Anthony LeoniPartner
Approachable, relentless, and hard-working, Tony has over 15 years of experience litigating tort cases, including product liability, professional negligence and major personal injury. Before joining Rice Harbut Elliott, Tony started his career as a law clerk to Justices of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench and Court of Appeal, and then spent nearly a decade as a defence lawyer, gaining a keen perspective on how defendants assess and handle claims. Tony has conducted dozens of trials, contested hearings and appeals across British Columbia, and is actively involved in litigating cases nation-wide, including in Québec, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and the Federal Court.
In his class action practice, Tony acts for plaintiffs who have been injured as a result of defective pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and consumer products, including e-cigarettes, or have been victims of financial wrongdoing and privacy breaches. In his personal injury practice, Tony has helped his clients gain justice for nearly every type of serious injury arising from medical negligence, occupier’s liability, and product liability. His medical negligence practice areas include birth injury, anesthesia errors, failure to diagnose, emergency room mistakes, medical misdiagnosis, surgical errors, hospital malpractice, cerebral palsy, and more.
Tony also has significant expertise in assisting insured persons with denied life, property, and long-term disability insurance claims.
Tony is a tenacious and effective negotiator who works hard to achieve out-of-court settlements, when possible, but he is willing to take any case to trial if the defendant has not been fair. His trial advocacy skills even the playing field between injury victims and large corporations or insurance companies.
Professional Activities
Member, Law Society of British Columbia
Member, Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia
Lecturer, Continuing Legal Education Association of British Columbia and Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia
Education
B.A., Political Science, University of Calgary (2000)
L.L.B., University of British Columbia (2003)
Place And Year Of Call
British Columbia (2005)
Saskatchewan (2022)
Publications and Speaking Engagements
– Steering Committee Member, Forum on Canadian Class Actions (Cambridge, Ontario, 2024)
– Co-Presenter, Pursuit of Justice: Unveiling the Case’s Bottom Line, Forum on Canadian Class Actions (Cambridge, Ontario, 2024)
– Panelist, BC and Ontario Class Action Trends (CBA Class Actions Section, 2023)
Accountabiliy Denied: Health Care Providers and s. 51 of the Evidence Act (The Verdict Issue 175, winter 2022)
– Course Co-Chair – “Strength in Numbers: Fundamentals and Emerging Issues in Plaintiff’s Class Actions” (TLABC, 2022)
– Class Actions 101 (Co-Presenter, TLABC, 2022)
– Panelist: Emerging Imaging and Technology for Identifying/Proving Brain Injuries (American Association for Justice, 2022)
– Charter Damages – A Powerful Tool to Redress Government Wrong (TLABC, 2021)
– Author, British Columbia Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Practice Manual, (CLE, 2019-2023)
– Inevitable – or Just Careless? Responding to the “No Negligence” Defences (TLABC, 2019)
– Costs and Consequence: Offers to Settle and Sanctions for Parties’ Conduct in Personal Injury Litigation (TLABC, 2018)
– Untangling the Web: Indivisible Injuries and Multiple Tortfeasors (TLABC, 2016)
– Bankruptcy and the Landlord Tenant Relationship (CLE-BC, 2014)
Interests
Tony lives on the North Shore with his wife and two young daughters. He enjoys snowboarding and surfing with his family.