Catherine Shearer

About Catherine Shearer

Catherine Shearer is a partner at McKenzie Lake Lawyers who represents people whose lives have been changed by a serious injury. Traumatic brain injuries are a particular focus, and Shearer also takes on claims where the injury led to surgery. Collisions with transport trucks and accidents involving farm equipment are a special interest.

Shearer also handles long-term disability claims where benefits were denied, and that includes professionals like doctors, lawyers, accountants and executives who face their own kind of hurdles in a disability claim. Shearer's aim with those clients is to make sure their story is actually heard.

It's work with a personal root. Shearer watched a close family member struggle after a serious injury and saw the physical and emotional strain it put on everyone around them. Shearer sees the job as pushing back when a claims process starts treating injured people as numbers and denials. Called to the Ontario bar in 2013 after law school at the University of Manitoba, Shearer joined McKenzie Lake's personal injury and disability law team in 2017 and now serves clients in both Guelph and London.

Outside the office, Shearer founded The Happy Lawyer, a podcast about mental health in the legal profession, and is a wellness enthusiast and dog owner. Community work includes a board seat with Guelph General Hospital, and Shearer has previously sat on the board of the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association.