Profile

Giovanna Asaro is a partner at Blaney McMurtry LLP. Her practice focuses on insurance litigation and insurance coverage work.

Giovanna has acted for a variety of institutions, government and otherwise, in defending claims of sexual assault/abuse, defamation, professional negligence, malicious prosecution, wrongful arrest, negligent investigation, and occupier’s liability.

Her expertise in insurance coverage matters extends to commercial general liability policies, professional liability policies, and errors and omissions policies.

Giovanna's wide client base includes public authorities and private corporations.

She has dealt with institutional sexual assault and abuse claims involving the defence of religious, educational and psychiatric institutions as well as child welfare organizations.  Giovanna defends children's aid societies with respect to claims of professional and regulatory negligence. She also acts for various municipalities and the provincial government defending such claims as defamation, malicious prosecution, wrongful arrest, negligent investigation, abuse of process, and occupiers' liability.

Giovanna's expertise in insurance coverage matters extends to commercial general liability policies, professional liability policies, and errors and omissions policies.

She has appeared before and prepared submissions for the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Divisional Court, and the Ontario Court of Appeal.

She has written and presented papers on a number of issues regarding insurance and insurance coverage law. Recent papers include "Parallel Civil and Criminal Proceedings: The Disclosure of Crown Briefs in Civil Sexual Assault Cases"; "Institutional Abuse Claims: Strategies for Effective Mediation and Resolution"; "Documentary Production: Issues of Records Destruction and Confidentiality in the Context of Sexual Abuse Litigation"; and "Equitable Compensation and Common Law Tort Damages in the Context of Sexual Abuse Cases: A Difference without a Distinction?".

Giovanna is also an instructor at the Ontario Insurance Institute, where she teaches "Fundamentals of the CGL Policy".