Background
Gabrielle Kramer is a partner in the Toronto office of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. Gabrielle was admitted to the Ontario Bar in 1992. She received her doctor of jurisprudence from the University of Toronto Law School in 1990.
Prior to attending law school, she obtained an Honours Bachelor of Arts Degree in literature and philosophy from the University of Toronto. Gabrielle is able to work in French.
Areas of Practice
· Litigation - Public law practice focusing on issues related to the environment, regulatory defence, municipal law, expropriations law and real estate.
Professional Experience
· Counsel before all of the courts in Ontario and the Supreme Court of Canada. Gabrielle has extensive appellate experience.
· Counsel to variety of private and public sector clients before the Environmental Appeal Board, Environmental Review Tribunal, Ontario Municipal Board, Joint Board, Boards of Inquiry and Negotiation.
· Prosecute and defend varied environmental litigation for industries and private individuals; defence of environmental offences; conduct of discoveries, pre-trials, trials, arbitrations, appeals, mediations and negotiations.
· Insurance Coverage services, including legal opinions, litigation and document management services to leading insurers respecting environmental insurance issues; Counsel to American Defence Committee in Exxon litigation involving refineries and service stations across the United States and Canada.
· Draft environmental insurance policies for a number of leading insurers.
· Defend professional liability claims for real estate professionals, including environmental consultants, environmental contractors, appraisers, listing agents and brokers.
· Advise on environmental aspects of corporate, commercial and real estate transactions, including the conduct of extensive environmental due diligence in connection with Canada-wide acquisitions and financing transactions.
· Extensive experience in defending and challenging the exercise of public administrative authority.
· Projects include: Toyota Development in Woodstock, Region of Halton/CN Intermodal Terminal, York Region Rapid transit, TTC Sheppard Subway Extension, Yonge/Dundas regeneration, Windsor Casino, Chrysler Canada Headquarters, road extensions and widenings, intersection installations, landfill sites, reservoir sites, sewage treatment.
Selected Professional and Community Activities
· Speaker:
- "New Rules for Brownfields Development in Ontario: Dispelling Myths about Finance and Insurance" (Canadian Brownfields Conference, October 3-4, 2011, Toronto)
- "Pending Changes to Ontario Environmental Regulations Guidance Documents" (Presentation to Lombard Canada March 22, 2011)
- "Damages for Environmental Losses: The Challenges and the Risks" (February 4, 2011 OBA Institute, Insurance Law Section, Session titled Property Claims: A Primer")
- New Rules for Brownfield Development in Ontario ; Class Actions: Inco and its Aftermath (September 30, 2010, BLG Client Seminar)
- Occupational Health and Safety: Stricter Standards for Employees (November 2008, Client Seminar, Toronto )
- The Implications of Managing Risk Arising from Climate Change (June 2008, Toronto Client Seminar)
- Climate Change and the New Air Emissions Standards (November 29, 2007, Kitchener, Waterloo, (Client Seminar)
- Climate Change Litigation: An Overview (September 6, 2007)
- Insight Seminar, " Hazardous Building Forum ", Toronto, May 2004.
- Insight Seminar, " Water and Wastewater Management Strategies Forum, Liability Issues and Strategies for Managing Exposure to Risk ", Halifax, July 16, 2003.
· Author:
- "Environmental Class Actions" Chapter for Toxic Real Estate Manual, Rick Coburn general author, Canada Law Book (Fall, 2011)
- "Ontario Court of Appeal Reinvigorates Absolute Pollution Exclusion" (BLG Canadian Insurance Law Newsletter, Fall 2011)
- "Pollution Exclusion Clauses Update: Two Recent Decisions" (BLG Canadian Insurance Law Newsletter, Spring 2011)
- Smith v Inco : Polluter Must Pay Landowners $36M (August 27, 2010, Lawyers Weekly)
- Smith v Inco : Environmental Class Action First (July 2010, BLG Alert)
- "Foreseeability Cannot Be Viewed Through a Retrospective Lens" (Winter, 2010 Environmental Law News)
- "Dirty Dirt: Measuring Damages for Toxic Torts", Canadian Insurance Business Magazine (January 2010).
- "Nafta Creates New Scope for Environmental Claims", Mondaq (August 17, 2001).
· Co-author:
- " Ontario MOE Overhauls Key Brownfields Regulation", EnviroMation ( Toronto : CCH Canadian Ltd., February 2010).
- " The Resurgence of Civil Remedies in the Practice of Environmental Law ", Law Society of Upper Canada (December 11, 1996).
- Contributor:
- New Law of Expropriation. This text is relied on by lawyers, appraisers and government authorities in assessing expropriations claims.
- Director, Second Vice-President and Newsletter Editor: Ontario Expropriation Association
· Member:
- Environmental Law and Municipal Law Sections (CBAO); Ontario Expropriation Association; Metropolitan Lawyers Association; Advocates Society.