Practice Areas

Insurance Defence Construction Health Law Complaints/Discipline Matters Institutional Abuse Claims Wrongful Dismissal Directors and Officers' Liability Class Actions

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The Gibbs & Associates team has extensive experience in handling a full-spectrum of insurance claims, including professional liability defence, directors and officers liability, commercial general liability (including bodily injury), municipal liability (including environmental and class actions), property and casualty, builder's risk, and a wide variety of coverage disputes.

In our professional liability practice, we have acted for defendants from numerous professions, including accountants, architects, engineers, financial analysts, health professionals, home inspectors, insurance brokers and lawyers, amongst others. On behalf of our varied professional clients, we defend them in both civil suits and regulatory proceedings.

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While carrying on a full-service litigation practice, Gibbs & Associates' core emphasis is the representation of engineers. Whether representing our engineering clients in Complaints or Discipline Hearings before the PEO (Professional Engineers of Ontario) or defending them in complex, multi-party civil litigation, Gibbs & Associates takes a proactive approach to all of the matters we handle. Our emphasis on early fact-finding and analysis allows us to work co-operatively with our clients to develop a sound, cost-effective defence strategy, with a view to achieving early resolution, wherever possible, and minimizing the overall risk and cost to our clients.

In addition to our professional liability defence work, Gibbs & Associates offers a full-range of legal services to engineering and architectural firms, including collections, fee claims, lien registration, contracts advice, and human resources-related advice and defence (i.e., wrongful dismissal claims and Human Rights complaints).

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Our team has extensive experience in handling a full spectrum of health-related claims, ranging from defending hospitals and healthcare professionals in malpractice-type litigation, to defending professionals in complaints and discipline matters before their respective regulatory colleges. We have experience representing the interests of acupuncturists, chiropractors, chiropodists, dental hygienists, doctors, medical laboratory technologists, medical radiation technologists, naturopaths, nurses, occupational therapists, pharmacists, physiotherapists, social workers, speech pathologists, and veterinarians.

If you are a health professional, whether you are uninsured or have insurance coverage through your professional association, Gibbs & Associates is committed to providing you with sound, cost-effective legal advice while guiding you through the regulatory process to ensure that your interests and rights are protected every step of the way.

If you have received a complaint from your college, you need to know whether you should agree to an interview with the investigator and, if so, how much information to disclose. You may also need assistance in drafting an appropriate response to the Complaints Committee or Executive Committee. Even more worrisome, you may be faced with a referral to the Discipline Committee or Fitness to Practice. Whatever your college-related problem may be, at Gibbs & Associates, we can answer your questions and provide you with sound, practical advice on how best to handle your individual situation.

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In addition to our civil litigation experience, Gibbs & Associates has extensive experience representing professionals in administrative proceedings. We act for engineers before the PEO (Professional Engineers of Ontario) and numerous health professionals before their respective regulatory bodies created under the R.H.P.A. (Regulated Health Professions Act) and the Drugless Practitioners Act. Health matters can range from patient complaints and mandatory reports by employers to incapacity and discipline hearings.

Practical and timely legal advice is crucial to the successful defence of any administrative proceeding. In our experience, the manner in which a member responds to a complaint can make the difference between receiving a caution (a written warning that remains in the regulatory body's internal files only) and a referral to the Discipline Committee (which can become a matter of public record, available to prospective employers, fellow members of the profession, and the public at large). Skilful negotiations on the member's behalf can also mean the difference between a lengthy suspension and a lesser one (or no suspension at all), depending upon the specific fact situation at hand.

At Gibbs & Associates, we will confidently guide you through the complaints and discipline process to protect your best interests every step of the way.

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Gibbs & Associates has counsel who are experienced in defending school boards, children's aid societies and other public bodies against historical claims for sexual and physical abuse allegedly perpetrated by employees and/or independent contractors retained by the entity.

Early analysis of the evidence, up-to-date knowledge on the state of the law on abuse claims in Ontario and Canada, and our extensive mediation experience are key factors that allow us to achieve positive results, while minimizing costs and the client's overall exposure to these claims.

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Whether you are an engineering firm, health organization, or a business or regulatory body looking for advice on your obligations as an employer when it comes to hiring, disciplining or terminating staff, Gibbs & Associates can provide you with sound, cost-effective legal advice to guide you through the process. Our team has extensive experience defending human rights complaints, negotiating terms of dismissal, and defending wrongful dismissal claims brought by former employees.

If you are an employee who is terminated or encountering difficulties in the workplace, our experienced counsel can assist you, with a view to negotiating better terms of dismissal and/or resolving conflict in your workplace.

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Whether you are a share capital corporation, not-for-profit organization, professional association, regulatory body or D&O insurer, Gibbs & Associates has experience in defending a myriad of claims against organizations and/or their directors, officers and board members. Such claims can include wrongful dismissal, human rights complaints, breach of duty, negligence, sexual harassment, malicious prosecution, defamation, interference with economic relations and a host of other claims that organizations may face in carrying on their business in the ordinary course.

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The Gibbs & Associates team is equipped with considerable class action experience to provide sophisticated legal advice to achieve results and to assist our clients in making appropriate strategic decisions along the way - whether it be consenting to certification or fighting it; bringing a motion for summary judgment or preliminary motion to strike; mediating or proceeding to trial.

Our approach is to review and analyse all key information as early as possible. As soon as the assignment is received, we request damage figures and documentation, information about the number of class members, and other pertinent details from class counsel. We understand that you need to know as early as possible the likelihood of certification, the number of claimants involved, the quantum of their respective claims, and the potential exposure to liability, in order to set reserves and/or formulate an appropriate defence strategy.

Gibbs & Associates counsel have defended numerous class actions on behalf of engineers, manufacturers, municipalities, colleges, conservation authorities, corporations and health professionals. For more information on Gibbs & Associates' class actions experience, please contact Michelle Gibbs (née Brodey) at (416) 361-0024, ext. 223.