Biography
Joni is a partner of MD Lawyers, alongside Barbara A. MacFarlane. Joni represents people who are seriously injured through medical malpractice, falls, sports activities and motor vehicle accidents. Joni takes an agile but no-nonsense approach to litigation. She believes an injured person deserves a strong advocate who will go the full distance to obtain fair results. Every day, Joni is inspired by her clients’ approaches to their challenges. She strives to ensure they understand all aspects of their cases, lending her strength to them as they navigate the legal world.
Joni has been drawn to medical malpractice as a challenging and fulfilling area of law. The medical malpractice cases that she litigates range from surgical errors, infectious disease, birth trauma and misdiagnosis.
Practical both in her role as a litigator and in her personal life. Raises chickens, and grows fresh organic vegetables.
Bio Cont.
- Strong, determined advocate and litigator
- Twenty plus years of legal practice
- Recognized for personal injury by Best Lawyers in Canada
Experience
Twenty plus years as an advocate and litigator. Joni has represented clients who have experienced various degree of trauma, from surgical errrors, birth trauma, misdiagnosis and infectious disease. She continues to represent clients at trial and on appeal.
Education
Called to the Ontario Bar, 2001
Bachelor of Laws, The University of Western Ontario, 1999
Associations
Ontario Trial Lawyers Association
Advocates’ Society
American Association for Justice
Middlesex Law Association
Leadership in the Legal Community
Western University, Faculty of Law
Guest Presenter, Capstone Litigation Class 2020 – 2021
Ontario Trial Lawyers Association
Chair of the Medical Malpractice Section, 2014 – 2016
Committee Member, Standards of Excellence, 2014 – 2015
Conference Chair, OTLA Medical Malpractice Round Table, June 2016
Conference Co-chair, It’s All About the Medicine, OTLA Medical Malpractice Conference, February 2016
Middlesex Law Association
Mentor, Mentoring Dinner annually since 2016
Community Involvement
Joni supports mental health and wellness initiatives at St. Thomas-Elgin General Hospital Foundation and St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation. She has also supported the Children’s Health Foundation in London through a firm partnership.
Joni was a member of the Board of Directors from 2013 to 2016 and the Vice President of Parents of Technologically Dependent Children of Ontario. This organization supports children who are medically fragile or dependent on technology as a result of illness, accident or a genetic condition.
In the past, Joni was an active volunteer with the Brain Injury Association of London and Region Editorial Committee, London Lawyers Feed the Hungry, London Block Parent Program, and the Neighbourhood Watch Program.
Publications and Speaking Engagements
- “The Child Plaintiff: In Their Best Interests”, panel moderator, OTLA Virtual Fall Conference, October 2021
- “Letting Them Go: When, How & Why to Release Co-Defendants”, OTLA Virtual Fall Conference, October 2021
- “Medmal 101 for Future Plaintiff Lawyers:”, Litigation Capstone Class, Western University, Faculty of Law, January 2020 and 2021
- “Pierringer Agreements: The Windfall Question Revisited”, OTLA Spring Conference, October 2019
- “Effectively Using Surveillance Evidence at Trial: Demonstration and Commentary” The Advocates’ Society, Tricks of the Trade, January 2019
- “Simplifying the Complicated Medical Negligence Trial: A behind the scenes review of the behind the scenes work” (Co-writer), The Litigator, September 2018
- “Efficient Legal Argument at Trial” Middlesex Law Association Personal Injury Conference November 2017
- “Perfecting the Causation Analysis”, OTLA Medical Malpractice Round Table, June 2016
- “Medmal 101: Understanding the Medical Negligence Case”, The Litigator, June 2016
- “A-typical Presentation of Myocardial Infarction: aka – I think I’m having a heart attack!”, It’s All About the Medicine, OTLA Medical Malpractice Conference, February 2016
- “Damages Panel”, The Ninth Annual Personal Injury Conference, Middlesex Law Association, December 2015
- “Salt in the Wound – Proving the Retrospective Hypothetical”, OTLA Medical Malpractice Roundtable, July 2014
- “Brave New World – Perfecting the Causation Analysis”, Canadian Bar Association New Brunswick, Tricks of the Trade, October 2013
- “Special Circumstances: Understanding its Applications and Limits”, OTLA Medical Malpractice Conference, April 2013
- “Summary Judgment: Where are we Now?”, Middlesex Law Association, December 2012
- “You Can’t Be a Little Bit Pregnant: How the Paisley Snail Saved Ontario’s Mothers-to-Be from Cross Border Shopping for Care”, The Paisley Snail International Conference, Scotland, May 2012
- “Lauden v. Roberts and Bedard v. Amin: Implications for Mary Carter and Pierringer Agreements”, The Fifth Annual Straight from the Bench Litigation Conference, Middlesex Law Association, April 22, 2010 (also presented at OTLA Spring Conference, May 2010)
- “Assessing Claims in Colon or Rectal Cancer Cases: Could it, Should it, Would it be Prevented”, The Litigator, June 2009
- “Dazed and Confused: Use and admissibility of medical records at trial”, OTLA Medical Malpractice Round Table, January 2008
- “Developing Your Bad Faith Claim in Accident Benefits Litigation”, OTLA Fall Conference, October 2008
- “Update of Medical Negligence Law: New and Not so New Developments over the Past Six Months”, OTLA Guide to Medical Negligence Practice VI, Spring 2007