Academic Qualifications:

Admitted to the Ontario Bar – 1982

LL.B., Osgoode Hall Law School – 1980

B.A. (Hon.), University of Toronto – 1977

B.Mus. Program (Hon.), University of Toronto – 1971-1973

Mary Jane is an arbitrator and mediator of commercial disputes including directors and officers, CGL, complex property, builders’ risk, R&W, EPL, life and investment products policies, crime, cyber, other major types of insurance products and professional liability insurance claims, disputes between primary and excess or concurrent insurers, lawyers professional negligence claims, product liability, insurance broker negligence, reinsurance disputes, share and asset purchase agreement disputes and other complex commercial matters. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and received advanced mediation training at Harvard.

She retired as a coverage counsel and commercial litigator on December 31, 2023 and now works exclusively as a roster arbitrator and mediator at Arbitration Place, Toronto. Widely recognized as a leader in the Canadian commercial insurance field and for her expertise in many rankings and publications including 2026 20th Edition Best Lawyers in Canada – Alternative Dispute Resolution and International Arbitration; Lexology Index: Canada 2024 Insurance and Reinsurance (Recommended); Who’s Who Legal: Canada 2024 and 2023 Canada, Insurance and Reinsurance (Recommended); The Best Lawyers in Canada, 19th edition (2022): Alternative Dispute Resolution and International Arbitration; The Best Lawyers in Canada, 2016 – 2023 : Alternative Dispute Resolution, Corporate and Commercial Litigation, Director and Officer Liability, Insurance Law, International Arbitration, Legal Malpractice Law and Product Liability Law; Who’s Who Legal: 2023 Canada, Insurance and Reinsurance (Recommended); 2024 18th Edition, The Best Lawyers in Canada, Alternative Dispute Resolution and International Arbitration; The Best Lawyers in Canada, 17th Edition, 2023 (Alternative Dispute Resolution, Corporate and Commercial Litigation, Director and Officer Liability Practice, Insurance Law, International Arbitration, Legal Malpractice Law and Product Liability Law); Who’s Who Legal WWL Canada 2022 and 2021: Insurance & Reinsurance (Highly Regarded) where she is described as a “pre-eminent practitioner”; Expert Guides, Women in Business Law 2022 – Leading Insurance and Reinsurance Practitioner; Lawyer International – Global Rankings – 2020 – D&O Liability Lawyer of the Year – Canada; and Expert Guide, The World’s Leading Practitioners in Insurance and Reinsurance, 2022.
To retain or appoint Mary Jane Stitt, please contact her directly at mjs@stittlaw.ca or 416 409 2940.