Inside McLeish Orlando: Leadership, law reform, and client-first advocacy

Top Personal Injury Boutiques 2025 - Mcleish Orlando LLP Brodie Lawson 00:00:00 Brody, hello and welcome to Canadian lawyer TV. I'm Brodie Lawson, and today we're joined by Patrick Brown, a Partner at McLeish Orlando LLP, one of the firms recognized as a top personal injury boutique by Canadian Lawyer Patrick, great to have you with us. Patrick Brown 00:00:22 Great to be here. Brodie, thanks for having me. Brodie Lawson 00:00:25 Congratulations on making the list once again. Now, what does this recognition mean to you and your team at McLeish Orlando? Patrick Brown 00:00:35 It means a lot to us. Clearly, an award from Canadian Lawyer magazine is a top law firm in the country. Means so much to all of us here. Clearly, it's an honor we like to celebrate. I mean, it is a team effort. We have legal assistants, law clerks, accident benefit coordinators, admin staff, associate lawyers, articling, students, partners, all of us, we work as a team together, and when we find out that other lawyers and our opponents have voted us as one of the top firms, means so much because it means that we're doing a good job, and so we're going to celebrate this as a team, as we do for everything. Brodie Lawson 00:01:22 Your firm is often praised for its client focused approach. How do you ensure that philosophy is reflected in every case you take on? Patrick Brown 00:01:31 Our entire team, everyone that works on a given file, and when a file comes through the door, a team's assigned it has the lawyer assigned to it, the partners assigned to it, a law clerks assigned to it, the accident benefit coordinator, a legal assistant, that entire team will work together, and they will focus on the client. You got to remember, many of the people that we see have very serious and significant catastrophic injuries. Some have spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, amputations, multi trauma burns, and obviously from those injuries, it can be absolutely devastating, and then it's got impacts on their family, their social life, their financial needs, keeping a roof over their head. So many implications, it's so overwhelming. And if the lawyer and the team don't understand who that client is, and doesn't understand their needs, their financial situation and what they're facing, they're not going to be able to get the compensation that person needs. They're not going to get the benefits flowing, they're not going to be able to get the proper rehab team around that person. They're not going to get the person on the road to recovery. And that's so important, so we put a primary focus on the client and understanding those because our goal really is to get them recovered, to move forward in life and get back to the things that they enjoyed. And so by knowing all that, we find that we do a much better job, not only for our firm, but for that client, which means so much to us. Brodie Lawson 00:03:21 In recent years, how have you seen the personal injury landscape shift, particularly in areas like accident benefits and access to justice? Patrick Brown 00:03:32 I'll deal with access to justice first. Access to Justice is very, very important, not only obviously to the lawyers, but the victims that they represent. When a client comes in, they do expect that their case to proceed in a reasonably and timely fashion, and unfortunately, when the system's broken and has problems, that doesn't happen, and it can be extremely frustrating for them to have delays inside the system that restrict their ability not only have closure, but to get the compensation they need to meet the various things that they wish to have as they move forward in life. So access to justice is is really, you know, Justice delayed can be justice denied, and we really need a concerted effort through the personal injury bar, through our court system and the government to ensure that those barriers as many as possible can be removed and the file can move in a timely fashion. Now, since even pre COVID, our system was backlogged. Our courts were backlog. COVID hit even more backlog, the problem with personal injury, so we're at the last of the line priorities given to criminal cases, to family law cases and commercial cases, and then. Fortunately, with personal injury, the priority isn't given to where it should be, so that's got to change. But number two, we have only we don't have enough judges. I know the government is appointing, recently in Ontario some more judges, but they're overworked. I suspect they're understaffed. They're Manning this backlog as best they practically can, but we need more judges we do and to assist in moving those backlogs forward. We need a change in the system, and when I say a change in the system, one that promotes efficiency so that the file can move in a timely fashion. Already the government is looking at changes, and our rules committees looking at changes to streamline litigation in Ontario, that's a great thing. We're all for that, and the more streamlined and efficient it can be, without a lot of hoops to jump through and hurdles to go through, the better the better, not only for the practice, but the better for the victim, so that they can get through and get the justice that they're looking for. So that's access to justice. On the accident benefit side, there are some changes that are coming through. There are optional benefits where the consumers going to be able to choose the type and nature and extent of the benefits that they wish to receive. The unfortunate aspect is most people don't really think that they'll ever be in a crash or suffer any of those horrible injuries that I recited earlier, and therefore, the without education, they opt for the lowest amount in order to reduce their premiums. And that may not be a good thing for the system or that person. So the real important thing about moving forward with optional benefits is to ensure that the consumer is properly educated as to the implications of opting down or up for benefits. And hopefully, if that process is done right, then the system will be okay. If it's done wrongly, and brokers sell the lowest common denominator in the package, well, then you're likely going to see some suits against brokers as well. So we'll see where that goes. But that is a change that's coming up, I think, for the whole rehab industry and the plaintiff's Personal Injury bar, we're going to have to make sure that we look at other ways to ensure our clients are looked after when they're faced with some limited benefits in the future. Brodie Lawson 00:07:34 What are the biggest challenges personal injury lawyers are currently facing in Canada, and how is McLeish Orlando adapting? Patrick Brown 00:07:42 Canada wide. I mean, I've been doing this. Our firm's been out for 25 years. I've been doing that for longer. I'd say the biggest fear of any personal injury lawyer, and this fear is more than just them, is facing a change in the system where they remove accountability, where they remove the right to sue, and they leave the victim to deal with the insurance companies directly. That's not a good thing. We saw that happen in British Columbia, where they restricted the right, or almost eliminated the right to sue from car crashes as well. You're you're going to, likely, I believe, you're going to see that in in 2027 in Alberta as well. That doesn't work well. You need some accountability in the system. If a drunk driver hits and renders somebody a quadriplegic or serious other life threatening injuries or serious injuries in themselves, that person should be held accountable. And an adversarial system that allows someone to sue for fair and reasonable compensation is a good system. Otherwise, you're going to leave the victim without representation in a cookie cutter system that only benefits the insurance companies. That's not good. So if you ask me what the biggest fear would be that would be happening, what's happened in BC and Alberta, I don't think that's happening in Ontario, we have a strong system. It works. The practitioners in the system make sure it works, and I'm hopefully that will continue. So that's, I suppose, the biggest fear to personal injury lawyers and victims of car crashes here in Ontario. Brodie Lawson 00:09:34 You've mentored many young lawyers throughout your career. What advice do you offer those entering the personal injury field today? Patrick Brown 00:09:42 The advice is, like many careers, you get out of it, what you put into it, but a starting stage, like any profession, you got to learn the ropes. You really do have to learn the ins and outs of personal injury, the legislation, the accident, bet. Benefits, the impact on individuals, collateral benefits. There's so many moving parts, and there's so many things associated with trial advocacy and the legal system and the rules. You got to learn it. It takes some time. But if, if I'm saying to any young lawyer, learn that get good mentors. Certainly go and belong to associations like the Trial Lawyers Association, like the advocate society, go to their programs, learn the advocacy that they're teaching. Go and also, if you get an opportunity, speak at them, write papers. That's a learning curve as well, where not only are you getting the benefit of getting in front of your profession so that they know who you are and but you're learning as well as you're preparing that presentation. So those things are really, really important. Get involved in your community. There's so many different boards and other associations that you can belong to that aren't necessarily legal. I mean, for a personal injury lawyer, you have specific knowledge that you've learned in relation to how crashes happen and how people get injured. Because of that, you have a valuable set of knowledge that you can bring to perhaps other types of associations that promote safety and try to prevent crashes, such as mad or other organizations the Ontario safety League, there's so many different ones out there where you can fit in and share your knowledge, but at the same time benefit your community and perhaps prevent many of these crashes and real bad injuries from happening. So I'd recommend that. And then, of course, that moves into marketing. The more your name is out there in relation to other lawyers, to your community, you'll find and you're doing a good job, meaning you're doing your very best for your clients. You're going to find those three different areas, referring, you know, files to you and you need that. There's no sense practicing if you don't have any cases coming through the door. So by doing quality work, being involved in community and being involved in legal associations, I think will really help you as a young lawyer in moving forward with your career. But first and foremost, keep the client focused. Keep them in your interest. Don't necessarily think working volume and turning things over in a quick process to make a buck is the best model. It's a model, but it might not be the model you like and it might not be the model best for your career. Trial Advocacy. You know, if you haven't done a trial, learn how to do a trial. They still exist here in Ontario, and they're very important to go to there's no sense in being a trial lawyer if you've never done a trial. So I would strongly recommend unlearning that. Obviously you can't just jump into a trial yourself, especially on a significant case, but you can certainly be the second chair and watch and learn. And through that process, you'll become very good, and you'll do it yourself later on, but at the same time, when you're dealing with the other side, they know you can, and they'll deal with you in a more reasonable and fair manner. So those are my recommendations. And enjoy enjoy it. I mean, it's a great profession. The sides, on both sides, many of my friends are defense lawyers. Of course, I have many friends that are plaintiffs lawyers, but we are a very collegial bar where we like each other, we practice together, and that's because we respect each other and we're not sharp with each other. And because of that, it makes it way more enjoyable to practice in this area. And anybody who's done it for a number of years will tell you the same thing. So that's another thing, is just make sure that you're professional in all your dealings with the other side. Brodie Lawson 00:13:56 Patrick, thank you for joining us and for your continued leadership in the personal injury area of practice. Congratulations again to you and everyone at McLeish, Orlando. Patrick Brown 00:14:06 Thank you. Brodie Lawson 00:14:07 I'm Brodie Lawson, thanks for watching.