Background
Stephen, a Toronto native, did his undergraduate work at the University of Toronto and received his LLB from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1980. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1982. He was a partner with Blaney, McMurtry LLP from 1988 until his retirement in June of 2022. He practised law for over forty years.
While practicing he was designated by the Law Society of Upper Canada as a certified specialist (civil litigation) beginning in 2000. He was rated in the Canadian Lexpert Directory as repeatedly recommended in both the areas of Litigation-Commercial Insurance and Personal Injury-Represents Defendants. He was recognized in the Best Lawyers of Canada directory, was listed in the Expert Guides’ Guide to the World’s Leading Insurance & Reinsurance Lawyers and ranked as a leading litigation lawyer in several editions of the Lexpert Special Edition-Canada’s Leading Litigation Lawyers.
He was appointed an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School in 2022 where he teaches the Legal Process course to first year law students and an upper year seminar on Dispute Settlement.
He has previously served as a director of Progressive Casualty Company of Canada, the High Park Curling Club (where he was President in 1997-8) and on the Board of his condominium corporation for over fifteen years.
He has completed the Stitt Feld Hendy ADR and Advanced ADR Workshops.
Stephen’s practice was largely restricted to mediation and insurance. His main practice areas were bodily injury claims, coverage concerns and automobile insurance regulatory compliance. He handled motor vehicle accident, governmental liability, product liability, professional errors and omissions and directors’ and officers’ liability, medical malpractice and sexual abuse claims.
Stephen provided coverage expertise on automobile, property, professional errors and omissions, directors’ and officers’ errors and omissions and CGL policies. He was the outside automobile coverage counsel for a major insurer for over a decade.
He assisted automobile insurers in designing innovative automobile insurance policies which solved coverage issues for those operating in the gig economy. He provided advice and assistance to automobile insurers and brokers with respect to automobile insurance regulatory issues including automobile rate filings. He assisted brokers and agents in their dealings with the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (formerly the Financial Services Commission of Ontario) and the Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario.
He has acted as a mediator since 2011 in a wide variety of disputes.
He has authored numerous papers addressing a variety of insurance and personal injury issues. Since 1996 he has lectured and written extensively on Bills 59 and 198 (Ontario’s automobile tort reform legislation) including authoring chapter 5A in the Oatley-McLeish Guide to Motor Vehicle Litigation. From 2006 until his retirement he was one of the province’s leading commentators on Bill 18 which re-wrote the vicarious liability rules for leased and rented vehicles.
He was a member of the Canadian Bar Association (Ontario), the Advocates Society, the Metropolitan Toronto Lawyers’ Association and Canadian Defence Lawyers.
To relax Stephen travels, golfs and scuba dives.
Court and Tribunal Appearances
Stephen has appeared as trial counsel before the County Court, the Supreme Court of Ontario, the Ontario Court of Justice and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. He has argued appeals before both the Ontario Divisional Court and the Ontario Court of Appeal. He has also appeared before the Federal Court of Canada.
Stephen has appeared before and made written submissions to a number of tribunals including the Complaints and Discipline Committees of the Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario, the Financial Services Commission of Ontario and the Ontario Insurance Rate Board.
He has represented numerous clients in private arbitrations mandated by the Insurance Act.
Teaching
Stephen has lectured extensively through such continuing legal education providers as the Law Society of Ontario, The Ontario Bar Association, Osgoode Hall Law School Professional Development and Canadian Defence Lawyers.
Stephen has been an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School since 2022. He is currently teaching the Legal Process course to first year students and an upper year seminar on Dispute Resolution. He conducted mock mediations and discoveries as a guest lecturer from 2014 through 2021. He has also twice led a seminar for upper year students on ethics in the mediation process.
Publications and Conferences
Stephen has authored or co-authored a number of papers. He has also chaired several continuing legal education conferences. Stephen has presented over 50 papers. Stephen’s publications and conference presentations include:
Witness Preparation and Presentation included in materials for Anatomy of a Trial – Telling Your Story, Ontario Bar Association Professional Development on June 13 and 14, 2024.
Anatomy of a Trial – The New Essentials. Participated in a presentation by the OBA on conducting a trial where I played the part of a coroner who was examined and cross examined, Ontario Bar Association Professional Development presented on June 15 and 16, 2023.
Calculating Tort Damages Under Bill 59 (November 2023 update), available at Calculating Tort Damages Under Bill 59 (November 2023 Update) – Moore Mediations (stephenmooremediations.com)
The Most Important Cases for Personal Injury Lawyers Over the Preceding 12 Months, Osgoode Hall Law School Professional Development Program’s 16th Annual Update: Personal Injury Law and Practice, April 29, 2021;
Autonomous Vehicles-the rise of the machines, Insurance Law Global, March 25, 2021;
Presented a paper and mock opening address by a defendant at a jury trial at the OBA Professional Development, Insurance Law Section– “Anatomy of Trial: A Deeper Dive Into Jury Trials”; April 29, 2019;
Advanced Driver Assistance Systems and the Insurance Industry, Lexpert, May 2018;
The Standard Non-Owned Automobile Policy-SPF 6, April 2016;
Court Rules that the Increase in Deductibles is not Retrospective, Blaney Insurance Bulletin, November 2015;
Consent to Drive, presented at the Ontario Trial Lawyers’ Association Spring 2015 Conference May 22, 2015;
Conducted a workshop on the principles of negotiation for the Law Department of CBC Radio Canada on May 20, 2015;
The Duty to Mitigate – A Primer for the Personal Injury Litigator, Canadian Defence Lawyers, Defensible Positions, April 27, 2015 Halifax;
Essential Updates in Tort Law, Tricks of the Trade, Advocates’ Society January 30, 2015;
Calculating Damages in Motor Vehicle Collisions in Ontario, Canadian Defence Lawyers conference on Defending Auto Tort Claims in Ontario: An Update March 6, 2014;
Mitigation in Personal Injury Cases with co-author Stephen Gaudreau, 9th Annual Update Personal Injury Law and Practice, Osgoode Hall Law School Professional Development, September 27, 2013;
The Last Word on the Law of Causation from the Supreme Court of Canada (Maybe?), 8th Annual Update Personal Injury Law and Practice, Osgoode Hall Law School Professional Development, September 28, 2012;
Clement v Clement Medico-Legal Society of Toronto September 5, 2012;
Conducted Mock Cross-Examination of a Future Care/Rehabilitation Expert, Expert Evidence in Personal Injury Cases 2012, Osgoode Hall Law School Professional Development, April 2;
Vicarious Liability in the Context of Leased and Rented Vehicles, Tricks of the Trade, The Advocates’ Society, Friday January 27, 2012;
Can We Make Sense of Causation? 7th Annual Update Personal Injury Law and Practice, Osgoode Hall Law School Professional Development, September 28, 2011;
Causation Panel, Tricks of the Trade 2011, The Advocates’ Society, January 21, 2011;
Expert Evidence: How has the Landscape Changed for Counsel, Experts and Triers? (co-presentation with Sally Gomery), Advanced Evidence Law and Practice for Civil, Commercial and Administrative Litigation, The Canadian Institute, June 22, 2010;
The Very Latest in Causation, Where are We Now? (co-authored with Kerry Nash), 5th Annual Update Personal Injury Law and Practice, 2009, Osgoode Hall Law School Professional Development CLE, September 21, 2009;
Recent Cases Under Bills 59 and 198 and Finding the Right Defendants, The Oatley-McLeish Guide to Motor Vehicle Litigation-Part I: Tort Law Update, Law Society of Upper Canada, Continuing Legal Education, November 10, 2008;
Auto Insurance Primer: Bills 59 and 198, Chapter 5A of The Oatley-McLeish Guide to Personal Injury Practice in Motor Vehicle Cases, Canada Law Book. First published in the Fall of 2002;
Special Problems Posed by Leased and Rented Vehicles, Managing and Litigating Motor Vehicle Accident Claims, Osgoode Hall Law School Professional Development CLE, February 6, 2008 and April 22, 2009. A revised version of this paper was also published in Volume 36 of the Advocates Quarterly 1 in September of 2009;
Bill 18: Limited Liability for Automobile Leasing and Car Rental Companies, 3rd Annual Hot Topics in Motor Vehicle Litigation, Ontario Bar Association CLE, November 12, 2007;
The Supreme Court of Canada and the Law of Causation (co-authored with Bianca Matrundola), 3rd Annual Update Personal Injury Law and Practice, 2007, Osgoode Hall Law School Professional Development CLE, October 17, 2007;
Auto Insurance Primer, Boot Camp-Basic Training for New Defence Lawyers, Canadian Defence Lawyers, November 2006 and reissued with changes in 2007;
The Protected Defendant: New Developments including Vollick and leased vehicles, The Oatley-McLeish Guide to Motor Vehicle Litigation, The Law Society of Upper Canada Continuing Legal Education, May 2006;
Recent Judicial Decisions Affecting Personal Injury Claims, 2nd Annual Update Personal Injury Law and Practice, 2007 Osgoode Hall Law School Professional Development CLE, April 2006;
The Unprotected Defendant Court of Appeal Trilogy, Vollick, Walker and Hernandez, Advocates Society Tricks of the Trade, January 2006;
Vicarious Liability Under Bills 59 and 198; Has the final chapter been written?, The Canadian Institute, June 2005;
Trial Preparation; The Canadian Bar Association Ontario, Young Lawyers Division, presented in February of 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008;
Successfully Negotiating a Mary Carter Agreement: What to look out for, Stephen R. Moore and Miriam Tepperman; Canadian Journal of Insurance Law, Volume 22, page 43, May 2004;
Settling Auto Insurance Claims: Practical and Tactical Considerations, Auto Insurance Claims Litigation-Under Bill 198’s Sweeping Reforms, The Canadian Institute, December 2003;
How Has Bill 198 Changed the Treatment of Collateral Benefits?, Auto Insurance Claims Litigation-Under Ontario’s New bill 198, The Canadian Institute, May 2003;
Unprotected Defendants-Are They a Good Target? The Oatley McLeish Guide to Personal Injury Claims Under Bill 59: More Successful Strategies, Law Society of Upper Canada Continuing Legal Education, November 2002;
Heredi v. Fensom When Does the HTA Limitation Period Apply? Ontario Trial Lawyers’ Association (OTLA) Fall 2002;
Non-Protected Defendants, Who, What, Where, When presented to OTLA on June 1, 2001;
Subrogation-What Every Lawyer Needs to Know, presented at the Advanced Course on Insurance Litigation, The Canadian Institute, May 24th and 25th, 2001;
Protected v. Unprotected Defendants under Bill 59, Parties and Booze Don’t Mix, Alcohol Liability in the New Millennium, CBAO Continuing Legal Education, November 9, 2000;
“Side-Stepping The Threshold: Maximizing Damages Under Bill 59”, Advocates’ Society Lectures on “Practical Strategies IX” February 4, 2000;
Unprotected Defendants: An Update on Practical Strategies in Suing or Defending Claims Against Unprotected Clients, Advocates’ Society Lectures on Practical Strategies VIII, February 19-20 1999;
The Anti-Fraud Notice Provision of AIRS; Exploiting the Opportunities and Avoiding the Pitfalls, Without Prejudice, Volume 63 No. 6 at page 52, February 1999;
Cancellation of Broker Contracts Where the Book of Business Includes Ontario Automobile Insurance Policies: The Potential Pitfalls, Without Prejudice, Volume 63 No. 4, page 21, December 1998;
Catastrophic Impairments-The Tort Lawyer’s Perspective, Severity of Injury: Clinical, Legislative & Legal Perspectives, Professional Training Seminars, 1998;
Damage Control – Damage Assessment and Development in a Personal Injury Action, Law Society of Upper Canada, Continuing Legal Education, 1997;
Are You Dealing with Protected or Unprotected Defendants?-Operating Under the New Automobile Insurance Plan, Insight Seminars,1996;
The Resurgence of “Responsibility” in Motor Vehicle Accident Compensation – Operating Under the New Automobile Insurance Plan, Insight Seminars,1996;
The Coverage Opinion Letter – Resolving Insurance Coverage Disputes in Life, Disability and Casualty Sectors, Insight Seminars,1996;
The Defence Perspective – Evaluating and Managing Closed Head Injury Claims, Insight Seminars,1994; republished in Volume 13 of the Canadian Journal of Insurance Law;
Defending the Head Injury Case – Head Injury in the 1990s: Litigation and the No Fault Threshold, Insight Seminars,1990;
Punitive Damages and Part V of the Family Law Reform Act-Boates v. Coca-Cola Ltd (1985), 5 Advocates Quarterly 497;
Contribution After Judgment Under the Negligence Act: Cristovao v. Doran’s Beverages Inc. (1983), 4 Advocates’ Quarterly 372;