Renée Vinett

About Renée Vinett

Renée Vinett is the Managing Partner at Howie, Sacks & Henry LLP and represents people who've been injured, along with their families. The caseload runs from car, truck and bus crashes and accident benefits disputes to slip and fall claims and short and long-term disability claims. Vinett also handles mass tort and class action work involving products such as the Essure birth control implant, Allergan breast implants and talcum powder.

Nursing came first. Vinett became a registered nurse in 1985, and that career centred on case management for catastrophic injuries: arranging complex care in the community, overseeing changes to clients' homes, and helping families cope with daily life after a devastating event. A law degree from Osgoode Hall followed, then a call to the Ontario bar in 2002. Since 2016, the Law Society of Ontario has certified Vinett as a Specialist in Civil Litigation.

That medical grounding shapes how files are run. Vinett works to meet a client's immediate medical needs while also building toward lasting gains in quality of life. When CBC's The Fifth Estate looked at Canadian women seeking compensation over the Essure implant in March 2021, the Toronto lawyer was representing a little more than 100 women in a mass tort suit against Bayer. The case also took Vinett onto France 24 to discuss it.

Other lawyers have learned from Vinett at sessions for the Ontario Bar Association, Osgoode's Accident Benefits 2017 program and the North American Conference on Legal Issues in Brain Injury. Vinett and fellow partner Paul Miller co-host the firm’s podcast, where Vinett talked about leaving nursing for law.