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Erin H. Durant

Partner

Ottawa
EDurant@blg.com
613.787.3512

Expertise

Joanne Franks

Practice Assistant

Ottawa
jfranks@blg.com
613.230.8842
613.237.0234

Erin is a versatile litigator who litigates cases involving:

  • professional negligence (lawyers and engineers)
  • title insurance
  • personal injury and motor vehicle accidents
  • insurance coverage
  • employment practices
  • commercial disputes

Erin has considerable trial and jury trial experience. She has also represented clients successfully on contested motions, applications and appeals.

Erin has appeared as counsel in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Ontario Court of Appeal, the Federal Court of Canada, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, the Ontario Energy Board, the Law Society Tribunal, and the Sports Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada.

Erin has acted both as counsel and as arbitrator in sports disputes including doping, carding, harassment, sexual harassment, and team selection matters. She also regularly conducts Safe Sport Investigations.

Erin is active in the legal profession and in the Ottawa community. She was involved in Advocates’ Society committees that published resources for lawyers to improve trial skills: Best Practices for Civil Trials and the Paperless Trials Manual. In her spare time, in addition to being a leader in numerous professional associations, she is a volunteer fastball coach.

Experience

  • Jury trial defence counsel in the Superior Court of Justice in motor vehicle accident case where neither plaintiff met the Insurance Act threshold, 2020 ONSC 1380 and 2020 ONSC 2371.
  • Counsel for lawyer and law firm who successfully moved for summary judgment dismissing action due to the expiry of the limitation period, 2019 ONSC 6793.
  • Counsel for municipality who successfully moved for summary judgment dismissing an action based on a settlement agreement, 2019 ONSC 1906.
  • Counsel for paraolympic athlete who successfully contested the sanction imposed as a result of a doping infraction, SDRCC DT 19-0314.
  • Appeal co-counsel before a five judge panel of the Ontario Court of Appeal in precedent setting case for an insurer regarding the assignment of future accident benefits in motor vehicle accident litigation, 2018 ONCA 902.
  • Appeal counsel at the Ontario Court of Appeal on behalf of another lawyer upholding lower court decision that the claim against the lawyer disclosed no reasonable cause of action, 2018 ONCA 206.
  • Co-counsel before the Federal Court on a pro bono basis in judicial review regarding RCMP officer’s pension benefits, 2018 FC 1188.
  • Jury trial counsel in the Superior Court of Justice, responsible for trial motions, in a motor vehicle accident case where liability and damages were in dispute, 2018 ONSC 6517.
  • Counsel on ex parte injunction motion regarding burial arrangements for deceased individual, Ottawa CV-17-75034.
  • Counsel to a national museum in an arbitration under the Canada Labour Code in lay-off grievance, 2017 CanLII 7045.
  • Pro Bono counsel to a veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces on a Judicial Review to the Federal Court of Canada regarding a denial of his disability pension, 2017 FC 521.
  • Jury trial co-counsel in the Superior Court of Justice for an insured defendant in a motor vehicle accident case involving allegations of chronic pain, 2016 ONSC 2942.
  • Jury trial co-counsel in the Superior Court of Justice for an insured defendant in a pedestrian-motor vehicle accident case, 2016 ONSC 2075.
  • Author of application materials filed in the Superior Court of Justice on behalf of a title insurer for a declaration of the existence of a prescriptive easement or easement of necessity,  2015 ONSC 5014, rev'd 2016 ONCA 629. 
  • Appeal counsel at the Ontario Court of Appeal in a case involving discoverability, limitation periods and subrogated insurance claims, 2013 ONSC 7130 aff'd 2014 ONCA 385.
  • Acted as agent for a lawyer who sought to amend a statement of claim to substitute John Doe parties after the expiry of the limitation period. The case involved issues of misnomer, due diligence and lack of prejudice, 2014 ONSC 7374.
  • Counsel in the Superior Court of Justice arguing against the enforcement of a settlement on behalf of a lawyer on the basis of mistake, 2014 ONSC 133. 
  • Jury trial co-counsel in the Superior Court of Justice in a motor vehicle accident case where the sole issue was liability, Barrie CV-070969.

Beyond Our Walls

Professional Involvement

  • Member, The Advocates’ Society and the Young Advocates’ Standing Committee
  • Member, Access to Justice Task Force
  • Member, Canadian Defense Lawyers
  • Member, County of Carleton Law Association

Community Involvement

  • Former Assistant Professor, University of Ottawa Faculty of Law (Insurance Law and Civil Procedure)
  • Former Board Member, Gloucester Housing Corporation
  • Pro Bono Legal Representative at the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada
  • Assistant Softball Coach for the University of Ottawa Gee Gees and Stittsville 56ers

Awards & Recognitions

  • Recipient of The Advocates’ Society’s Young Advocates Standing Committee (YASC) Writer’s Award, 2020.
  • Recognized in the 2021 edition of The Best Lawyers in Canada (Insurance Law and Professional Malpractice Law).
  • Recipient of a Clawbies award for Best Legal Twitter Account (@ErinDurant42), 2019.
  • Honoured by the Ontario Bar Association with the David W. Scott Award for Pro Bono Law, 2019.
  • Recipient of a Lexpert Zenith Award as a Change Agent in Law, 2019.

Bar Admission & Education

  • Ontario, 2012
  • JD, Queen's University Faculty of Law, 2011
  • BA (Hons.), University of Ottawa, 2008

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