Dorothy is known for her keen ability to hone in on the crux of her clients’ issues, advocating effectively for their needs and delivering results both in and out of the courtroom.

Dorothy is a partner in our Litigation Group in Toronto. She maintains a broad practice with an emphasis on commercial litigation and dispute resolution, professional negligence, product liability, class actions, and defamation. She has appeared before several courts and tribunals, including the Ontario Court of Appeal, the Divisional Court of Ontario, the Ontario Superior Court, the Ontario Court of Justice, and the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board. She has experience serving as lead counsel at trial and on appeal.

Dorothy regularly acts for companies, including manufacturers, distributors, and retailers in commercial disputes such as contractual claims, product liability matters, class actions, and environmental tort claims. She also has considerable experience advising corporations and individuals on matters related to defending their reputations.

Dorothy’s experience includes:

• Defending multiple physicians in professional negligence cases tried by jury and by judge alone;
• Acting for defendants in class action matters, including successfully resisting certification of a class action on behalf of a pharmaceutical company in relation to an anti-depressant medication alleged to cause birth defects to expectant mothers;
• Acting for clients in defamation matters, including successfully resisting an anti-SLAPP motion and obtaining summary judgment for an expert defamed on a ratings website (upheld on appeal) and acting on behalf of the former CEO of a large public company in a claims hearing under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act;
• Acting for multiple companies and individuals to assist them to remove and/or avoid defamatory publications;
• Acting for clients on procedural motions, including successfully resisting a motion for the extension of time for service of a Statement of Claim and obtaining a stay of an Application in the Ontario Superior Court pending the determination of an Application commenced in Quebec on behalf of a retailer in a contract dispute; and
• Successfully obtaining multiple Norwich Orders on Applications for information in situations where individuals and companies were wronged by anonymous tortfeasors, including through defamation and breach of contract/confidence.

Dorothy is a member of the teaching team for the Trial Advocacy course at Osgoode Hall Law School, and a previous member of the Lawyer as Negotiator teaching team. She also teaches at Queen’s University Faculty of Law and has guest-lectured at the University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall Professional Development programs, primarily in the area of professional negligence. She is a contributing author to the fifth edition of Defending Class Actions in Canada, published by Lexis Nexis.

Dorothy is also active in the community. She is a Board Member of West Neighbourhood House and regularly volunteers with Pro Bono Ontario’s Free Legal Advice Hotline.

Dorothy completed her BA (Hons.) in English and Psychology in 2008 from the University of Western Ontario. She received her JD from Osgoode Hall Law School in 2011. While attending law school, she won the Arnup Cup Trial Advocacy Moot and received a number of awards, including a Dean’s Gold Key Award. She was also a Division Leader at the Community and Legal Aid Services Program.

Dorothy was called to the Ontario Bar in 2012. She is a member of the Law Society of Ontario, the Canadian Bar Association, the Ontario Bar Association, and The Advocates’ Society.