An Elliot Lawyer has received an honorary degree.
The Law Society of Ontario presented the degree of Doctor of Laws, to R. Douglas Elliott, a leading expert in public law, class actions and Charter litigation.
Society treasurer Teresa Donnelly presented Elliott with his degree yesterday morning. Elliot spent most of his career fighting for minority rights, and Donnelly says he’s done it successfully.
Elliott received his B.A. from the University of Western Ontario in 1979, his LL.B. (Just say LLB) from the University of Toronto in 1982 and was called to the Bar in 1984.
He is well known for his work on landmark constitutional cases such as same-sex marriage and has been counsel in class actions involving some of the largest recoveries against the Crown in Canada.
She adds the Law Society certified him as a Specialist in Civil Litigation in 2003 and awarded him the Law Society Medal in 2010.
Elliot won two key justice trials as part of his career.
He won the largest Canadian class action trial judgment valued at $50 million in an action brought by a group of gay and lesbian Canadians seeking CPP survivor’s pensions against the federal government in Hislop v Canada.
He also played a key role in the national hepatitis C team that secured a $1.5 billion settlement from the federal and provincial governments in Parsons v. Canada.
As a partner in Cambridge LLP in Toronto, his practice encompasses a wide range of business litigation including cross-border litigation, alternative dispute resolution, estates and trusts law.
He is active both in the legal community and his local community including sitting on many committees. He’s the Vice-President of Northern Ontario Pride Network, Vice-President of Elliot Lake Pride, the vice-chair of policy for the American Bar Association – Section of International Law, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Issues Networks and chair of the Just Society Committee, Egale Canada Human Rights Trust among others.