ONTARIO
Founded as a construction boutique firm in 1982, Vancouver-based Singleton Urquhart amended its name and firmly established a second office in Toronto when it attracted Toronto construction luminaries Bruce Reynolds
and Sharon Vogel (who is now the Toronto-based co-Managing Partner) to its bench several years ago. The combined unit continues to gain traction and win the acclaim from clients in both markets. “Singleton is known for construction, but they also seem to be diversifying,” observes a peer. Another confirms, “They are in some of the biggest infrastructure disputes in the [Greater Toronto Area], with some local household names in the industry as clients.”
Reynolds has cultivated a celebrated reputation as counsel in the construction- and coverage-related litigation and arbitration spaces, as well as an in-demand neutral arbitrator. Reynolds represents Aviva Insurance Company of Canada in a mandate concerning the receivership of “The One” mixed-used condominium skyscraper at the intersection of Bloor and Yonge Streets in Downtown Toronto. The high-profile development, which was planned to accommodate luxury retailers, hotels, and residential units, has been bedeviled by uncertainty due to cost overruns and other variables. Reynolds was retained to provide strategic advice as well as representation in insolvency proceedings particularly with respect to navigating Aviva’s potential exposure in respect of its obligations as insurer of the deposits of persons having purchased residential units in the building. Vogel has been retained by Cherubini Metal Works to provide ongoing advice regarding Cherubini’s claim for unpaid invoices and lien claim (valued at approximately $CAD9 million) with regards to Cherubini’s fabrication, delivery and installation of three bespoke bridges for the Waterfront Toronto project. The name partners are far from the only star players in the Toronto office; two younger members of the team, Jesse Gardner and James Little, appear alongside Reynolds and/or Vogel in most of the firm’s highest-stakes mandates. “I’m actually starting to see more of each of them,” declares one Toronto peer in the infrastructure field on Gardner’s and Little’s behalf. “They learned from the best and are now running with it. They do a lot of their own business development and take active roles on these files, which has really paid off for them.”
BRITISH COLUMBIA
The team in Singleton Reynolds’ Vancouver office has, similarly to its Toronto twin, maintained an unwavering commitment to construction and surety industries. This office distinguished itself by having developed a notable depth and diversity of practice that at this point rivals or perhaps even surpasses that of its Toronto office.
The practice breadth is exemplified by David Edinger, now the Western Canada-based co-Managing Partner. Edinger is handling a case in which the plaintiff is a limited partner in an entity developing a concrete residential development in Port Moody, British Columbia. The project, which remains pre-construction, is estimated to have total land and development costs exceeding $CAD150 million. The plaintiff claims that Edinger’s clients, general partners in the project, have engaged in self-dealing, have negligently mismanaged the limited partnership's capital, failed to sell the project when they should have, failed to honor an extraordinary resolution removing them as the general partner and have caused loss and damage to the plaintiff. Robert Moore is cheered by a client as being “well versed in construction litigation” and “understanding the issues associated with our matters.” Moore and
Clive Boulton provide the defense in a matter in which the plaintiff was involved in a rear-end accident and alleged that she had suffered a concussion in the accident which resulted in significant ongoing symptoms and demanded an amount beyond policy limits. The court found that the plaintiff did not in fact suffer a concussion and that her symptoms were largely an aggravation of pre-existing psychological conditions, and awarded damages well within policy limits.
Stephen Berezowskyj continues to enjoy a reputation buoyed by peer and client commendations. One client addresses Berezowskyj as a “solution-focused lawyer [who] doesn't litigate just for the sake of litigation and [is] always looking for ways to efficiently resolve matters.”
