Doug McInnis is counsel to the firm and has practiced civil litigation for 40 years.  His focus is mainly on complex commercial insurance and reinsurance matters - areas of law in which he has considerable trial, appeal, arbitration, and mediation experience.  He also has a broad background in construction disputes, professional liability (architects/engineers, accountants, lawyers, financial advisors, brokers/agents), product liability and subrogation recoveries.

Through independent peer and client review processes, Doug has been repeatedly referenced in various respected directories and publications.  LEXPERT® recognizes him as a leading Commercial Insurance Litigation practitioner.  Since 2008, Best Lawyers International® has included him in “The Best Lawyers in Canada” for Insurance Law.  He has received distinguished ratings for civil litigation in the LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell International Law Directory.   He frequently appears in the “Guide to the World’s Leading Insurance & Reinsurance Lawyers” and “Guide to the World's Leading Product Liability Lawyers” published by Euromoney and the Legal Media Group.  Doug has also been referenced in Chambers Global Clients Guide.  Most recently, he has been recognized in the top category of Who’s Who Legal as one of Canada’s “Most Highly Regarded” lawyers in the fields of Insurance & Reinsurance.

Doug’s services in insurance matters typically entail advice, opinions and representation in coverage disputes.  The lines of business include commercial general liability, professional errors and omissions, directors and officers liability (and other financial lines), environmental liability, first party property, equipment breakdown (B&M), and project-specific and special risks coverages.  He acts on a wide range of claims usually involving policy interpretation, competing/overlapping lines, horizontal/vertical allocation, primary/excess interactions and ‘bad faith’ claims; all in local, interprovincial, and international forums.  His clients include insurers, coverholders, risk managers, brokers, third party administrators, programme managers/consultants, regulators and insureds.  He has been retained as an expert witness in local and foreign coverage litigation.  He also assists with policy drafting and regulatory compliance issues.

Regarding reinsurance, Doug advises and represents reinsurers and retrocessionaires under proportional and nonproportional treaty and facultative agreements, typically on such issues as aggregation, allocation, retentions, cover limits, reinstatement, offsets, direct rights, consolidation of reinsurers, hours clauses and other reinsurance concepts (e.g.  “honourable engagement”, “back-to-back cover”, “follow the fortunes/settlements”, etc.).

He has represented insurers and reinsurers in various court and arbitration proceedings, most recently:  Alberta Automobile Association Insurance Company v. Aspen Insurance UK Limited, SCOR Canada Reinsurance Company, Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd. et al;  Goodyear Canada Inc. v. American International Companies et al.;  Ernst & Young Inc. v. Chartis Insurance Company of Canada, et al.;  UPS Supply Chain Solutions Inc. et al v. ACE INA et al.

Doug has also published papers, delivered speeches, chaired seminars, and participated in panels for clients, the Law Society of Ontario, Lawyers Weekly and the Canadian Bar Association.  He was an associate editor of the Butterworths’ insurance law journal, Uberrima Fides.  He has also been the Canadian member of the Insurance/Reinsurance Panel for the newsletter of the International Law Office (media partner of the International Bar Association). 

Following undergraduate studies at the University of Western Ontario, Doug attended the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law, receiving his Juris Doctorate (J.D.) in 1981.  He subsequently obtained his Master of Laws degree (LL.M) from the London School of Economics (University of London), majoring in insurance law and international commercial litigation.  He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1983.

Doug is a member of the Canadian Bar Association where he has served on the executives of the CBAO Insurance Law and Construction Law sub-sections. He is also a member of The Advocates’ Society, Canadian Defence Lawyers, the Defense Research Institute and the Metropolitan Toronto Lawyers’ Association.

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