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 Paul Harte, OTLA Past President and member since 1996.
Member Profile
Name: Paul Harte
Firm: Harte Law Professional Corporation
Year called to the bar: Ontario (1994), Nunavut (2011), Alberta (2012)
Joined OTLA: 1996
We asked Paul 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?
I came to sole practice from a large defence firm. I wanted to practice in the area of medical negligence, and I needed an education that only a plaintiff organization could provide.
If you’ve been a member for more than five years, what has inspired you to renew your membership?
For a personal injury lawyer (and even more so for a medical malpractice lawyer), OTLA provides the single best value for money of any professional legal organization, bar none. But increasingly, I value the ongoing professional and personal relationships that I have formed through my continuing membership in OTLA.
Do you have a memorable OTLA moment or story you’d like to share?
In 2011, the insurance industry pressed to dramatically narrow the definition of catastrophic impairment in advance of a fall election. The change would have cut benefits for many of the most seriously injured, particularly individuals with brain injuries. In a matter of weeks, OTLA members raised more than $500,000 for a public campaign; many members took time from their busy practices to lobby MPPs and cabinet ministers; and the government ultimately agreed not to proceed without further review and consultation. This was a transformative campaign which greatly increased the profile and respect of OTLA, which continues to punch above its weight in provincial politics.
What is something you learned at an OTLA event that you still use in your practice today?
I still vividly recall watching Roger Oatley demonstrate a closing argument. What struck me was the understated passion he brought to the task. I left that session feeling empowered about what a closing could be.
Over the years, I have seen many different approaches to advocacy presented or demonstrated at OTLA events. Invariably, I find something in each presentation that I can build upon to improve my own advocacy, which has become a patchwork of styles and techniques, many of which I was first exposed to at OTLA.
Have you made any meaningful professional connections through OTLA? If so, who or in what way?
Many. Almost all my co-counsel work has developed in one way or another through my involvement with OTLA.
One of the most significant connections was with Greg Monforton and his partner Brad Robitaille. That relationship led to our joint involvement in the tobacco litigation which resulted in a $32.5 billion settlement, compensating governments and individual smokers harmed by the tobacco industry, and was one of the most professionally rewarding experiences of my career; one that simply would not have happened without the connections I made through OTLA.
More importantly, the professional connections I have made through OTLA have led to lifelong friendships which have helped sustain me in practice and in life.
How has OTLA influenced your practice or contributed to your career growth?
OTLA programs, articles in The Litigator, the Listserve and member connections have all been a foundation source of professional growth.
However, the greatest contributions flow from my active participation in the organization: serving on the Board, chairing the Medical Malpractice Section and the Standards of Excellence Committee, drafting the OTLA Code and engaging in political action work. This activity honed skills which I use every day and afforded me the opportunity to give back to the organization that has given me so much.
What advice would you give to new OTLA members or lawyers just starting out?
Take Shakespeare’s advice: “Do as adversaries do in law, strive mightily, but eat and drink as friends.” This means more than simply being collegial. Foster strong professional relationships with all counsel, no matter the positions they are advocating on behalf of their clients.
Years ago, in a hard-fought jury trial, I finished a cross-examination of an expert that went unusually well. At the break, defence counsel walked over to tell my client it was one of the better cross-examinations he had seen. His client went on to prevail, but it demonstrates that you can be generous to the people across the aisle, while still zealously advocating for your client.
What does being part of the OTLA community mean to you?
OTLA is more than a professional association. It is an organizational family, held together by a commitment to justice. We help each other without expectation of gain, advantage or recognition, because we see ourselves as working together as guardians of the justice system for some of the most vulnerable people in our society.
