Sandra Zisckind is the managing partner of Diamond & Diamond Lawyers, a national plaintiff personal injury firm she co-founded in 2013. This profile examines how she built the practice, the leadership and culture she put in place, and why she treats her position as managing partner as a responsibility to the broader profession.
Sandra Zisckind is the managing partner of Diamond & Diamond Lawyers, a national plaintiff personal injury firm she co-founded in 2013. She was called to the Ontario bar in 2003 after earning an LLM from George Washington University, where she also interned with Senator John McCain. The firm operates 12 offices across four provinces and handles personal injury, class actions, civil and commercial litigation, and real estate matters. It offers free initial consultations and contingency-fee arrangements for personal injury cases. Zisckind is a legal commentator on CP24 and CFRB 1010 and co-hosts the Know Your Rights podcast.
Zisckind began her legal career in insurance defence after returning to Canada during the early-2000s recession. She won motion after motion. The work troubled her. "I was on the wrong side; I was denying people as opposed to helping them," she says. "Switching over to the plaintiff side was the next logical step because I'd rather use my talents on people who actually need my help, not the big insurance companies." The switch gave her a concrete edge. "It taught me about insurance companies' brains, how they think, the way they work, and that really helped me, along with the trial experience I had under my belt," she adds. "I was able to see the bigger picture, and to some extent it helped me predict where the market was going."
Diamond & Diamond Lawyers opened in 2013 and launched one of Canada's first American-style advertising campaigns. Zisckind calls it "wildly successful." The early flood of work pushed the founders into a referral system. Zisckind saw the flaw quickly. "You're building somebody else's company, somebody else's goodwill," she explains. The firm added lawyers steadily and now keeps 95 percent of cases in-house. Mentorship from Ross Cellino of what was then Cellino & Barnes proved a turning point. "I'd like to pretend we knew what we were doing, but we did not," Zisckind says. "Law school doesn't prepare you for marketing or business. A lot of it was learning on the fly and figuring out what works and what doesn't."
The firm runs on a subgroup model, with named leads accountable for everyone under them. Zisckind empowers those leads. "I don't believe in it; it's a good way to fail," she says of micromanagement. "I'm not [hovering over] their head. Either they're going to succeed or they're not." Regional lawyers get particular autonomy. She deferred when a Windsor lawyer told her early on that the local market was a different animal. Strong results and happy clients are the measure. "I never let my ego get in the way," Zisckind says. "If there's a better way to do something, especially coming from someone with boots on the ground, tell me. I don't ever pretend I know everything."
Nearly every department head at Diamond & Diamond Lawyers is a woman. Zisckind recalls early meetings where people would not make eye contact with her, talked as if she were not in the room, or assumed she was the secretary. She still recognises some of the same obstacles for younger female lawyers today. The firm offers flexibility for lawyers who want to start families. The head of the trial department had three children while at the firm, with no impact on her career track. "She's so appreciative because she didn't have to choose between her family and her career," Zisckind says. "Breeding loyalty by being fair and good to the people around you is very, very important." Zisckind speaks with younger female lawyers one on one about imposter syndrome and encourages them to stand their ground. "What a lot of the big firms are missing, in my opinion, is that it shouldn't be an atmosphere where you must be one of the guys to fit in, right away, that's exclusive."
Public education is part of the firm's brand. The Know Your Rights podcast is one expression of it. The firm has produced informational content on contingency fees, civil routes for sexual assault survivors, and child luring. "Being the largest personal injury firm, we have a duty to tell people this is a place where you can get justice," Zisckind says. "Anything we can do to open up those avenues to those who need them, we'll do." Profiles of leaders like Zisckind are part of the premium reports and analysis Canadian Lawyer publishes for the profession.
The firm is expanding into medical malpractice. Its class actions department grew out of the Roundup case against Bayer and Monsanto and is performing well. Zisckind sees class actions as the future of personal injury law. Her answer when anyone suggests she slow down? "Not in my nature." Her view on leadership is plain. "I believe more women need to take leadership roles, and that more companies should encourage it," she says. "Put a woman in charge; the whole feel of a place changes." Share this profile on Facebook or Twitter.
Sandra Zisckind, LLM: managing partner, Diamond & Diamond Lawyers; called to the Ontario bar in 2003; LLM from George Washington University; interned with Senator John McCain; co-founder of Diamond & Diamond Lawyers with Jeremy Diamond and Isaac Zisckind; legal commentator on CP24 and CFRB 1010; co-host, Know Your Rights podcast.
