SBA
Automatically compiled listing. Details may contain errors.27 lawyers · Established 2018 · City of Toronto, Waterloo Region, Middlesex County (London)
One of 2,311 law firms listed in Toronto, and one of 89 handling Insurance Law.
About SBA
SBA Lawyers LLP offers full-service insurance defence and risk management work. In complex coverage matters it has acted for insurers and for corporate policyholders alike. The firm opened on January 8, 2018, created by a partnership with a female majority that chose to leave old habits of hierarchy and tradition behind.
Most of SBA's lawyers and partners are women, as is its managing partner, and its lawyers are certified in diversity training.
Its defence work runs from litigation and advisory files to subrogation, fraud investigations, and loss transfer and priority disputes, and its lawyers have written many blog posts and articles. With offices in Toronto, Kitchener/Waterloo and London, SBA serves clients across the GTA and Southwestern Ontario.
Lisa Armstrong is SBA's managing partner and also leads its Dispute Resolution Group. Mediations with the group can take place in person or online, and its arbitration and umpire services are open for booking.
History
SBA started out in 2018 as Strigberger Brown Armstrong LLP, and Fiona Brown is the B in the name. That January the firm had 14 lawyers working toward one mission: practical, timely and efficient legal services.
The public launch came on March 8, 2018, International Women's Day, with a party in Toronto's Distillery District held together with Shelter Movers, the firm's partnership charity.
Practice areas
Auto claims and accident benefits
For auto insurers, SBA takes on bodily injury, property damage and accident benefits files. It has acted for insurers and the people they cover on motions and at jury and non-jury trials in the Superior Court, and it has Court of Appeal experience too. Some of its lawyers handle complex and catastrophic SABS files, and the firm has represented insurers at the LAT and on judicial review.
Loss transfer and priority disputes
When insurers disagree over priority or loss transfer, SBA steps in, and its lawyers have argued many of them before arbitrators and on appeal. SBA also advises insurers at the start of a claim, aiming to improve what they recover through loss transfer or priority and to cut their exposure.
Coverage disputes and appraisals
Beyond writing coverage opinions, the firm works on insurance appraisals and takes coverage disputes to court.
Special investigations
Kathleen O'Hara runs SBA's SIU team. The team works with insurers and outside experts on examinations under oath, gathers and preserves key evidence, and defends or starts court proceedings as a file requires.
Human rights applications
SBA defends applications at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, including discrimination claims brought against condominium corporations, their directors and property managers. Part of that practice is using the HRTO's summary hearing process to seek the dismissal of frivolous applications.
WSIB and the right to sue
The firm has brought several applications to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal asking whether a plaintiff's lawsuit is barred by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act. Insurers also retain its lawyers to decide whether a claimant can choose accident benefits when WSIB coverage applies as well.
Professional liability
SBA defends negligence and breach of contract claims against professionals, among them chiropractors, massage therapists, engineers and architects.
Good to know
Woman-ownedHow SBA works
SBA is set up to keep its files out of the kind of claims mill that keeps insurance defence work moving without adding much value. Its senior, intermediate and junior lawyers carry smaller file loads, the firm doesn't overcommit them, and it encourages them to put quality of service ahead of hours billed. The goal is focused, collaborative work on a client's pressing or high-stakes insurance matters.
SBA's practice is to write in plain English rather than legalese. Every opinion and substantive report comes with a Case Summary cover page, so a client can see at the outset what the case is about.
Reported cases
-
Stegenga v. Economical Mutual Insurance Company, 2019 ONCA 615
The Court of Appeal held that s. 280 of the Insurance Act applied to a claim alleging bad faith in the handling of statutory accident benefits, so it couldn't go ahead as a court action, and dismissed the appeal. Lisa Armstrong and Julianne Brimfield, with Mark A. Gelowitz, acted for the respondent insurer, Economical Mutual Insurance Company.
-
Travelers Insurance Company of Canada v. CAA Insurance Company, 2020 ONCA 382
The case involved a claimant catastrophically injured in Nunavut. The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal and declared that Travelers wasn't liable under s. 268 of the Ontario Insurance Act to reimburse CAA for the benefits CAA had paid. Daniel Strigberger and Julianne Brimfield acted for the appellant, Travelers.
Decisions where the firm's lawyers appeared as counsel, from public court records. Past cases don't predict future results.
Milestones & recognition
- Laura Emmett has been a bencher of the Law Society of Ontario since 2023.
- Lisa Armstrong received the Philippa G. Samworth Award for Advancement of Women in the Legal Profession in 2020.
- Two of the firm's lawyers have published insurance law texts.
In the community
- A raffle held at the firm's 2018 launch party raised enough to pay for six more moves by Shelter Movers.
- SBA lawyers have helped build Shelter Movers in Waterloo: one was a founding member of its Waterloo chapter (2018 to 2020), and another sat on that chapter's steering committee from 2020 to 2022.
- Founding partner Caroline Meyer Riley, who had joined the scholarship committee of the Caribbean Canadian Association of Waterloo Region (CCAWR), died in July 2023. SBA honoured that memory by creating the Caroline Meyer Riley Memorial Scholarship with the CCAWR, a non-profit founded in 1975 that advocates for the Caribbean community in the Region of Waterloo.
Affiliations & connections
- Shelter Movers: SBA's work with Shelter Movers, a volunteer organization helping women and children move out of violent and abusive homes, is part of the firm's belief in equality.
- Canadian Defence Lawyers: SBA lawyers belong to Canadian Defence Lawyers, and one served as the organization's president from 2018 to 2019.
- Pro Bono Ontario: Two SBA lawyers volunteer with Pro Bono Ontario, one giving legal advice since 2016 and one acting as Small Claims Court duty counsel.
- Western Law, Western University: A lawyer at SBA has been an adjunct professor at Western Law since 2018.
- Lincoln Alexander School of Law: A lawyer at SBA has taught in the Civil Procedure Practicum at Toronto Metropolitan University's Lincoln Alexander School of Law since 2023.
Lawyers 27
Allison Pressé
Lawyer
Ankita Abraham
Lawyer
Avani Joshi
Lawyer
Chris McCormack
Lawyer
Christina El-Azzi
Lawyer
Emily Rasic
Lawyer
Ethan Edwards
Lawyer
Fiona Brown
Lawyer
Gabrielle Nigro
Lawyer
Gregory Brimblecombe
Lawyer
Harnam Singh Pannu
Lawyer
Julianne Brimfield
Lawyer
Kathleen O'Hara
Lawyer
Krista Groen
Lawyer
Laura Emmett
Lawyer
Liam Swain
Lawyer
Lisa Armstrong
Lawyer
Lisa Code
Lawyer
Mai Nguyen
Lawyer
Michelle Panagiotakos
Lawyer
Morgan Cross
Lawyer
Rory Love
Lawyer
Ryland MacDonald
Lawyer
Shalini Thomas
Lawyer
Offices 3
The neighbourhood
SBA's London office is on the sixth floor of Tower B at 380 Wellington Street, in London City Centre, a Class A office and retail complex in the heart of downtown London with addresses on both Wellington Street and Dundas Street. London City Hall, Victoria Park, the London Public Library's Central Branch and the Ontario Court of Justice are all within walking distance, London Transit bus stops are steps away, and the VIA Rail station is two blocks off.
In Toronto the firm works from suite 801 at 480 University Avenue, and its Kitchener/Waterloo office is at 128 McBrine Place in Kitchener.
Frequently asked questions
- What does a half-day mediation with SBA's Dispute Resolution Group cost?
- A half-day mediation is $1499 plus HST for two parties, with $650 added for each additional party. (Fees as of October 2026.)
- Can SBA act as umpire in an appraisal under section 128 of the Insurance Act?
- SBA offers umpire services for appraisals, the process section 128 of the Insurance Act requires for quantum disputes between insureds and insurers. Greg Brimblecombe, who handles that work, has more than 30 years in practice and has also worked as an insurance adjuster.
- Can a French-speaking insured work with an SBA lawyer in French?
- Yes. Mai Nguyen works comfortably in English and French and frequently acts for insureds who speak French, and Christina El-Azzi is happy to serve clients in French as well as English.
- Do articling students at SBA work on Licence Appeal Tribunal files?
- SBA has its articling students draft arbitration responses and help at arbitrations before the Licence Appeal Tribunal. Each student is also formally paired with one senior and one junior lawyer, who meet with the student throughout the articling term to guide and assess the experience.
- Can SBA help an Ontario insurer when its insured has a claim in the U.S.?
- SBA works with Ontario insurers whose insureds run into trouble elsewhere in Canada or in the U.S., and companies based outside Ontario call it when a claim touches Ontario. When it makes sense, the firm teams up with lawyers and adjusters in places such as New York, Florida, Michigan and Quebec to get fast answers on another jurisdiction's law.
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Personal InjuryInsurance LawThis 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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