All Oatley Vigmond Partners Recognized in 2021 Best Lawyers ® Directory
Oatley Vigmond is proud to announce that all seven of the firm’s Partners have recently been notified of their inclusion in the 2021 Best Lawyers ® Directory.
Best Lawyers ® is one of the oldest and most respected peer-review publications in the legal profession. A listing in Best Lawyers ® is widely regarded by both clients and legal professionals as a significant honour, conferred on a lawyer by his or her peers.
For more than three decades, Best Lawyers ® lists have earned the respect of the profession, the media, and the public, as the most reliable, unbiased source of legal referrals anywhere.
Please join us in congratulating each of the Oatley Vigmond Partners on this achievement. They will be recognized inside The Best Lawyers in Canada (2021 Edition) within the following categories:
Brian M. Cameron CS (2017)
– Insurance Law
– Personal Injury Litigation
Robert M. Durante (2017)
– Insurance Law
– Personal Injury Litigation
Kevin Henderson (*)
– Personal Injury Litigation
Troy Lehman CS (2017)
– Insurance Law
– Personal Injury Litigation
Adam R. Little CS (2017)
– Insurance Law
– Personal Injury Litigation
Roger G. Oatley CS (2006)
– Legal Malpractice Law
– Medical Negligence
– Personal Injury Litigation
– Product Liability Law
James L. Vigmond CS (2006)
– Medical Negligence
– Personal Injury Litigation
(Year) First year the lawyer was listed in the published practice area.
(*) Lawyers who are listed for the first time in Best Lawyers.
About the Authors
Brian Cameron joined Oatley Vigmond in 1999 after obtaining his law degree from Western University. Beginning his journey in an articling position, fresh out of law school, the first case he argued in court was a small claim’s trial for the firm’s then-senior partner, who was suing a dry cleaner who’d lost three of his dress shirts. Brian won that action for $285 plus costs, and has been with the OV team ever since. He became a partner in 2008.
When Rob Durante was called to the bar in 1997, he had been articling for a year with a law firm that specialized in defending insurance companies in personal injury cases. “I developed a sense of wanting to right injustices,” he recalls. “I didn’t want to work for the insurance companies… For me, it’s all about achieving justice for clients, righting wrongs and arranging fair compensation.” Rob joined Oatley Vigmond that same year and has been advocating for seriously injured clients and their families ever since.
The son of a grocery store clerk, Kevin grew up outside of Perth, Ontario. He credits his humble beginnings with the development of his underdog mentality, an approach he has carried into his legal career.
He attended McMaster University for two years before being granted early admission to Osgoode Hall Law School. After being called to the bar in 2008, Kevin began practising law in Hamilton before joining a leading Toronto litigation firm, representing Canada’s largest insurance companies on personal injury actions. “I didn’t find it fulfilling,” Kevin recalls. “I was helping companies save money, when what I wanted to do was help the people going up against these major corporations.” Since joining Oatley Vigmond, Kevin has used his insurance-industry experience to protect his clients and recover the compensation they deserved. He’d been at Oatley Vigmond for two months when he settled a matter for a client at a mediation. “You felt the burden of the litigation, and her injuries, lifting off her. I wanted to help even more people experience the relief of having their uncertainty lifted.’”
Troy Lehman joined Oatley Vigmond in 2006 and became a partner in 2010. As a personal injury lawyer, his greatest satisfaction comes from helping people through to the other side of a difficult time in their lives. “We’re here to help and relieve stress,” Troy says. “When I walk into a first meeting with a client, people are often scared and anxious. And for me, the best thing that can happen at the end of the meeting is that they say, ‘I feel so much better.’
Adam Little earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto in 1996. He graduated from Queen’s University Faculty of Law in 2000 and was called to the bar in 2002. Adam was practicising on Bay Street for a leading Toronto litigation firm that represented doctors in medical malpractice claims when he realized that helping people through personal injury litigation was what he wanted to do. “I wanted to work for the best,” he said. A partner at Oatley Vigmond had written the best-known book available about addressing jury trials, which Adam had read and admired. He wrote to the partner, went through an intense interview process and became a partner at the firm in 2005.
Born and raised in Brantford, Ontario, Jim Vigmond is Oatley Vigmond’s founding and managing partner. Brought up in a hardworking Canadian family, Jim’s work ethic was instilled in him by his parents. His father was a tool and die maker turned teacher; his mother, a retail store manager. Jim’s father built their family home himself, and both his parents believed in setting an example for their children defined by humility, hard work and integrity. Jim attributes his ability to connect with his clients to the fact that many of them come from similarly modest backgrounds. “There’s no filter needed when you’re dealing with me,” says Jim. “I am who I am.”