Partners, not passengers: firm's approach turns injured clients into informed team members
00:00 A line I often use with clients in in meetings is that even though I love you, I'm not a cheerleader. Fighting lawsuits
00:07 is messy. It's not a tea party. No one who comes to us is having a good time.
00:12 Uh they're they've come to us because something very, very serious has happened in their life that has flipped things upside down.
00:21 Today we are [music] proud to spotlight Berson Clifford LLP. Recently named one of Canadian lawyers top personal injury
00:27 boutiques for 2026. Since 1999, Berson Clifford has built a reputation across Ontario for compassionate client
00:36 advocacy, skilled trial representation, and unwavering dedication to helping injured individuals and their families
00:43 navigate some of life's most difficult moments. Joining us today is Warren Whit Knight from the Berseron Clifford team to discuss what this recognition means
00:52 and the philosophy that continues to guide their work. First of all, congratulations on being named one of Canadian lawyers top personal injury boutiques for 2026.
01:03 Thank you very much. It's an honor.
01:05 Now, Berson Clifford has been serving Ontario clients since 1999. As I said, it's got this strong focus on personal
01:12 injury litigation. What do you believe has been the key to the firm's longevity and continued reputation as a trusted boutique practice?
01:22 Uh the firm was founded by uh Ted Bersron and uh Chris Clifford and uh they're still heavily involved in the
01:29 practice and uh they're still best friends. Uh they're also family men. So there's four partners that that run the
01:38 firm. Uh Ted has five kids, Chris has four, I have four, and uh Gavin Cosgrove has uh two. I've lost count how many
01:47 kids that is, but you can see that it's a very family uh focused ethos that kind of drives us. And so when you start from
01:55 a position of uh family and of compassion and togetherness, uh we treat all of our clients uh like their family.
02:04 And uh we really mean that. We go to their homes, we meet with them, we get to know them, and we try and put ourselves in their shoes in in that kind
02:13 of terrible moment. No one who comes to us is having a good time. Uh they've come to us because something very very serious has happened in their life that
02:21 has flipped things upside down. And so the longevity of the firm I think can largely be attributed to the fact that
02:28 we treat every uh new case like it's our first case and with the seriousness and compassion that it deserves starting from that family and client focused uh perspective.
02:38 The firm is known for handling highly complex matters including catastrophic injury, medical malpractice and disability denial claims. How has your
02:48 trial first approach helped distinguish Berson Clifford in the personal injury space?
02:54 Insurance companies know which firms are willing to take cases to trial and which firms are capable of taking them to
03:03 trial. Uh and we are obviously willing to and capable of. Uh so both of those things and when you prepare every case
03:11 as if it's going to go to trial, it allows you to have the uh the resources
03:18 allocated to each case that will uh put the client success almost as a guarantee. Now everybody knows that most
03:27 cases settle out of court. Uh very few actually go to trial. But when you prepare every case as if it's going to go to trial, the insurers see that
03:36 preparation. They set their reserves appropriately and they offer proper settlements. On the rare occasions when
03:43 cases don't settle and it is necessary that you go to a trial, uh you have to have the uh skill set and the assets
03:52 behind you to uh make sure that the trial is going to be successful. And so for us that means that we have a dedicated uh trial clerk on each file.
04:02 We have uh an extra lawyer added to the file in advance of trial preparation.
04:07 And then uh we're one of the only firms, maybe the only firm in the country that actually has a mock trial courtroom in our office. Uh and so we prepare our
04:15 clients in an actual court setting. We hire a jury from the public to do jury studies. will often hire retired judges
04:23 and uh senior defense council to mock up the trial. Uh we leave no stone uh unturned in uh making sure that our
04:32 clients are going to get the uh the best result possible.
04:35 Being named a winner of Canadian Lawyers top personal injury boutiques for 2026 is a significant recognition. What does
04:43 this honor mean to your team and how does it reflect the firm's values and client commitment?
04:49 I like reading through the the top 10 list because all of the uh partners at the firm, we all played sports our whole life. And when you're in a locker room,
04:57 it's nice to look around and respect all the people around you to know that everybody else is uh is a skilled member
05:04 of the team and that everybody's kind of, as we say, rowing the boat in the same direction. And in the personal injury space, uh all the other names on
05:12 that list, all the other top 10 award recipients, there are competitors. I put that in quotes. Um, but the truth is,
05:20 uh, those are great firms. Uh, they're all trying to do the same work that we do with that same, uh, ethos, the same
05:27 client, uh, centered focus. And I respect everyone who's on that list. It's an honor to be named among them.
05:34 And, [clears throat] uh, more importantly, it's really nice to know that there are other people out there doing the hard work of uh, advocating
05:41 for injured people, holding insurance companies to task, and doing it the right way. There are right ways and wrong ways to do personal injury work
05:50 and the clients ultimately are the ones who benefit or lose from that process.
05:55 Uh so being a recipient of this uh award is just kind of a a recognition of all of the hard work it takes to to stay the
06:03 straight and narrow path of doing this work the right way.
06:06 Berseron Clifford operates across Kingston, Ottawa, Perth, and Carlton Place. How does maintaining that regional presence help the firm serve injured clients throughout Ontario?
06:18 So, I grew up in in uh in Vermont. I was born born in the US, moved to Canada, became a citizen like 20 years ago. Um,
06:25 so I'm from a small place, a place where, you know, if you only have u 20 minutes to run an errand, you you can't
06:33 go downtown because you're going to get stopped every block cuz you know every person. Um, and that's what Eastern Ontario is like. That's one of the
06:40 reasons that um my wife and I uh settled here to raise our kids. And for us uh while we represent clients all over
06:48 Ontario and in fact Canada and and into the US, we are very focused on the Eastern Ontario region that is our home
06:56 and uh in the communities where we have our physical offices and have lawyers in those offices and staff from those
07:04 communities. Having that focus in the small communities is really important to us because people live differently out here. I love Toronto. I visit Toronto, but none of our clients live in condos.
07:15 Uh none of them spend their uh their nights watching Netflix. These are people who are out in the garage fixing ATVs. They're upset when they uh you
07:24 know, when they get very seriously injured cuz they can't run their tractor. These are people who uh run uh multigenerational businesses. Uh it's
07:32 just a very different way of life. And so being from here, living here, being immersed in these communities is important to our clients because we
07:40 understand the way they live and therefore we understand what they've lost after an accident.
07:47 Personal injury law often involves supporting clients through some of the most difficult moments of their lives.
07:52 You've touched on this. How does Berseron Clifford balance legal excellence with compassionate client service throughout that litigation process?
08:01 A line I often use uh with clients in in meetings is that um even though I love you, I'm not a cheerleader. Uh and what
08:10 I mean by that, and I explain this to clients, is that I never want people to get to the end of a process and be surprised by the news I'm delivering to
08:18 them. So, I often pull the band-aid off right at the beginning. Um and I I say, you know, I would love to sit here and
08:26 say, you know, rah rah, I'm your cheerleader. Everything's going to be awesome. Uh but the truth is that fighting lawsuits is messy. Uh it's not
08:34 a tea party. Even for very seriously injured individuals, they are likely to face insurance companies and defendants on the other side that question the
08:43 veracity of their claims, question the severity of their injuries. And uh we try and educate them on the fight that
08:52 is ahead from the beginning so that they feel like a team member as opposed to a passenger. You know, everybody's had
08:59 that experience of leaving your family doctor's office and you're not even really sure what happened. You went in cuz you needed something, but you maybe you have a prescription or a referral.
09:09 You might have spent 6 minutes or 3 minutes with your doctor. They didn't explain anything to you. You feel the opposite of empowered. Uh, and we try
09:19 and educate all of our clients, bring them into the process and make them understand what's going to happen and to
09:27 feel empowered because after something terrible's happened to you or your family, you've had, you know, a big loss happen, you've had a lot taken away from
09:36 you, we try and build people back through that process. Uh, and so compassion isn't always just sitting and
09:44 listening to someone, although it is that. And it isn't always feeling bad for them, although it is that. It's also letting them understand the nitty-gritty
09:52 of the the difficult ride that is ahead in a civil litigation, personal injury lawsuit, and letting them know that even
10:00 though it's going to be tough, they have us on their team, that we're all in this together, and that we're going to get them through to the other side.
10:06 Well, congratulations again to Berseron Clifford LLP on being named one of the Canadian lawyers top personal injury
10:12 boutiques for 2026. The firm's continued dedication to advocacy, preparation, and client care has really helped
10:20 established Berseron Clifford as a trusted leader in the personal injury space across Ontario. Thank you, Warren, for joining us today.
10:28 Yeah, thanks for been being with me, Brody. It was great. He's Brody Lawson, and thank you for watching Canadian Lawyer TV.