John Nicholl, Ad. E.

Full Profile

John Nicholl, B.C.L.1978, LL.B. 1979 (McGill), Ad. E., is a member of the Law Society of Ontario and the Québec Bar. He is based primarily at the firm’s Toronto office, but continues to maintain a substantial practice in Montréal as well.

John was named Advocatus Emeritus (Ad. E.) by the Québec Bar in 2012. The Ad. E. distinction is comparable to the title of King’s Counsel in Canadian common law jurisdictions and is presented to members of the Québec Bar in recognition of their outstanding legal career and contribution to the profession.  

John has been an insurance lawyer for more than 40 years. His practice has at various times included a significant amount of insurance defence litigation and he has extensive trial and appellate experience, particularly in the fields of professional liability, directors’ and officers’ liability and product liability. However, he now focuses primarily on coverage advice, litigation and arbitration on behalf of insurer and reinsurer clients in all Canadian jurisdictions, in both English and French.

John has maintained consistently high professional ratings for many years. He is currently listed and recommended in the guides below (see Awards and Recognitions section). He is rated Band One by Chambers in the field of Insurance - Dispute Resolution and he was nominated by Clyde & Co’s clients in 2024 for the Thomson Reuters Stand-Out Lawyers list.

Admissions

• Québec Bar

• Ontario Bar

Education

• LL.B., McGill University, 1979 

• B.C.L., McGill University, 1978

Professional Associations

• Law Society of Ontario

• Québec Bar
   

Awards and Recognitions

• Thomson Reuters: stand-out lawyer   

• Best Lawyers in Canada: class action litigation, directors' and officers' liability, insurance law, legal malpractice law and product liability law

• Best Lawyers: lawyer of the year in the fields of directors' and officers' liability practice and legal malpractice law

• The Legal 500 Canada: leading Individual in Canada for insurance

• Chambers and Partners: leader (Band 1) in the field of insurance; dispute resolution (nationwide Canada)

• The Canadian Legal Lexpert® Directory: professional liability, litigation – product liability, litigation – directors' and officers’ liability, litigation – commercial insurance

• Who's Who Legal: insurance and reinsurance (Compendium and international editions), product liability defence

• AV® Preeminent™: peer review rating 5/5 in the Martindale-Hubbell directory for insurance, professional liability and litigation

• Martindale-Hubbell: top lawyers in Canada 

Experience

• Co-counsel for reinsurers in a $143M arbitration about reinsurance coverage for wildfire property losses

• Co-counsel for the insurer in a $347M arbitration regarding coverage under a political risk insurance policy

• Counsel for the property insurer in a $123M lawsuit claiming coverage for COVID-related business interruption losses

• Counsel for the primary property insurers in an $87M lawsuit claiming coverage for railway losses resulting from flooding and mudslides caused by an “atmospheric river” event

• Coverage counsel for a directors’ and officers’ liability insurer with respect to a securities class action against multiple insureds

• Coverage counsel for an excess GL insurer with respect to multiple class actions against insureds claiming opioid-related damages

• Counsel for an educational institution liability insurer in a $153M lawsuit claiming coverage for a class action settlement relating to illegal school fees

• Advising a Canadian directors’ and officers’ liability insurer on rewrites of its public and private company policy wordings

• Coverage counsel for the property insurers in a dispute about coverage under an international program for property and business interruption losses resulting from a structural failure at a marine loading dock

• Coverage counsel for the primary GL insurer in a dispute about coverage under an international program for claims arising from allegedly defective locomotive parts

• Coverage counsel for the property insurers in a mediation about coverage for property and business interruption losses resulting from an earthquake at a gold mine