Stephen M. Birman

Practice highlights

Biography

Stephen Birman is a partner at Thomson Rogers. Stephen graduated from the University of Toronto law school in 2007. Stephen joined Thomson Rogers as an Associate in 2009, where his practice has focused largely on personal injury litigation, long-term disability and class action litigation.

Stephen has successfully litigated significant and precedent setting claims at all levels of Courts in Ontario.

Stephen is relentless in pursuing claims against insurance companies on behalf of his clients all the way to a verdict when required. Recently, Stephen was successful on behalf of his client in a 5-week jury trial over long-term disability benefits in the Ontario Superior Court. This was a David v. Goliath type of dispute that ended with Stephen’s client successful on all issues and with the jury making the largest known punitive and aggravated damages awards against an insurance company in a disability claim in Canada. In another case, Stephen was the first lawyer in Ontario to obtain a maximum special award on behalf of his client at the License Appeals Tribunal in 2017.

Stephen has a long history of helping vulnerable clients pursue class action litigation as well. He spent the first 3 years of his career working with residential school survivors and helped survivors advance compensation claims under Canada’s largest class action settlement. Stephen has been involved in numerous other class actions and is currently part of the Thomson, Rogers team pursuing claims arising out of alleged nursing home negligence and business interruption losses during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as significant claims regarding a global recall of CPAP medical devices.

Stephen prides himself on his ability to help clients understand and feel informed and in control throughout the various stages of the litigation process. Stephen is a Certified Litigation Specialist as recognized by the Law Society of Ontario. Stephen has been recognized as a leading lawyer in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory and by Best Lawyers. Stephen has earned the highest peer rating of AV Preeminent® in Martindale-Hubbell® for his legal expertise, communication skills, and ethical standards.

In his free time, Stephen enjoys the company of his wife and two children and when he is not in Court you can usually find him near a tennis Court partaking in his out of Courtroom passion.

Year of Call

Education

• Bachelor of Commerce (Honours), Queen’s University, 2004
• Juris Doctorate, University of Toronto, 2007

Accreditations

• Certified Specialist (Civil Litigation)
• LEXPERT^® Ranked Lawyer
• Listed in The Best Lawyers^TM in Canada
• Martindale-Hubbell^® Ranked Lawyer, AV Preeminent^®
• Member of FAIR (Fair Association of Victims for Accident Insurance Reform)