Chris is the founding partner of Beckett Personal Injury and he leads the Insurance Defence Group. In addition, he lends his vast experience to the Plaintiff Injury Group.
Chris Beckett was born in Windsor, Ontario and raised in London where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Western Ontario. He then moved to Toronto to attend Osgoode Hall Law School, graduating in 1996. He was called to the bar in 1998, and started his first law firm, Ledroit Beckett, in 1999. Beckett Personal Injury Lawyers was established in 2013, where Chris now practices law exclusively in the area of civil litigation with an emphasis on personal injury and insurance defence lawsuits.
Over the last 20 years, Chris has represented thousands of individuals injured due to someone else’s negligence in motor vehicle accidents, slip and falls, or by medical malpractice. He not only represents injured claimants but he also acts for some of Canada’s largest insurance companies, defending insurance-related lawsuits. These experiences have provided Chris with a distinct advantage over other personal injury lawyers; as a counsel for insurance companies, he understands the complexities of insurance, which helps him make strategic and tactical decisions when representing injured people in lawsuits against insurance companies.
Due to his success in trying lawsuits, Chris has earned the reputation of being one of London’s best trial lawyers. He has also been able to settle thousands of cases either through negotiated settlements or private mediations without needing to go to the courtroom.
One of his many major successes was in Tremblay v Deelstra, when Chris obtained the highest Jury award in Ontario for pain and suffering for a person who suffered soft tissue injuries in a motor vehicle accident and got the Court of Appeal to uphold the verdict on appeal. In Vuong v. St. Joseph’s Health Care London, Chris represented a young child who suffered catastrophic brain damage during birth due to a nurse’s negligence. After a lengthy and complicated trial, Chris obtained a judgment in favour of his client. Chris was co-counsel in a class action lawsuit against VIA Rail, when a train derailment resulted in many passengers sustaining significant injuries.
Chris’ wealth of knowledge and experience as a lawyer goes beyond his work at Beckett Personal Injury. He is also a member of the Ontario Bar Association, as well as the Middlesex Law Association and The Advocates’ Society, where he has done presentations for young lawyers. Chris has also done presentations to doctors through The University of Western Ontario, the London Health Sciences Centre, and the Canadian Association of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.
Outside of the practice of law, Chris is often at London’s arenas, cheering on his daughter in figuring skating and his son in ice hockey.