Lexpert magazine features articles and columns on developments in legal practice management, deals and lawsuits of interest in Canada, the law and business issues of interest to legal professionals and businesses that purchase legal services.
Issue link: https://digital.carswellmedia.com/i/990152
LEXPERT MAGAZINE | JUNE 2018 45 | ZENITH AWARDS | Partner of DLA Piper's Toronto office Michael Richards is responsible for busi- ness planning, recruitment, budgeting and high-level strategic decisions while overseeing 140 personnel. Since his 2016 appointment, the office has seen substan- tial growth from 44 lawyers to more than 70. Richards has represented clients before various levels of court, before administra- tive tribunals, at arbitrations, in mediation and at other negotiations, including col- lective bargaining. He performs pro bono legal work through Pro Bono Ontario for the HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario and Innocence Canada. PERSONAL INJURY/MEDICAL MALPRACTICE LAW Maia Bent Lerners LLP Personal Injury Personal injury lawyer Maia Bent made headlines across Canada last year when a defamation case brought against her was dismissed. Showing great courage, she warned the legal community that a doctor had been altering other doctors' decisions in order to deny insurance benefits to in- jured claimants. In dismissing the doctor's lawsuit, Justice Sean Dunphy agreed that Bent's warning was "true and correct" and that she was a whistleblower. Bent was the third woman elected President of the On- tario Trial Lawyers Association. In 2017, she became an Adjunct Professor at the Western Law School and taught a course in Civil Procedure. Carolyn Brandow Lerners LLP Medical Negligence Carolyn Brandow is the Practice Group Leader for the Commercial Litigation de- partment at Lerners in London, Ont., and leads a committee on e-discovery and pa- perless file management. She has also han- dled matters before the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario in rela- tion to healthcare professionals. Brandow is an Adjunct Professor in civil procedure at Western University Law School. She taught an online course on comparative electronic discovery to a law school in the US and Western Law School jointly with a US law professor. Brandow has supported various charities through fundraising, in- cluding Camp Oochigeas and the Cana- dian Breast Cancer Foundation. Kathleen Erin Cullin Wallbridge, Wallbridge Personal Injury A Certified Specialist in Civil Litiga- tion, Erin Cullin's practice is restricted to plaintiffs' personal injury litigation and medical malpractice. Based in Timmins, Ont., her practice extends throughout Northeastern Ontario. Since 2014, she has been a Co-chair of the Law Society's Solo and Small Firm Conference in To- ronto. She is also a Director with e Advocates' Society and a Civil Litigation Skills Instructor in its CPD programs. She has been a Director with the Al- zheimer's Society and the Timmins and District Humane Society, and a special advisor to the United Way in Timmins. Simona Jellinek Jellinek Law Office Professional Corporation Personal Injury Simona Jellinek's practice is almost com- pletely devoted to championing the cause of sexual abuse survivors. Her litigation practice centres on suing large institutional defendants. Jellinek has spearheaded and witnessed changes both in law and policy around helping survivors of sexual abuse and assault. She has been a member of the Toronto Police Sexual Assault Committee for more than a decade. She co-wrote the Law Society of Upper Canada Guide for the Provision of Legal Services in Cases Involv- ing Sexual Abuse. Jellinek is an Executive Committee Board Member of the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association and she was awarded its award for Distinguished Ser- vice in 2013. Sandev S. Purewal Gluckstein Personal Injury Lawyers Personal Injury Litigator Sandev Purewal practises in the areas of personal injury as well as disability insurance and products liability litigation. He is certified as a Specialist in Civil Litiga- tion and is a member of the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association's Board of Directors. He is the former President and Director of the Brain Injury Association of Peel & Halton and has been actively involved in other community activities, such as lead- ing the "Helmets on Kids" project in Peel, which provides free bicycle helmets to chil- dren in need.