Firm History

The firm dates back to 1924 when E. A. Richardson joined T. N. Phelan in the practice of law, and opened Phelan Richardson. While the firm name has changed many times, it has operated ever since as a boutique litigation firm specializing in personal injury and insurance litigation.

Our firm has tried many thousands of cases, including many hundreds of cases argued on appeal in the Ontario Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of Canada. Our firm members have included eight judges, a former Attorney General and some of the most notable insurance defence and personal injury litigators in Ontario, including T. N. Phelan, the Honourable Mr. Justice E. A. Richardson, Charlie MacMillan, Peter Boeckle and Gary Will.

Jim Davidson and Peter Boeckle lead our insurance defence group, while Gary Will leads our personal injury group.

Peter and Gary have worked side by side for more than 25 years and yet practise in completely different areas of law.

Presently, half of our lawyers practise insurance defence litigation and the remaining 50% are plaintiff’s personal injury lawyers. Our firm is represented on the Boards of the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association, the American Association for Justice and the Canadian Defence Lawyers.

We take great pride in the fact that our firm truly understands all sides of a lawsuit. We believe that this competitive advantage makes us better lawyers and allows us to deliver the best results for you, our client.

Our firm has a proud history of acting as counsel to other lawyers throughout Canada, and our lawyers and Firm have been recognized repeatedly for inclusion in the Best Lawyers in Canada.

Today, we have six offices, including Toronto, Oakville, Huntsville, Midland, Lindsay and Orillia and, as such, we remain one of the only firms positioned to serve both individual and institutional clients throughout Ontario.