MacKenzie Barristers

About MacKenzie Barristers

MacKenzie Barristers is a small litigation practice based in downtown Toronto, concentrating on civil appeals and questions of professional responsibility and liability. The firm's principal, Gavin MacKenzie, was called to the Ontario bar in 1977 after earning a B.A. from Western University and an LL.B. from Osgoode Hall Law School. Other lawyers and law firms often bring the firm in as independent counsel, co-counsel on an appeal, or an expert witness on standard of care in solicitors' negligence cases, rather than as the only counsel running a file from start to finish.

MacKenzie has appeared as counsel in over 200 reported cases before every level of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Appeal, and the Ontario Court of Appeal. A four term Bencher of the Law Society of Ontario, MacKenzie was elected Treasurer, the Society's highest office, three times between 2006 and 2008, and later received an honorary Doctor of Laws from the Law Society of Upper Canada. MacKenzie wrote Lawyers and Ethics: Professional Responsibility and Discipline, now in its sixth edition from Thomson Reuters (Carswell), and teaches legal ethics as an Adjunct Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School. Since January 2021, MacKenzie has also worked as a member arbitrator at Arbitration Place, handling commercial and partnership disputes.