43 lawyers · Established 1994 · City of Toronto, City of Ottawa, Waterloo Region and 2 more locations
One of 2,276 law firms listed in Toronto, and one of 104 handling Insurance Law.
McCague Borlack LLP is a firm devoted to every kind of litigation and advocacy. Insurance law sits at the centre of much of its work, along with litigation files that come to it from insurers, and insurance defence and coverage litigation are a strong focus. Its lawyers also act for corporate and commercial businesses, financial companies and individuals across Canada.
Financial institutions, banks and trust companies among them, hire the firm on claims about what they owe to their customers and to third parties, and what they can recover from them. Current clients range from domestic and foreign insurers and manufacturers (anything from cars to semiconductors) to hospitality, health care and municipal clients, along with nonprofits and private individuals.
The firm has acted for clients across Canada, North America and overseas since 1994. In that time the Toronto firm has grown from 11 lawyers to more than 50 and opened four regional offices, in Ottawa, Kitchener, Barrie and London.
Behind the scenes, custom-built file and document management systems let everyone at the firm work without paper and keep track of limitation periods and other litigation deadlines, and every member takes formal cybersecurity training each quarter. The cultural and ethnic diversity of the firm's members matters to it, and that mix means clients can be served in many languages. A firm Diversity Committee carries that commitment forward.
The firm was founded in 1994 as McCague, Wires, Peacock, Borlack, McInnis & Lloyd. Two of its founding partners came from Smith, Lyons, Torrance, Stevenson & Mayer: Paul McCague, a senior partner there until the new firm began in 1994, and David Wires, who stayed with Smith, Lyons until becoming a founding partner that same year. Howard Borlack, the other name in today's firm name, is also a founding partner.
Within a few years the firm was building outward. In the mid-1990s it saw that Canada had no national association of law firms devoted to litigation and ADR, so it became a founding member of the Canadian Litigation Counsel, and later that decade CLC affiliated with The Harmonie Group, a similar American organization. Van Krkachovski joined as a partner in 1998, coming from another major Toronto litigation firm.
Later known as McCague Peacock Borlack McInnis & Lloyd LLP, the firm changed its name to McCague Borlack LLP on December 1, 2009. The Ottawa office opened in September 2012. In 2020 the firm announced a relationship with Metcalfe Blainey and Burns LLP, under which McCague Borlack lawyers would act as counsel to MBB on dispute resolution for MBB's clients.
Insurance Law
Personal Injury
Civil Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Class Actions
Employment & Labour Law
Bankruptcy & Insolvency
Family Law
Wills, Estates & Trusts
Landlord & Tenant
Administrative & Regulatory Law
Intellectual Property
The coverage group drafts and adapts policy wordings for Ontario and Canadian use. It'll also act as coordinating counsel on national and international insurance programs, aiming to keep coverage positions consistent and in line with local law.
The firm's accident benefits lawyers appear regularly before the Licence Appeal Tribunal for mediations and arbitrations, and loss transfer and priority disputes are an area of particular expertise for its litigators. They've also acted as legislative counsel for auto insurers, work that included going to the Financial Services Commission of Ontario and successfully arguing for the Superintendent's approval of insurers' Preferred Provider Networks.
The subrogation group also goes after other insurers where coverage overlaps or runs concurrently, or where primary and excess layers meet. Its lawyers also negotiate and draft agreements for jointly pursuing a loss and for sharing recoveries pro rata.
The firm represents municipalities in road maintenance crashes, sewer back-ups and incidents at arenas and parks, and claims arising from where underground utilities sit are an area of particular expertise.
Peter F. Yaniszewski chairs the Personal Injury Group, which has handled every kind of claim, fatalities and catastrophic injuries such as quadriplegia and paralysis included. To keep costs down, the group often turns to mediation and other ADR techniques.
The firm has been defending class action litigation ever since Ontario passed the Class Proceedings Act in 1992. Its class action group has been counsel in cases arising from the TTC subway crash, the Walkerton tainted water proceedings and tainted blood, among others.
Senior lawyers in the transportation group have helped government draft legislation on the no-fault auto insurance scheme and the threshold for motor vehicle claims.
Its employment lawyers act for employers and for employees, and their tribunal work takes in the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal.
Our guide: Severance Pay in Ontario: What a Calculator Can and Can't Tell You
Besides handling appeals for its own clients, the firm is often brought in as special appellate counsel on new files. Hillel David, who clerked for the Chief Justice of the High Court of Ontario after being called to the bar, has worked on roughly 150 appeals to the Ontario Court of Appeal.
Our guide: Litigation and Dispute Resolution in Toronto
The estate and trust group takes on will challenges and questions of interpretation, and it works with executors and estate trustees to shield them from liability.
An IP team sits inside the professional liability group and has handled industrial design, patent, trademark and copyright infringement cases, among other matters such as software misappropriation and online defamation.
The energy group has worked for clients across power generation, from nuclear and hydro to fossil fuels and renewables.
The firm set up a Police Services Group because police officers facing civil suits have concerns other professions don't. Its lawyers act for investigative bodies such as the Canadian Independent Adjusters Association, the Canadian Association of Special Investigative Units and the Council of Private Investigators.
Well before legalization on October 17, 2018, the firm was running articles and seminars for its lawyers and clients on how cannabis laws would affect insurance claims.
Dennis Molnar chairs the family law group. Couples who plan to marry or move in together can get advice on prenuptial or cohabitation contracts, and married and common-law spouses going through a separation or divorce get help with negotiation, dispute resolution and, when it's needed, litigation. Adoption and Children's Aid Society matters are part of the group's services too.
Ashley Faust and Howard Borlack chair the Landlord and Tenant Group, which takes on disputes under both the Residential Tenancies Act and the Commercial Tenancies Act. Its lawyers try negotiation and alternative dispute resolution first, and the group works with each client on a funding arrangement suited to the size and complexity of the case and that client's needs.
Wheelchair accessibleThe firm's mission is to reach the right result for a client in as little time as possible, and in 1998 its goal also included keeping expense to a minimum. That's the "Right Balance" in practice: strong results weighed against timely, cost-effective service.
Howard B. Borlack was one of four counsel listed for the respondents, the Ontario Power Authority and the Crown in right of Ontario. The court dismissed the appeal, finding that abuse of process barred the appellants' legal and equitable claims alike.
Jim Tomlinson and Garett Harper of the firm acted for the intervener Canadian Defence Lawyers. The court held that the more specific provision in the Occupiers' Liability Act prevails over the general provisions of the Consumer Protection Act.
Decisions where the firm's lawyers appeared as counsel, from public court records. Past cases don't predict future results.
Civil Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Insurance Law
Personal Injury
Employment & Labour Law
Administrative & Regulatory Law
Family Law
Bankruptcy & Insolvency
Construction Law
Intellectual Property
The head office is in Suite 2940 of the Exchange Tower at 130 King Street West. The tower is part of the First Canadian Place complex, stands 36 storeys and was finished in 1981, and it takes its name from the Toronto Stock Exchange, its highest-profile tenant. Canadian Litigation Counsel also has its address in the same building.
In Kitchener, the firm is in Suite 840 at 50 Queen Street North, the building once called Commerce House and now branded 50Q. It sits at Queen and Weber in the downtown Civic District, close to the LRT line. The London office is in Suite 1600 of One London Place at 255 Queens Avenue, a high-rise office tower completed in 1992. In Ottawa the firm works from the Sun Life Centre at 99 Bank Street, and in Barrie from 222 Mapleview Drive West.
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Class ActionsThis listing was generated by AI from public sources in October 2026. It may contain errors, and we can’t guarantee it’s accurate or complete. Before you rely on anything here, verify it on the firm’s own website. Verify licence status in the Law Society of Ontario directory ↗
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