LSO-certified specialist in civil litigation
Best Lawyers-recognized lawyer since 2020 in insurance law, medical negligence, and personal injury litigation
Lexpert-ranked lawyer in the category of Consistently Recommended Lawyers in Personal Injury Law, 2023–2024
Accolades
Media
Trials, tenacity, and trust: leading with grit and purpose
Edward (Ted) Bergeron was practising insurance defence litigation in downtown Toronto, and, while it wasn’t terribly rewarding, he liked the work. But it wasn’t long before he was pulled back to his roots in Eastern Ontario.
“I needed to get out of the city before I spent myself into my salary,” Bergeron recalls. “It wasn’t actually inspiration; it was geography and the need to breathe.”
That decision in 1995 would chart the course of his legal career. Cajoled by former Queen’s Law classmate Justice John McCarthy to move north to Midland, Bergeron initially sought out more of the same type of insurance defence work he’d been doing. But the insurance industry had no appetite for lawyers who walked both sides of the street.
Spotlight
Bergeron Clifford LLP is a leading regional personal injury law firm in Eastern Ontario. Ted Bergeron and Chris Clifford co-founded the firm in 1999. Today, they are a team of seasoned trial lawyers with a proven track record. Many cases settle out of court, but some cases need to be taken to trial. Bergeron | Clifford prepares every case for trial so that their clients have the best options – in court and out of court. Bergeron Clifford LLP has been consistently ranked as a Top 10 Injury Law Firm in Ontario by Canadian Lawyer magazine. They work with a variety of injuries and are highly experienced with cases marked by catastrophic injury, including brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, amputation, disfigurement, chronic pain, birth injuries, and psychological injuries. If you or a loved one has suffered an injury, contact them at 866-384-5886. With office locations across Eastern Ontario, they are prepared to work wherever is most convenient for you.
Company Profile
1999
YEAR FOUNDED
40+
Number of Employees
5
Office Locations
10
Number of Lawyers
Bio
Spotlight
Milestones
Media
Accolades
Company Profile
Years in the
Industry
32
Based in
Kingston, ON
Quote
“There’s nothing that brings me greater joy in my professional life than watching young lawyers outshine me after moving from second chair to first chair at counsel table”
Edward “Ted” Bergeron
Founding partner, Bergeron Clifford LLP
Edward Bergeron shares how a career pivot led to building one of Ontario’s top personal injury firms – driven by courtroom courage, client loyalty, and a deep commitment to serving underrepresented communities across Eastern Ontario
Read on
“We’re rebuilding lives by giving people the tools, the finances, the resources that they needed to get back up on their feet after a significant injury”
Ted Bergeron,
Bergeron Clifford LLP
Share
Media
Karen Adams
President and CEO at Fundserv
Before becoming CEO of Fundserv, Karen Adams held a variety of leadership roles around the world – and she learned that listening and understanding are key to both providing service and developing talent
Read on
Share
Share
Media
Karen Adams
President and CEO at Fundserv
Before becoming CEO of Fundserv, Karen Adams held a variety of leadership roles around the world – and she learned that listening and understanding are key to both providing service and developing talent
Read on
IN Partnership with
In Partnership with
In Partnership with
Defining moments and difficult cases
Published July 7, 2025
Find out more
Find out more
Subscribe
InHouse
Resources
Events
Rankings
Practice Areas
News
Copyright © 2025 KM Business Information Canada Ltd.
Advertise
About us
Contact us
Privacy
Terms of Use
Submit your move
Canadian Lawyer subscription
Canadian Lawyer InHouse subscription
Newsletter
Digital editions
Authors
External contributors
Editorial board
RSS
Law Times
Canadian Law List
Lexpert® Rising Stars
Canadian Law Awards
Kingston, Ottawa, Carleton Place, Perth, and Pembroke
– Ted Bergeron
News
Practice Areas
Rankings
Events
Inhouse
Resources
Subscribe
Copyright © 2025 KM Business Information Canada Ltd.
Advertise
About us
Contact us
Privacy
Terms of Use
Submit your move
Canadian Lawyer subscription
Canadian Lawyer InHouse subscription
Newsletter
Digital editions
Authors
External contributors
Editorial board
RSS
News
Practice Areas
Rankings
Events
Inhouse
Resources
Subscribe
Copyright © 2025 KM Business Information Canada Ltd.
Advertise
About us
Contact us
Privacy
Terms of Use
Submit your move
Canadian Lawyer subscription
Canadian Lawyer InHouse subscription
Newsletter
Digital editions
Authors
External contributors
Editorial board
RSS
2024
1999
1995
1993
1991
Bergeron Clifford’s 25th year
2024
Partnered with Chris Clifford
1999
Moved from insurance defence litigation to personal injury law in Kingston
1995
Called to the bar
1993
Began as an insurance defence lawyer in Toronto
1991
Milestones
“When we tell an insurer we’re all in, it means we’re all in. Unless there’s some compelling reason to capitulate, we see it through to the end”
Ted Bergeron,
Bergeron Clifford LLP
Pivoting to plaintiff work, Bergeron felt the difference in impact immediately: it “didn’t take too many thank yous from mothers, fathers, families” to realize he’d made the right decision.
Eventually, it was his own family ties that brought him to Kingston. Commuting to visit his mother every other weekend, Bergeron began picking up files in the city. Referrals followed and, as the caseload built, he realized he needed to join forces with a Kingston-based lawyer. And that’s how he first met Chris Clifford, who would become co-founder of Bergeron Clifford LLP.
Calling his now partner “Kingston royalty” with the distinction of bring the first goalie in the Ontario Hockey League to score a goal, Clifford was born and raised in the city and had been a standout on the Kingston Frontenacs. That initial meeting was serendipitous. Clifford had been let go from a large full-service firm in Kingston weeks before, and, with a young family at home, “he needed a job and I needed him,” Bergeron says simply.
“It didn’t take any more than 30 seconds for him and me to realize we were a match. He opened our Kingston office, I eventually moved to the city as well, and there’s been no looking back.”
Bergeron and Clifford built their firm with a clear focus: doing high-quality legal work and maintaining trust with the people they represent. With strong trial experience and a practical, client-first approach, they’ve developed a reputation across Eastern Ontario for being thorough, reliable, and prepared. Their practice has grown steadily as a result, through consistent, credible advocacy.
The firm is defined by “trial readiness and client care,” earning recognition as one of Ontario’s top personal injury law firms repeatedly over the last two and a half decades. But at the beginning, as newcomers to the community, the fledgling firm had to pay their dues by taking on undesirable or not terribly profitable cases.
“When we tell an insurer we’re all in, it means we’re all in,” Bergeron stresses. “Unless there’s some compelling reason to capitulate, we see it through to the end.”
Those first cases helped establish the firm’s unwavering commitment to advocacy, even when the odds – or finances – weren’t in their favour. The early days also laid the groundwork for the metric the firm passes on to its young lawyers: a client must present a case that’s profitable or that cries out for justice, or they’re moved by the client. If a case hits one or more of those points, the firm will take it on.
A voice and a force for the underserved
Geography continues to shape Bergeron’s vision for leadership with a firm-wide commitment to “go where people need us.” Illustrating this willingness is the fact that the lawyers are called in Nunavut but, overall, their preferred focus is closer to home. Barry’s Bay and Foymount, for example, are places in Eastern Ontario where it’s a long way to the next town.
“Those people can feel under-serviced, marginalized,” Bergeron explains, noting his firm’s footprint extends from Deep River, up the Ottawa River, all the way down to L’Orignal on the other side of Ottawa, south to Cornwall at the Quebec border, back along the seaway to Cobourg and Port Hope, and up through Peterborough.
“That’s our bailiwick; that’s our sweet spot. I don’t know who the leading neuro-ophthalmologist is in Oakville, but I do in Kingston. I do in Ottawa. I can tell you who you need to go to in Pembroke. We know the courts too, and we know because we live here; we occupy this area. And if you think about what injured people need, it’s accessibility to these services and their lawyer.”
While innovation is a buzz word – and, make no mistake, Bergeron Clifford is embracing all that the newest technology has to offer – it’s not about reinventing everything under the sun. Sticking with the time-honoured values of bringing first-rate, professional litigation skills and injury law advice to the people who need it most is bedrock for the firm, and how Bergeron defines leadership.
“We’re rebuilding lives by giving people the tools, the finances, the resources that they needed to get back up on their feet after a significant injury,” he says.
A forward-thinking, lasting legacy
Viewing Bergeron Clifford as something of an incubator for new lawyers eager to make their mark on the industry, Bergeron sees investing in tech-literate talent as key moving forward.
These smart young people will inherit the firm and marshal the next generation of clients through to justice, and Bergeron is thrilled to have them beside him every step of the way.
“If you’re a first chair at a trial, make sure your second chair knows how to run the software,” he jokes.
One of those up-and-comers is his partner’s son, Kanon Clifford. From a youngster watching Bob the Builder, Bergeron had a front-row seat
to Kanon climbing the ranks. He now sits among the leaders in courtroom and trial technology in the province, if not the country, speaking at events in the United States as well.
The fluency of lawyers like Kanon Clifford helps the firm keep pace – “They know what’s coming; they know about the perils, pitfalls, and benefits of AI, for example, and share that information with us,” Bergeron notes – and watching the junior lawyers and second chairs move up the ranks to lead trials of their own is “a tremendous thrill.”
Bergeron points to three young partners – Warren WhiteKnight, Gavin Cosgrove, and Joe Dart – as leading the growing team of emerging talent.
“We’ve got a stable of young lawyers, any of whom I’d be proud to see at the front of courtroom on any case and be confident in the outcome,” he says.
The firm’s legacy is well positioned for the future. People in far-flung regions, like Madoc, Tweed, and Marmora, have access to litigation counsel who are on par with lawyers anywhere in the province. That underscores the firm’s founding mission: ensuring high-quality legal access in underserved communities. And when he looks back at his life’s work so far, it’s what Bergeron is most proud of.
“We did that,” he says. “Chris Clifford and I did that.”
1991
1993
1995
1999
2024
Began as an insurance defence lawyer in Toronto
1991
Called to the bar
1993
Moved from insurance defence litigation to personal injury law in Kingston
1995
Partnered with Chris Clifford
1999
Bergeron Clifford’s 25th year
2024
Milestones
1991
1993
1995
1999
2024
Began as an insurance defence lawyer in Toronto
1991
Called to the bar
1993
Moved from insurance defence litigation to personal injury law in Kingston
1995
Partnered with Chris Clifford
1999
Bergeron Clifford’s 25th year
2024
Milestones
Named one of Canadian Lawyer’s Top 10 Personal Injury Boutique Law
Firms for 7 consecutive years
“It didn’t take any more than 30 seconds for him and me to realize we were a match. He opened our Kingston office, I eventually moved to the city as well, and there’s been no looking back.”
Pivoting to plaintiff work, Bergeron felt the difference in impact immediately: it “didn’t take too many thank yous from mothers, fathers, families” to realize he’d made the right decision.
Eventually, it was his own family ties that brought him to Kingston. Commuting to visit his mother every other weekend, Bergeron began picking up files in the city. Referrals followed and, as the caseload built, he realized he needed to join forces with a Kingston-based lawyer. And that’s how he first met Chris Clifford, who would become co-founder of Bergeron Clifford LLP.
Calling his now partner “Kingston royalty” with the distinction of bring the first goalie in the Ontario Hockey League to score a goal, Clifford was born and raised in the city and had been a standout on the Kingston Frontenacs. That initial meeting was serendipitous. Clifford had been let go from a large full-service firm in Kingston weeks before, and, with a young family at home, “he needed a job and I needed him,” Bergeron says simply.
“He told me I was doing meaningless, nothing law working for insurance companies because nothing I did mattered to them,” Bergeron says with a laugh. “And you know, he wasn’t wrong.”
Pivoting to plaintiff work, Bergeron felt the difference in impact immediately: it “didn’t take too many thank yous from mothers, fathers, families” to realize he’d made the right decision.
Eventually, it was his own family ties that brought him to Kingston. Commuting to visit his mother every other weekend, Bergeron began picking up files in the city. Referrals followed and, as the caseload built, he realized he needed to join forces with a Kingston-based lawyer. And that’s how he first met Chris Clifford, who would become co-founder of Bergeron Clifford LLP.
Calling his now partner “Kingston royalty” with the distinction of bring the first goalie in the Ontario Hockey League to score a goal, Clifford was born and raised in the city and had been a standout on the Kingston Frontenacs. That initial meeting was serendipitous. Clifford had been let go from a large full-service firm in Kingston weeks before, and, with a young family at home, “he needed a job and I needed him,” Bergeron says simply.
“It didn’t take any more than 30 seconds for him and me to realize we were a match. He opened our Kingston office, I eventually moved to the city as well, and there’s been no looking back.”
“He told me I was doing meaningless, nothing law working for insurance companies because nothing I did mattered to them,” Bergeron says with a laugh. “And you know, he wasn’t wrong.”
Pivoting to plaintiff work, Bergeron felt the difference in impact immediately: it “didn’t take too many thank yous from mothers, fathers, families” to realize he’d made the right decision.
Eventually, it was his own family ties that brought him to Kingston. Commuting to visit his mother every other weekend, Bergeron began picking up files in the city. Referrals followed and, as the caseload built, he realized he needed to join forces with a Kingston-based lawyer. And that’s how he first met Chris Clifford, who would become co-founder of Bergeron Clifford LLP.
Calling his now partner “Kingston royalty” with the distinction of bring the first goalie in the Ontario Hockey League to score a goal, Clifford was born and raised in the city and had been a standout on the Kingston Frontenacs. That initial meeting was serendipitous. Clifford had been let go from a large full-service firm in Kingston weeks before, and, with a young family at home, “he needed a job and I needed him,” Bergeron says simply.
“It didn’t take any more than 30 seconds for him and me to realize we were a match. He opened our Kingston office, I eventually moved to the city as well, and there’s been no looking back.”
Viewing Bergeron Clifford as something of an incubator for new lawyers eager to make their mark on the industry, Bergeron sees investing in tech-literate talent as key moving forward.
These smart young people will inherit the firm and marshal the next generation of clients through to justice, and Bergeron is thrilled to have them beside him every step of the way.
“If you’re a first chair at a trial, make sure your second chair knows how to run the software,” he jokes.
One of those up-and-comers is his partner’s son, Kanon Clifford. From a youngster watching Bob the Builder, Bergeron had a front-row seat
A forward-thinking, lasting legacy
Geography continues to shape Bergeron’s vision for leadership with a firm-wide commitment to “go where people need us.” Illustrating this willingness is the fact that the lawyers are called in Nunavut but, overall, their preferred focus is closer to home. Barry’s Bay and Foymount, for example, are places in Eastern Ontario where it’s a long way to the next town.
“Those people can feel under-serviced, marginalized,” Bergeron explains, noting his firm’s footprint extends from Deep River, up the Ottawa River, all the way down to L’Orignal on the other side of Ottawa, south to Cornwall at the Quebec border, back along the seaway to Cobourg and Port Hope, and up through Peterborough.
“That’s our bailiwick; that’s our sweet spot. I don’t know who the leading neuro-ophthalmologist is in Oakville, but I do in Kingston. I do in Ottawa. I can tell you who you need to go to in Pembroke. We know the courts too, and we know because we live here; we occupy this area. And if you think about what injured people need, it’s accessibility to these services and their lawyer.”
While innovation is a buzz word – and, make no mistake, Bergeron Clifford is embracing all that the newest technology has to offer – it’s not about reinventing everything under the sun. Sticking with the time-honoured values of bringing first-rate, professional litigation skills and injury law advice to the people who need it most is bedrock for the firm, and how Bergeron defines leadership.
“We’re rebuilding lives by giving people the tools, the finances, the resources that they needed to get back up on their feet after a significant injury,” he says.
A voice and a force for the underserved
“When we tell an insurer we’re all in, it means we’re all in,” Bergeron stresses. “Unless there’s some compelling reason to capitulate, we see it through to the end.”
Those first cases helped establish the firm’s unwavering commitment to advocacy, even when the odds – or finances – weren’t in their favour. The early days also laid the groundwork for the metric the firm passes on to its young lawyers: a client must present a case that’s profitable or that cries out for justice, or they’re moved by the client. If a case hits one or more of those points, the firm will take it on.
Bergeron and Clifford built their firm with a clear focus: doing high-quality legal work and maintaining trust with the people they represent. With strong trial experience and a practical, client-first approach, they’ve developed a reputation across Eastern Ontario for being thorough, reliable, and prepared. Their practice has grown steadily as a result, through consistent, credible advocacy.
The firm is defined by “trial readiness and client care,” earning recognition as one of Ontario’s top personal injury law firms repeatedly over the last two and a half decades. But at the beginning, as newcomers to the community, the fledgling firm had to pay their dues by taking on undesirable or not terribly profitable cases.
Defining moments and difficult cases
Trials, tenacity, and trust: leading with grit and purpose
Edward (Ted) Bergeron was practising insurance defence litigation in downtown Toronto, and, while it wasn’t terribly rewarding, he liked the work. But it wasn’t long before he was pulled back to his roots in Eastern Ontario.
“I needed to get out of the city before I spent myself into my salary,” Bergeron recalls. “It wasn’t actually inspiration; it was geography and the need to breathe.”
That decision in 1995 would chart the course of his legal career. Cajoled by former Queen’s Law classmate Justice John McCarthy to move north to Midland, Bergeron initially sought out more of the same type of insurance defence work he’d been doing. But the insurance industry had no appetite for lawyers who walked both sides of the street.
Published July 7, 2025
Spotlight