John Nicholl

Profile

John Nicholl, B.C.L. 1978, LL.B. 1979 (McGill), Ad. E., is a member of the Law Society of Ontario and the Barreau du Québec. In 2025, John joined Whitelaw Twining as a Partner in the firm’s Toronto office. He continues to maintain a substantial and active practice in Montréal, where he serves his longstanding Québec-based clients.

With over 40 years of experience in insurance law, John’s practice has evolved from insurance defence litigation to a focus on coverage advice, litigation, and arbitration for insurer and reinsurer clients across Canada. In addition to his extensive defence background, he brings deep expertise in a wide range of coverage issues and disputes, including property, EBI, course-of-construction, product recall, trade credit, political risk, GL, E&O, D&O and reinsurance. John is originally from Québec and is fully bilingual, working in both English and French.

John was named Advocatus Emeritus (Ad. E.) by the Barreau du Québec in 2012. This distinction, comparable to the King’s Counsel title in Canadian common law jurisdictions, is awarded in recognition of an exceptional legal career and significant contributions to the profession.

John has consistently earned top professional ratings. He is currently ranked Band One by Chambers in Insurance – Dispute Resolution and was nominated by clients for the 2024 Thomson Reuters Stand-Out Lawyers list. For a full list of recognitions, see the Awards and Recognitions section.

John is hardly a model of work/life balance, but during the occasional “life” interlude he enjoys kayaking, sailing, hiking in new places, reading practically anything, and spoiling his granddaughter.