35 Years, 35 Voices highlights the members who have contributed to the Ontario Trial Lawyers Associations (OTLA) growth, strengthened access to justice and supported a collaborative plaintiff-side community across Ontario over the past 35 years.
Meet Dale Orlando, OTLA Past President and member since 1994.
Member Profile
Name: Dale Orlando
Firm: McLeish Orlando
Year called to the bar: 1996
Joined OTLA: 1994 as an articling student
We asked Dale to reflect on his time with OTLA, the role the association has played in his career and what being part of the OTLA community means to him.
What motivated you to join?
When I started as an articling student at McLeish Orlando in 1994, John McLeish was the President of OTLA and many of the OTLA Board meetings were held in the boardroom at our office at the time. This was as a time that Board members could vote by proxy and I often attended the meetings with McLeish to cast a handful of proxy votes. Needless to say, becoming a member was an absolute must and I’m grateful that it was.
If you’ve been a member for more than five years, what has inspired you to renew your membership?
Over my 30 years as an OTLA member, I’ve continued to benefit from the education programs, member support/mentoring and political action, not to mention the great friendships that I’ve forged along the way.
Do you have a memorable OTLA moment or story you’d like to share?
Some of the best memories have come from the social aspects of OTLA. This includes planning conferences and attending long-range planning retreats during my time on the Board with people that I still consider part of my close friend group, including Pat Brown, Adam Wagman, Charles Gluckstein and Jim Vigmond, to name a few.
What is something you learned at an OTLA event that you still use in your practice today?
Almost every aspect of my practice has been built on the education I received attending OTLA conferences from trial advocacy to understanding substantive law to managing the business of a personal injury practice.
Have you made any meaningful professional connections through OTLA? If so, who or in what way?
OTLA conferences are a great place to meet a host of experts. The engineers, accountants and community rehabilitation professionals that I retain on my clients’ behalf are mainly people that I’ve gotten to know via the exhibitor hall.
How has OTLA influenced your practice or contributed to your career growth?
When I was a new lawyer, I would take every opportunity to listen to the senior members that were the leaders of the plaintiff bar at the time. I learned a lot from the formal lectures but even more from listening in on the informal conversations about marketing strategies, defence lawyer tactics, defence experts, client management strategies and more.
What advice would you give to new OTLA members or lawyers just starting out?
Get involved, volunteer and make the most of it.
What does being part of the OTLA community mean to you?
OTLA is one of the pillars of any success I’ve had as a lawyer and I’m grateful to the mentors that I’ve had along the way.
