Background

Patrick J. Hawkins is a Partner practicing in the Health Law Group in our Toronto office.

He has an LL.B. degree from Queen's University (1989) and an LL.M. degree from the University of Cambridge (1990). He articled as a Justices' Law Clerk at the Ontario Court of Appeal and was admitted to the Ontario Bar in 1992. Before entering law school, he studied accounting, economics and computer science at the University of Waterloo (1983-5).

For the past 19 years, he has acted for hospitals and other healthcare organisations in professional malpractice litigation and a wide variety of other litigation and policy matters.

Areas of Practice

• Patrick is a civil litigator, specializing in health law and personal injury defence.
• He acts as general counsel and provides situational advice to hospitals, other health care organisations and health care providers on a wide range of issues including privacy, consent to treatment, mental health issues, quality of care reviews, adverse event management and disclosure, and physician credentialing.

Professional Experience

• Patrick defends hospitals, other health care organisations and their employees in medical malpractice litigation as counsel to the Healthcare Insurance Reciprocal of Canada (HIROC).
• He appears regularly before administrative tribunals, including the Consent and Capacity Board and in regulatory proceedings under the Regulated Health Professions Act.
• He has been counsel to hospitals and their employees at numerous Coroner's Inquests.
• He is an instructor for the “Health Law in Practice” course at the University of Windsor, Faculty of Law (2009 and 2010) and is a past instructor in Civil Litigation for the Bar Admission Course of the Law Society of Upper Canada.

Professional and Community Activities

• Chair of the national organising committee for BLG Reads to Kids, our firm reading program for children in inner city schools.
• Member and former Executive of the Health Law Section of the Ontario Bar Association.
• Member of Advocates' Society, Canadian Bar Association, County of York Law Association and Medico-Legal Society of Toronto.
• Past member of the Research Ethics Committee of the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College.
• Assistant Coach and Trainer, hockey, soccer and basketball youth teams.

Recent Publications and Presentations

• Patrick is a frequent author and speaker on health law issues with a number of organisations including the Ontario Hospital Association, the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Ontario Bar Association, and numerous public hospitals and health care organisations.
• Publications include:
  • Co-editor of the Canadian Health Law Practice Manual (Butterworths), 2007-present
  • Co-author of chapter on “Alternative Therapies”, in the Canadian Health Law Practice Manual (Butterworths, 2003-09)
  • Co-author of the Quality of Care Information Protection Act Toolkits, published by the Ontario Hospital Association (2004 and 2007)
  • Author of chapter on “The Board's Role in the Credentialing Process”, in the Ontario Hospital Association's Guide to Good Governance (2005)
• Recent presentations include:
  • Speaker, “FIPPA – Key Issues and Concepts for Hospitals”, Ontario Hospital Association “Freedom of Information” conference, January 27, 2011
  • Speaker, “Excellent Care for All Act and Other Recent Changes”, Hotel Dieu Grace Hospital, November 10, 2010 and NE LHIN Hospitals Board Retreat, September 25, 2010
  • Speaker, “Workplace Violence”, Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences “Mental Health Thought Leadership Forum”, September 23, 2010
  • Chair, Ontario Hospital Association “Accountability and Privacy” conference, April 19, 2010
  • Speaker, “Data Sharing Agreements”, Insight Information “Health Information, Privacy and Security” conference, January 29, 2010
  • Speaker, “Disclosure of Error”, Ontario Hospital Association Ethics conference, January 15, 2010
  • Speaker, “The New RHPA Mandatory Reporting Obligations”, Ontario Hospital Association webinar, August 26, 2009
  • Chair and Speaker, “Consent to Treatment”, Hamilton Health Sciences Risk Management conference, April 3, 2009
  • Co-Chair, Insight Information, E-Health conference, November 24-5, 2008
  • Speaker, “Managing Bad Outcomes”, Credit Valley Hospital, October 2, 2008
  • Speaker, “Alternate Therapies”, Ontario Hospital Association Medical Staff Management conference, June 10, 2008
  • Speaker, “Are You Complying with Mental Health Privacy Laws”, Canadian Institute's Managing Legal Risks and Responsibilities in Mental Health Care conference, April 11, 2008
  • Guest lecture, Privacy Law, University of Toronto, Faculty of Law, Mental Health Law course, March 31, 2008
  • Speaker, Board and Medical Advisory Committee Roles in Physician Credentialing, Chatham Kent Health Alliance, January 2008
  • Speaker, “Delivery of Oncology Medications for Private Payment in Ontario Hospitals”, Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association conference, May 11, 2007