A career she can sink her teeth into

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What does it take to be a force in plaintiff-side personal injury law? It’s a balancing act, says Sonia Leith, partner at Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers.

“You’ve got to be pragmatic in your approach, but tough as nails when you need to be,” Leith says. “I work with opposing counsel the best I can, but I’m always ready to put my foot down if I need to.”

While courtroom movies depict dramatic advocacy, Leith says the best way to champion her client’s case is in the preparation.

“Our team leaves no stone unturned,” Leith says. “I look at every angle and take the time to sink my teeth into the case.”

Leith, who started at Neinstein as a summer student in 2007 and became partner in 2020, has honed her craft over the years and was recently recognized as one of the “Leading Lawyers to Watch” in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory. The title “certainly has a nice ring to it,” she laughs, and Leith attributes this recognition to practicing with strength, compassion and all-around integrity, the cornerstone of her success.

With her clients, due diligence and focused attention to their narrative, coupled with full transparency about their case over the years, builds trust in her that’s confirmed when they “hear me advance their claim and know I'm advocating strongly on their behalf,” she says.

“It’s rewarding work to be a client’s champion, and what’s built my success with them is understanding people. It’s not a cookie-cutter approach — the way you tailor a case is specific to the client and their situation.”

Leith is also unafraid to go above and beyond for a client, whether that’s working with medical experts to walk through the case step-by-step or finding bystanders to fill in gaps in a police report, and her honest and forthright dealings with opposing counsel make a meaningful difference in her clients’ claims. In one recent case where liability was at issue, Leith had an investigator track down a witness and, with opposing counsel recognizing the importance of that new evidence right away, her extra effort “changed the whole path of the case — we were able to resolve it.”

Having collegial relationships and working collaboratively goes a long way, Leith notes. “I’ve learned over the years there are a lot of ways to do this job successfully,” Leith says. “Even though it’s an adversarial process, it is best work together to agree on common ground early and then we can narrow down the real issues.”

As a skilled presenter, Leith frequently speaks at seminars and conferences and she recently lectured at Western Law, her alma mater. She hopes to take on more speaking engagements once COVID allows, especially ramping up her guest lecturing where she enjoys imparting her wisdom and experience on the next generation of lawyers. Through her role as student mentor at the firm, she encourages law students to develop their own style and find their own voice — advice that’s especially important for young women, who often face pressure to “have it all.”

As Leith illustrates, having a stellar career and a family you’re proud of aren’t mutually exclusive goals: in fact, they are often complimentary. Co-chair of the parent counsel at her children’s school, Leith says getting to know people in the community while organizing various initiatives only improves her skills as a lawyer and recently, with everyone home during the pandemic, her children have a front row seat to their mother’s professional life and Leith sees them adopting the confident, assertive tone of voice they so often overhear her using these days.

“Anybody in the profession needs to understand there’s a lot of room to have a family life and be successful,” she says. “There are many examples you can follow of people who have both.”

Seeking ways to practice that are flexible and having strong boundaries are crucial to building the life you want at work and at home, and it’s also key to surround yourself with allies. Leith has grown both professionally and personally at Neinstein, a firm that champions women and has always given her the freedom to manage her own practice.

“A lot of my success has to do with the autonomy I’ve been given to run my files with little oversight early on,” she says. “It allows me more room to be creative, take initiative and take the time I need on each case because there's always been that implicit trust.”

For all the flexibility given to its lawyers, Neinstein is a close-knit and supportive group. Leith says her colleagues, many of which are home-grown at the firm and have been working together for over a decade, are always ready to congratulate each other on a win, lend perspective after a loss or offer insight on a case.

“It’s invaluable — those great relationships allow us to do our best work,” says Leith, reiterating that, sharp skills and hard work aside, building solid connections with everyone from colleagues to clients to opposing counsel has been critical to her success thus far.

“If I had to sum it up, it’s about having integrity in the way you conduct yourself at all times,” she says. “You only get one reputation — and you have to earn that.”