Tessa Warmelink

About Tessa Warmelink

Medical defence, health law and professional liability are the focus of Tessa Warmelink's litigation work as a senior associate in the Advocacy Department at Gowling WLG's Ottawa office. Personal injury actions are part of the practice too, and Warmelink has argued for clients at every level of Ontario's courts. One area of particular depth is assessing damages in high-value, complex personal injury claims.

Warmelink was called to the Ontario bar in 2013, a year after finishing a JD at Dalhousie's Schulich School of Law with a specialization in health law and policy. The career began at Gowling WLG on insurance defence and professional liability files. A stretch as in-house litigation counsel at a large Canadian insurer came next, and then a return to the firm.

Outside the office, the Ottawa community gets a lot of time. Warmelink has sat on the board of the Christmas Cheer Foundation since 2016, a local charity that raises money and awareness for food scarcity programs around the city. There's pro bono work as well: volunteering with Law Help Ontario from 2014 to 2017 and, since 2024, with the Free Legal Advice Hotline, both run by Pro Bono Ontario.