Miller Thomson

Another national firm that is making an increasing mark on the litigation community, Miller Thomson maintains a presence in British Columbia through its Vancouver office. “Miller Thomson is getting more aggressive,” observes a peer. “They are doing a great job attracting a lot of work that the more ‘corporate’-type big firms are turning away, and vice versa – and it’s a lot of varied and interesting work.” Sarah Hansen specializes in aboriginal and environmental law and receives resounding praise from clients. “I find Sarah’s work to be exceptional, professional and knowledgeable,” commends one. “She has ability to listen to what we have concerns about, our title and our rights, she takes that knowledge and applies her expert legal abilities to it and we end up with very excellent court decisions. We have full confidence in her work and advice. I find Sarah is excellent at interactions with government, corporations or individuals with whom we have legal issue with or share an interest in a legal action, this aids greatly in finding solutions. Sarah is friendly, personable and respectful with our community members, our council and our staff. She is a good listener, reflective and honest in her replies and advice.” Morgan Camley is another client favorite. One cheers her “excellent work ethic, availability and accessibility, and knowledge of law and regulations. “Camley is representing Pattison Outdoor Advertising before the Supreme Court of British Columbia concerning a successful claim under the International Sale of Goods Act and an allegation that certain products were not fit for their purpose.

Another national firm that is making an increasing mark on the litigation community, Miller Thomson maintains a presence in Ontario that spans not only Toronto but also the Kitchener/Waterloo region. “Miller Thomson is getting more aggressive,” observes a peer. “They are doing a great job attracting a lot of work that the more ‘corporate’-type big firms are turning away, and vice versa – and it’s a lot of varied and interesting work.” Toronto’s Adam Stephens is counsel for the City of Brampton in a $28.5 million claim brought by disappointed proponent to a City RFP. Paul Morrison, a class action specialist who joined the firm from the Toronto office of McCarthy Tétrault, acted for Sun Life in a certified class action on behalf of approximately 240,000 life insurance policy holders who allege that in the course of purchasing their life insurance policies, misrepresentations were made to them as to the terms and conditions of the life insurance policies in question. They allege the misrepresentations were made by agents of MetLife prior to the purchase by Sun Life’s corporate predecessor of MetLife’s Canadian business. “Paul Morrison brings a great class action pedigree,” voices a peer. “He hit the retirement age at McCarthy’s, but he wasn’t ready to retire and wanted to stick around for awhile! So he went over to Miller Thomson and is supposedly now having more fun than he ever had."

Another national firm that is making an increasing mark on the litigation community, Miller Thomson maintains a presence in Québec through its Montréal office. “Miller Thomson is getting more aggressive,” observes a peer. “They are doing a great job attracting a lot of work that the more ‘corporate’-type big firms are turning away, and vice versa – and it’s a lot of varied and interesting work.” One satisfied client remarks, "I was very pleased with the work the firm performed for us on a long-running litigation matter, which included a trial and appeal. The fees were fair, the quality of the work was excellent, and the attorneys I worked with were very responsive." Another reinforces this claim by adding, "I really appreciated the excellence and efficiency of the service, which was at very reasonable costs considering the experience and skills of the lawyers and tailor-made service related to our specific needs. The lawyers are always available to answer to our requests. The follows up and feedback on their part are exceptional." Pierre Paquet is acting for a Québec-based energy provider with regards to a dispute initiated by a company involving the right to energy. This litigation amounts to $32 million. He is also acting for Lloyd's Underwriters, the defendants, in a $2 million litigation case regarding insurance coverage. A client weighs in on behalf of Paquet, as well as colleague Louise Tremblay: "Pierre is a very skilled litigator and trial attorney, who is very familiar with the Québec legal system. Louise performed much of the written work in the case and did an excellent job. Together they are an efficient and effective team."

Miller Thomson is a recent entry into Saskatchewan, having merged with the former Balfour Moss shop, which operated from the province for over 100 years. The firm now lays claim to an office in Regina and a smaller one in Saskatoon, with both offices catering to clients with a 50/50 mix of business law and litigation. “They are aggressively trying to grow,” speculates a peer. Roger Lepage attends to constitutional law, insurance litigation, health law, primarily dealing with regulatory bodies in the health and insurance industry. Lepage litigates in the area of education, management and human rights, and does substantial work across Canada for the Francophone school boards, handling their constitutional charter litigation to create schools to create management and get levels of funding. The litigation concerns the constitutional right to minority language education in certain provinces. A peer affirms, “Roger is the leading French civil litigator in Saskatchewan. He has major language litigation cases coming his way.” Lepage was lead counsel for the Yukon Francophone school board regarding a section 23 Charter trial to build a Francophone high school in Whitehorse. This has become a leading case from the Supreme Court of Canada regarding the reasonable apprehension of bias by a trial judge. Lepage was also lead counsel for the Saskatchewan Registered Nurses Association in a matter regarding privacy issues that arose during the course of discipline proceedings against an RN for posting information on social media about private health information, failure to follow proper channels to complain, impacting the reputation of a health facility and staff, failing to obtain the facts before making judgments of subpar care and using her status of an RN for personal purposes. Peter Bergbusch is noted for a practice that merges commercial and insurance litigation with administrative law and defamation. Bergbusch represented Spencer Health Network, triumphing for the client after a trial in obtaining judgment for service fees payable under a contract, and the counterclaim was dismissed. Bergbusch also represented the general partner of a limited partnership, ADAG, a respondent on appeal, regarding a long-term lease agreement of a property with SaskEnergy. As a schedule to the lease agreement, an options agreement was executed, granting SaskEnergy purchase options of the property. In 2011, SaskEnergy attempted to exercise a purchase option. ADAG refused, relying on the partnership agreement, which required limited partner approval to sell the property. SaskEnergy commenced proceedings for breach of contract and seeking specific performance. The trial judge sided with SaskEnergy, and, subsequent to Bergbusch’s argument, the Court of Appeal unanimously disagreed. A peer from as far away as Ontario trumpets, “I really like Peter, he’s a really good lawyer. It’s always a pleasure to work with someone so non-pretentious and effective.”