John S. Doherty
Partner
Leader – National Expropriation Law Group
- Year of Call, Ontario (1984)
Areas of focus
Bio
John Doherty is a partner in Gowling WLG's Waterloo Region office. He practises in the area of civil litigation, with a focus on municipal and commercial litigation. John is regularly recognized in Best Lawyers in Canada for his work in municipal law, expropriation law, commercial litigation and real estate law. He is also the recipient of the prestigious 2022 Lawyer of the Year award for his work in municipal law in Hamilton. John is the leader of the National Expropriation Law Group and a member of the National Municipal Law Group.
John's municipal litigation practice leads him to appear before municipal boards and councils, and a variety of administrative tribunals and courts, including the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal, with a focus on municipal planning and expropriation matters. For private sector clients, John acts for property owners, tenants and business owners with respect to planning, zoning and expropriation matters involving land development and public project / land acquisitions. In his commercial litigation practice, John is an advocate before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Divisional Court and Court of Appeal for Ontario.
John has written and lectured on a variety of topics relating to the law of expropriation, including a case comment on his success in Jordan's Garden, a leading no land taken case, as a panellist on business loss valuation issues at the Ontario Expropriation Association Annual Seminar, the annual case law update at the Ontario Expropriation Association Annual Seminar and on Mediation in Expropriation Cases at the Ontario Municipal Board. John is a former chair and long time member of the board of directors of the Ontario Expropriation Association, where he served over 20 years, and also chaired the OEA Legislative Reform Committee.
John served as the managing partner of the Waterloo Region office and a member of the national executive committee of the firm from 1999 through 2009.
John's community involvement includes:
- Chair of the Prosperity Council of Waterloo Region - 2009-2018
- Member of the board of directors and executive committee of Canada's Technology Triangle Inc. - 2007-2016
- Chair of the board of directors of Canada's Technology Triangle Inc. - 2008-2010
- Member of the Barnraisers Council of Waterloo Region - 2010-2016
- Member of the Citizen's Advisory Committee on Regional Council Compensation - 2005 (chair) and 2002
- Co-chair of the Prosperity Forum - 2003 and 2005
- Past chair and honorary life member of the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce - 2001-2002
- Past member of the board of directors of Cambridge and North Dumfries Hydro Inc.
- Past member of the board of directors of the United Way of Cambridge and North Dumfries (executive committee)
- Past president of the Cambridge Volunteer Bureau