In 1999 Ricky Martin was Livin La Vida Loca. Santana was at the top of the charts with Smooth and Sixpence None the Richer invited lovers to Kiss Me beneath the Milky Twilight. The Sopranos debuted on HBO and Family Guy aired on Fox. Nunavut also made its big debut. 

Closer to home, Bergeron Clifford Injury Lawyers was born. 

Like most of life’s greatest moments, it was unexpected. 

Chris Clifford was a first-year associate at a leading Kingston litigation firm. That firm was embroiled in turmoil. A large group of lawyers left with little notice leaving the firm in a predicament; downsize or drown in overhead. New associates including Chris Clifford were given notice of impending dismissal.  

1999 was a year of new beginnings for Ted Bergeron as well. His Midland, Ontario law firm was down a partner. The firm’s Muskoka partner, the late Eric Swan was departing for Oakville due to family pressures. Like the true gentleman Eric was, he did not leave the firm in a bind. He met with Ted Bergeron and identified the opportunity to recruit Chris Clifford to come and work in the firm’s Huntsville office. 

It didn’t take long for Bergeron to realize that Clifford was not a garden-variety young lawyer. He was the Chris Clifford who played for the Kingston Canadians and was the first OHL goalie to score a goal (January 7, 1986).  

He was also the son of Tom Clifford, a well-loved, long-time vice-principal at Holy Cross, a Kingston Catholic high school. In short, Clifford was woven tightly into the rich tapestry of the Kingston community. He had no business being tucked away in Huntsville. 

The firm left the Muskoka spot open and instead moved Chris into its Kingston office, marking the beginning of Bergeron Clifford. 

The Midland firm is long gone. A senior partner retired. Another was appointed to become a judge. Through the retirements and celebration of judgeships, the sign on the door in Kingston has remained the same: Bergeron Clifford Injury Lawyers. 

From his first day in the Bergeron Clifford office in 1999, then located in the Lasalle Mews, Chris Clifford has been a guiding force. From its office space on Brock Street, rented from former Kingston mayor George Speal, to the Lasalle Mews, then 1000 Gardiners Road and now in its own premises at 1 Hyperion Court, Clifford has been instrumental in crafting the shape of one of Eastern Ontario’s leading injury law firms. For twenty-five years, Bergeron Clifford Injury Lawyers has lived and worked with a simple motto: Justice with dignity and tenacity. 

There’s no justice without dignity. Everyone, on both sides of an injury claim, has the right to enter and exit the system with dignity. It’s our goal. Every time. Just and fair compensation is meaningless without it. 

Just and fair compensation is no accident. There’s no justice without the same tenacity that took Clifford from a bull’s-eye wrist shot the length of the ice on January 7, 1986, to a career that included ice-time with the Chicago Blackhawks. It’s that tenacity that has kept Bergeron Clifford at the leading edge of injury advocacy for a quarter of a century, and it’s the same tenacity that characterizes the next generation of our firm.  

But you don’t have to believe me. Just ask around. 

Ted Bergeron