Timothy Hyde is a Canadian lawyer based in Toronto, Ontario. He practised as a partner of the Toronto law firm Weir & Foulds after being admitted to the Ontario bar in 1987, and his later career included commercial real estate law and the title insurance industry.
Background
Hyde's documented background lies in Canada's English-speaking academic and legal institutions. He completed his undergraduate and legal studies at universities in Kingston, Ontario and Halifax, Nova Scotia, before entering the legal profession in Ontario.
Admission to practise in Ontario placed him within a regulated profession. The Law Society of Upper Canada, which he joined on his admission to the bar, was founded in 1797 at Wilson's Hotel in Newark, now Niagara-on-the-Lake. Its main function has been to ensure that lawyers practising in the province are competent, follow proper procedures, and behave ethically.
Education
Hyde's undergraduate studies were at Queen's University, which was established by royal charter in 1841 with close ties to the Presbyterian Church. Its founders modelled the college on the universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, and the Presbyterian Church remained involved in its governance until 1912, when the institution took the name Queen's University at Kingston. The university bore that name when Hyde completed his Bachelor of Arts in 1981.
He later studied law at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Dalhousie was founded in 1818, and its law school opened in 1883 as Dalhousie Law School, which is described as the oldest university-based common law school in Canada. The school was renamed the Schulich School of Law in 2009, and Hyde's Bachelor of Laws was awarded in 1985 under the earlier name.
Hyde was admitted to the Ontario bar in 1987, linking his legal education to practice in Toronto.
Career
Hyde's principal documented professional position was as a partner of Weir & Foulds, a law firm founded in Toronto in 1860. Today the firm focuses on litigation, corporate, property and government law, reflecting the broad commercial and public practice that a Toronto firm of its age has built over time.
Hyde practised commercial real estate law in Toronto. In 1993 he became one of the first executives in Canada's title insurance industry, serving as chief title underwriter in Canada for one title insurer and later as president of another. Title insurance indemnifies buyers and lenders against losses arising from defects in property ownership records.
He later established Every Stick Consulting Inc., a firm that assists law firms pursuing claims under Canadian title insurance policies. He is now retired from legal practice.
Membership
Hyde became a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada upon his admission to the Ontario bar in 1987. Founded in 1797 and renamed the Law Society of Ontario in 2018, the society regulates the more than 50,000 lawyers in Ontario, setting standards for admission and governing the conduct of the profession.
