Insurance & Professional Liability

Overview

The insurance industry is undergoing immense change, including market consolidation, increased competition among insurers and banks, legislative and regulatory developments, bad faith claims seeking punitive damages in Canada and the US, and a growing number of class actions.

At Gowling WLG, we help clients successfully navigate these challenges. Our team handles a wide range of insurance and reinsurance matters for domestic and international insurers, reinsurers and other members of the insurance industry. When you're looking for assistance in the area of insurance law, we have the knowledge, experience and creativity to provide practical, efficient solutions.

We represent insurers, reinsurers, brokers, other intermediaries and insureds. We're experts in handling the defence of liability and property claims, as well as dealing with coverage issues when they arise. We understand and engage in all forms of dispute resolution, including litigation, domestic and trade arbitration, international arbitration under common institutional rules, and ADR - including mediation.

We also provide assistance with policy wording, contract review, commutations, sanctions, related investigative work and due diligence in transactional insurance.

Our corporate and regulatory lawyers know the insurance industry inside and out, and provide key advice in respect of domestic regulation of insurance companies. We also deal with mergers and acquisitions of insurance interests, including corporate carriers and international brokers.

In a complex world, you can trust one of the world's largest and most experienced insurance law teams. We know how important it is for you to get quick, result-oriented advice and you can rely on us.

The Gowling WLG team is focused on achieving excellent results, reducing risk through our knowledge and experience and aggressively representing your interests utilising our expertise a large number of areas of importance to the insurance industry. Our services cover:

  • Aviation
  • Bonding and surety
  • Business interruption
  • Captive insurance
  • Class actions
  • Construction
  • Corporate commercial
  • Coverage disputes
  • Defamation
  • Delegated authority underwriting
  • Directors and officers
  • Employment practices liability
  • Energy
  • Facultative and treaty reinsurance
  • Financial risks
  • Highway design, construction and maintenance
  • Industry loss warranties
  • Jurisdiction
  • Life and disability
  • Marine and transport
  • Mergers & acquisitions
  • Pension liability
  • Patent and trademark liability
  • Personal injury
  • Policy wording
  • Product liability
  • Professional liability
  • Property claims
  • Regulatory
  • Reinsurance
  • Subrogation
  • Trustee liability
  • Warranty and indemnity

Our commitment to excellence, personalised service, innovative thinking and in-depth knowledge can assist you in meeting the challenges presented by 21st-century insurance issues.

To learn more about how we can help you, please contact any member of our team.

Key contact

Canada

Featured Insights

Toronto skyline Articles
No reasonable excuse: Ontario Court of Appeal breathes life back into municipal notice requirements

A recent decision from the Ontario Court of Appeal affirms that summary dismissal of an action against a municipality is appropriate where the plaintiff has failed to provide timely notice without reasonable excuse.

The success of Gowling WLG's award‑winning Insurance & Professional Liability Group is based on more than a century of experience representing the insurance industry, combined with a persistent, results-driven approach and an innovative use of technology.

As the largest group of its kind in Canada, we're committed to excellence in all of the insurance and professional liability work we do.

We understand the ongoing changes taking place in the insurance industry - including market consolidation, increased competition among insurers and banks, legislative and regulatory developments, bad faith claims seeking punitive damages, and a growing number of class actions - and we provide advice that helps you successfully navigate these challenges.

Through the quality, creativity and timeliness of our advice, the innovative legal solutions we provide, and a distinctive service experience, we deliver unmatched results and value to the insurance community.

Our team has consistently achieved national recognition for its exceptional work. This recognition includes taking home the Canadian "Insurance Firm of the Year" Award from Benchmark Litigation, a leading legal rankings publication, three years in a row (2014, 2015 and 2016).

The comprehensive services we provide to the insurance industry include the following.

Defence

  • Personal injury claims
  • Property claims, including fire and environmental claims
  • Defending all types of product liability claims
  • E&O claims against a wide variety of professionals, including engineers, developers, architects, contractors, accountants, actuaries, doctors, lawyers, psychologists, physiotherapists, realtors, insurance agents and financial advisers
  • D&O claims
  • Transportation claims, including trucking, rail and aviation claims
  • Construction claims
  • Heavy industrial claims, including oilfield and mining claims
  • Life and disability claims
  • Financial institutions, investment companies and their employees and agents
  • Class actions across Canada and working with U.S. attorneys to defend cross-border class actions

Coverage

  • Creating policy wording
  • Providing coverage opinions for insurance and reinsurance claims
  • Litigating coverage issues
  • Arbitrating reinsurance claims

Corporate commercial and regulatory

  • Purchase and sale of insurance companies and brokers
  • Licensing
  • Product development and approval
  • Distribution
  • Compliance

Subrogation

  • Aggressive pursuit of subrogated claims
  • Open to alternative fee arrangements, such as contingency fees, for subrogated claims

Learn more

We're ready to help you with your insurance and professional liability-related legal needs. To start, please engage any member of our Canada-wide team.

Key contact