We bring out the best in everyone (while having fun).
On January 8, 2018, SBA was born out of a unified vision for the future, a vision that was led by a female majority partnership and one that did not follow the ancient rules of hierarchy and long expired tradition.
At SBA, we decided that it was time for something new. At a time when the industry was changing, many thought it was a major risk to go in a different direction – but it is ingrained in us to do what we feel is right and to go where our intuition takes us. And that intuition led us to create SBA.
Having spent years practicing law, we saw the challenges for women and underrepresented groups and decided to forge a new path of collaboration, respect and equality, a path that we are proudly pursuing together with a talented and impressive team of lawyers and staff. This unique direction has led us to a culture of openness, honesty, collaboration, and genuine care for each other and our clients. With our clients and our teammates by our side, we stay true to who we are with an open heart and a passion for what we do.
We are determined to be a different type of law firm where we foster authenticity and collaboration. Most importantly, we care for our clients and each other. And, we really (really) love animals!
Leadership for today and tomorrow.
With our award-winning lawyers and strong leaders at the helm of the ship, we are confident in steering clients to a successful outcome, no matter the situation.
Our team approaches each matter with our full focus and attention. In insurance defence, too often claims get stuck in a mill, where work is done, but minimal value is added. We pride ourselves on ensuring that our team is engaged, refreshed and focused on your matters. We don’t overcommit our lawyers and encourage a focused, collaborative approach to solving your pressing or high-stakes insurance matters. While we pride ourselves on providing added value every step of the way, we don’t believe this should add to the bottom line.
We take our work seriously, not ourselves.
Our mission is to create the ultimate client experience, by caring for, supporting, and collaborating with our team and clients to bring out the best in everyone (while having fun doing it).
Our mix of senior, intermediate, and junior lawyers carry smaller file loads and we encourage our lawyers to focus on the quality of service and not the quantity of hours. As a result, our lawyers have time to, among other things:
- Run competitively in various long distance races, run for fun, watch people run
- Participate in long-distance road biking events, ride bikes recreationally, climb Alpe du Zwift
- Play and/or coach in many different leagues, including ultimate frisbee, soccer, softball, baseball, hockey, basketball, golf, table tennis, and non-table tennis
- Become the past president of Button Factory Arts of Waterloo, become involved members of important charity and community organizations
- Garden, ski, photograph World Wonders, attend FIFA World Cup matches, dive with sharks, chase butterflies, raise kids, raise pets, bake cookies, and live life!
We also write in English and not Legalese. Our opinions are generally easy to understand and follow. All of our opinions and substantive reports include a Case Summary cover page, which allows our clients to see up front what their case is all about.
We rock.
Finally, if we weren’t already so proud of our firm, we are also giddy about our many accolades. Two of our lawyers are published authors of insurance texts. We have written many blogs and articles. We are also proud of our firm’s trophy mantle, which includes awards and honours for:
- Lexpert and Best Lawyers
- Lexpert Rising Stars
- Richard B. Lindsay QC Exceptional Young Lawyer Award (CDL)
- Youngest ever President of Canadian Defence Lawyers
- 20 Under 40, 40 Under 40
- Rapha Festive 500
- SBA Intermural Table Tennis (ask us about it!)