Contact David
Telephone: 613.749.4700 ext 201
Fax: 613.749.4703
Email: dbertschi@boslaw.ca
Legal Assistant: Lisa Levesque
Telephone: 613.749.4700 ext 216
Email: llevesque@boslaw.ca
Education
- B.A., Carleton University
Ottawa, Ontario (1980) - LL.B., University of Windsor
Windsor, Ontario (1983) - Called to the Bar 1985
Languages
- English
- French
areas of practice
Insurance and Commercial Litigation – Product Liability, Property and Casualty, Catastrophic Personal Injury, Construction Liability, Life and Disability, Coverage, Employment and Professional Liability Litigation
Practice Summary
For over 33 years David has restricted his practice to insurance disputes and related litigation. He advises insurers, self- insured corporations, non-profit organizations, small and medium businesses and individuals on insurance, commercial, employment and human rights litigation.
David has acted as Counsel at Trial on coverage issues and in personal injury, accident benefits, property and casualty, commercial general liability, fire , fidelity, excess and reinsurance as well as in life and disability claims.
He continues to act as trial and coverage counsel on complex multi-party, multijurisdictional catastrophic losses.
David has the expertise to quickly identify key issues and fully develop appropriate strategies to successfully advance our client’s position on any insurance, inter-jurisdictional, commercial or civil litigation related dispute.
Fluently bilingual, David is also an Accredited Mediator which he uses daily in negotiating on behalf of the firm’s clients in court connected or private mediations, arbitrations and neutral evaluations. David is committed to finding the most cost-effective resolution for our clients which include local, national, and international insurance and reinsurance carriers and self insured companies.
An experienced advocate, David has appeared before a variety of judicial and administrative Boards, Tribunals, and Arbitration Panels.
David is a former part-time Assistant Crown Attorney and Ontario Human Rights Tribunal Prosecutor.
David has appeared before all levels of the Trial and Appellate Courts in Ontario and at the Federal Court of Appeal.
Reflecting on his substantial experience in insurance litigation, David has been invited to write and speak on complex issues of interest to insurers and self-insured corporate clients. He has spoken on cutting edge topics as the use of DNA in the Insurance Industry, Catastrophic Impairment and the AMA Guides, Aggravated and Punitive Damages, Employer and Commercial Host Liability, Uninsured and Underinsured Liability, Forum Non-Conveniens, and on Spoilation in the Trucking Industry.
David has spoken at the request of the Advocate’s Society on the Art of Cross-Examination and on several Insurance matters by: The Law Society of Upper Canada , The Ontario Bar Association, the Canadian Society of Medical Evaluators, The Canadian Academy of Psychologists and Disability Assessors, The Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Defence Lawyers, The Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel, the Canadian and the International Association of Life Care Planners. David has also spoken at a number of higher learning institutions including at Carleton University, the University of Ottawa, the University of Windsor, the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, Memorial University and at Dalhousie University
David has also taught Business Law at Carleton University, Civil Procedure at the Bar Admission Course for the Law Society of Upper Canada, at the International Institute for Research and at the Advocates Society.
Advocacy Affiliations
- Canadian Defence Lawyers (President, 2015-2016)/Past Chair and current member of the Intervener committee (Amicus Curiae))
- Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (Chair of the International Substantive & Law Group 2006-2012)
- Ontario Bar Association (Board of Directors for the Insurance Section, 2010-2012)
- Advocates Society
- Association of Defense and Trial Attorneys
- Carleton County Law Association
- l’Association des juristes d’expression française de l’Ontario
- Defence Research Institute (U.S.) – Insurance & International Law Committees
- Insurance Institute (Ontario)
- Canadian Society of Medical Evaluators
Selected Cases
- Scaffidi-Argentina v. Tega Homes Developments Inc., 2017 ONSC 6530 (CanLII) and 2016 ONSC 5444 (CanLII). Successfully represented a builder by significantly reducing the plaintiffs’ award of damages and recovered trial costs in favour of our client.
- Crooks v. Geist et al, Crookes v. Newton et al, [2011] 3 SCR 269, 2011 SCC 47 (CanLII). Successfully represented defendant host in one of the first hyperlink/publication/Internet defamation cases in Canada. Was able to obtain dismissal without incurring trial and appellate costs.
- State Farm Insurance v. Royal Sun Alliance, Arbitration award upheld on appeal by the Ontario Divisional Court in which BOS Law successfully recovered approximately $750,000 in a loss transfer dispute for our clients’ costs for medical, attendant care and rehabilitation benefits incurred by their severely injured insured.
- Alie v. Bertrand & Frere Construction Co. Ltd., 2002 CanLII 31835 (ON CA) 62 OR (3d) 345; 222 DLR (4th) 687; [2002] OJ No 4697 (QL); [2003] ILR 1; 119 ACWS (3d) 129; 167 OAC 20; 26 CLR (3d) 5; Successfully defended 4 small business owners for over 7 months of trial and extricated clients from the $20,000,000 law suit with a dismissal order. After extricating our client, the consolidated law suit was appealed twice to the Ontario Court of Appeal and on coverage issues to the Supreme the Court of Canada.
Representative Work
For a listing of the numerous cases in which Mr. Bertschi has successfully acted for clients, please contact
David Bertschi at dbertschi@boslaw.ca
For a further listing of speaking engagements and papers presented by David Bertschi, including :“Breaking new ground – the use of DNA in the Insurance Industry”, Insurance Law for Condominium Corporation’s, Director and Owners liability”: “The interplay between the Workers Safety Insurance Board and the Insurance Act”, ” Inter jurisdictional claims”, ” Extra – contractual Liability” and “The effective use of surveillance in litigation”, please contact David by email at dbertschi@boslaw.ca . or by phone at 613-749-4700.