best Lawyers in Canada in Personal Injury Litigation.

Lectures
Paul has lectured extensively for the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Canadian Bar Association, the Ontario Bar Association, the Advocates’ Society, the Canadian Defence Lawyers Association, the Toronto Lawyers Association, the Canadian Institute, Insight, Infonex, various insurers and self-insureds as well as annually at the Dutton Brock Winter conference on a variety of insurance based topics.

Publications
Managing and Litigating Motor Vehicle Accident Claims – The Canadian Institute, Apr. 22 & 23, 2009

Personal Injury Settlements – The Canadian Institute, Feb. 23 & 24, 2009

Civil Litigation Skills Certificate Program: Discovery Techniques That Win Cases – The Advocates’ Society, Feb. 4, 2009

Symposium on Professionalism – The Advocates’ Society, Jan. 21, 2009

Personal Injury Damages – Judges Conference, Sept. 2008

Winning Personal Injury Cases – The Canadian Institute, Feb. 20 & 21, 2008

Litigating Personal Injury Damages – The Canadian Institute, Feb. 20 & 21, 2007

Where is the Threshold Now? Litigating Catastrophic Disability and Damages – Insight, 2006

Operation Update – Ontario Bar Association, 2006

Social Host and Occupiers – The Advocates’ Society, 2006

Litigating Personal Injury Damages – The Canadian Institute, 2006

Litigating Personal Injury Damages – The Canadian Institute, 2005

Tricks of the Trade: Practical Strategies for Conducting Jury Trials – The Advocates’ Society, 2003

Litigating Traumatic Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries – The Canadian Institute, 2003

Institutional Liability For Sexual Assault and Abuse – The Canadian Institute, 2002

Tricks of the Trade – Practical Strategies – Walking You Through the Maze of Finding Underinsured and Uninsured Coverage – The Advocates’ Society, 2002

Insurance Litigation – Insurance Coverage Issues and Class Actions – The Canadian Institute, 2002

Operation Update – Insurance Law – The Winds of Change in the Law of Negligence and Insurance – An Analysis of Recent Changes – Ontario Bar Association, 2001

Effectively Managing the Acquired Brain Injury Claim – Insight, 2001

How to Manage Mild Head Injuries and Psychological Disabilities in Auto Insurance Claims – The Canadian Institute, 2000

Litigating Catastrophic Injury Claims – The Canadian Institute, 2000

Paul is a member of:

  • The Law Society of Ontario (Certified Specialist)
  • The Canadian Bar Association
  • The Ontario Bar Association
  • The Toronto Lawyers Association (Past President and Trustee)
  • The Canadian Defence Lawyers Association (Founding Member and Past President)
  • The Advocates’ Society (Past Director)
  • The Toronto Civil Bench and Bar Committee (Past Member)
  • The Medico-Legal Society
  • Trial Law Institute
  • Diversity Law Institute
  • Barrister, Order of Veritas
  • Advocate, Order of Certus

Hamilton v. Bluewater Recycling Association, 2016 ONCA 805

Xu v. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company Limited,  2014 ONCA 805 (CanLII)

Xu v. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company Limited, 2014 ONSC 167

Quinte v. Eastwood Mall, 2014 ONSC 249

Epstein Equestrian Enterprises Inc. v. Frank Jonkman and Sons Limited, 2013 ONSC 78

Kawartha Lakes (City) v. Gendron et al, 2012 ONSC 2035

Allen v. Aspen Group Resources Corp, 2010 ONSC 5949

Day Estate v. Lloyds [2008] ONCA No. 266

Wagner v. West [2005] O.J. No. 3803, 2005/09/07

Kennedy v. McKenzie [2005] O.J. No. 2060, 2005/04/08

Fehringer v. Sun Media Corp., [2003] O.J. No. 3918, 2003/09/30

McNaughton Automotive Ltd. v. Co-operators General Insurance Co., [2003] O.J. No. 2914, 2003/07/14

Segnitz v. Royal & Sun Alliance Co. of Canada, [2003] O.J. No. 1485, 2003/03/04

Fehringer v. Sun Media Corp. [2002] O.J. No. 5514, 2002/11/25

McNaughton Automotive Ltd. v. Co-operators General Insurance Co. [2002] O.J. No. 2026, 2002/05/07

Sheridan v. Akkor, [2001] O.J. No. 4653, 2001/10/19

Fehringer v. Sun Media Corp., [2001] O.J. No. 2858, 2001/07/10

Fehringer v. Sun Media Corp., [2001] O.J. No. 5783, 2001/04/19

Valliant v. Cudmore, 1999 CanLII 7333 (ON C.A.), 1999/10/18

McLaughlin v. Falconbridge Ltd., [1997] O.J. No. 5190, 1997/12/05

Royal Insurance Co. of Canada v. Daniels, [1996] O.J. No. 3880, 1996/11/04

Valliant v. Powell, [1996] O.J. No. 5100, 1996/10/22

Coopers & Lybrand Ltd. v. Tinmouth, 1996 CanLII 5455 (NS S.C.), 1996/01/30

Nova Aqua Salmon Ltd. Partnership (Receiver of) v. Non-Marine Underwriters, Lloyd’s, London, [1996] N.S.J. No. 38, 1996/01/30

Coopers & Lybrand Ltd. v. Tinmouth, 1994 CanLII 4237 (NS S.C.), 1994/08/17

Andani v. Peel (Regional Municipality) (Ont. C.A.) [1993] O.J. No. 1604, 1993/07/13

Riesner v. Liao, [1993] O.J. No. 805, 1993/04/05

Cyanamid Canada Inc. v. Canada (Minister of National Health and Welfare) (F.C.A.), [1992] F.C.J. No. 950, 1992/10/23

Mai v. Mississauga, [1990] O.J. No. 391, 1990/03/21

Andani Estate v. Peel (Regional Municipality), [1989] O.J. No. 1863, 1989/06/09

Comairco Equipment Ltd., v. Breault, [1989] O.J. No. 839, 1989/05/30

Grineage v. Coopman, [1988] O.J. No. 2804, 1988/04/29

Jinks v. Cardwell, [1987] O.J. No. 181, 1987/02/27

Watson v. Ng, [1987] O.J. No. 174, 1987/01/28

Schnurr v. Royal Ottawa Hospital, [1986] O.J. No. 827, 1986/09/04

Dukoff et al. v. Toronto General Hospital et al., [1986] O.J. No. 188, 1986/03/24

Paul mediates claims involving personal injury, products liability, professional liability, construction claims, class proceedings, environmental disputes, property, general liability and complex insurance coverage matters.

Please contact May Kim at mkim@duttonbrock.com to arrange a mediation.

Paul is involved with various legal associations. He is the Past President and Trustee for the Toronto Lawyers Association, Past President and a Founding Member of the Canadian Defence Lawyers and a Past Director of the Advocates’ Society.

Assistants

Kathy Kinsey
May Kim

Law Clerks

Meredith Laidlaw