Briana Donnelly

About Briana Donnelly

When a dispute turns on the numbers, Briana Donnelly brings an unusual background to it. Briana is an associate with Gowling WLG in Ottawa who advises clients on complex disputes where financial and valuation questions sit at the centre, with a focus on commercial litigation, class actions, and arbitration both international and domestic. Briana was called to the Ontario bar in 2025.

Law is a second career. Briana first worked as a forensic accountant and business valuator, starting out at a boutique forensic accounting firm with a specialty in quantifying damages and turning dense financial records into findings ready for court. An Atlantic Canada accounting firm then recruited Briana to lead the launch of its Litigation Support Valuation sector in that region. Over those years the files included personal injury, lost profits, fraud and shareholder disputes, and Briana ran forensic accounting audits and both wrote and presented independent damages reports as an expert.

Three professional designations sit alongside the law degree: Chartered Professional Accountant, Chartered Business Valuator and Certified Fraud Examiner. Briana also taught other valuators, serving from 2020 to 2024 as an instructor for the Level IV: Special Topics in Business Valuation course offered by the Canadian Institute of Chartered Business Valuators, covering damage quantification and complex valuation work. Briana draws on that background in building legal strategy and analysing financial evidence, and aims to explain complex financial concepts in plain terms.