Personal Injury

Mark has practiced in the city of Ottawa exclusively in the area of civil litigation since 1985. Through his insurance defence practice, he acts for a range of property and casualty carriers throughout Eastern Ontario. Mark also acts for a number of carriers on behalf of specialized insureds, including local municipalities, and the Ottawa Carleton Regional Police Services Board. Several of these cases, in particular involving the Police Services Board, have been high profile and sensitive in nature. As part of his civil litigation practice, Mark also acts for a range of clients involved in construction disputes in the Ottawa area. He is regularly involved with the Ottawa Construction Association, providing seminars and advice on various topics. Mark has extensive trial experience, both jury and non-jury, and has appeared regularly before Appellate Courts, including the Ontario Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. Many of his cases have been reported, the most notable being his Supreme Court of Canada decision in Herbison v. Lumberman's Mutual Casualty Co., a case involving the interpretation of "the use or operation of an automobile" for the purposes of determining insurance coverage under a motor vehicle liability policy. Mark is an outgoing promoter of ongoing legal education, both within and outside of the legal community. Among his many pursuits in this area are conducting mock trials and conducting seminars for a number of organizations, including the Carleton County Law Association, the Ottawa Construction Association and the Ontario Bar Association, as well as the University of Ottawa. Mark acted as a seminar leader for the Ontario Bar Admission Course for over five years on subjects of civil litigation and negotiation skills. He has also conducted seminars for the Advocacy Skills Course, which is carried as part of the University of Ottawa Law School's regular curriculum. Mark also organizes and leads informal seminars on a regular basis for the firm's institutional clients as well as various local adjusting firms.

Colin Dubeau is a partner at Nelligan O’Brien Payne LLP and the leader of the firm’s Insurance Practice Group. Since his call to the Bar in 1999, Colin has practised exclusively in the areas of civil litigation and advocacy. Colin has extensive experience in professional liability claims against lawyers, accountants, architects, engineers, school officials and health care practitioners. In his practice, Colin has acted for clients in a diverse range of commercial disputes, including construction claims, building deficiency claims, environmental claims, debt collection matters, shareholder disputes, and a vast array of insurance contract interpretation and dispute claims. Colin enjoys the strategic aspect of law, and the interaction with clients. He always maintains focus on the big picture, and keeps the end result in mind throughout the legal process. For reasons not exactly clear, Colin was recognized in the 2020 edition of The Best Lawyers in Canada for his work in Insurance Law. For reasons equally uncertain, Colin is a somewhat-regular speaker at a variety of CPD events, including ones put on by the CCLA and The Advocates Society. Given his exhaustive efforts at delegating as much work as possible to others in his firm, Colin enjoys getting in as much snowmobiling as he possibly can and is looking forward to a long and snowy winter.

Tracy is currently a partner at Nelligan O’Brien Payne, and Team Leader for the Litigation Practice Group. She practices in the field of civil litigation with a particular emphasis on plaintiffs personal injury and insurance disputes. Prior to joining Nelligans, she practiced law in Pembroke for twenty years. She graduated from Queens university in 1992 with a B.A. and earned her LLB Summa Cum Laude as the Silver Medalist of her class in 1995 at the University of Ottawa. In 2000, she was appointed by the Law Society to sit as a Committee member on the Chief Justice of Ontario’s Advisory Committee on Professionalism and Civility. She has served as President of the Renfrew County Law Association, Deputy Judge of the Small Claims Court, member of the Editorial Board of the Litigator, as well as other boards. She is a proud mother of three boys.