Dispute resolution: Ontario

Michael Barrack

Michael is one of the leading senior litigators in Canada. In recent years, he has acted on some of the most significant litigation disputes in Canada for clients in various industries. Michael has appeared at all levels of court in Canada, as well as at proceedings in the U.S. and England. Recently he was lead litigation counsel for U.K. pension claimants in successfully obtaining a landmark "modified pro rata" allocation of US$7.3-billion raised from the sale of the Nortel Networks global business units and patent portfolio.

Catherine Beagan Flood

Cathy is the co-Practice Group Leader of the Toronto Litigation group and also leads Blakes National Cybersecurity Working Group. Cathy has appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada in 18 appeals and has appeared before the courts of every province, the Federal Courts, the Competition Tribunal and other tribunals. She litigates complex commercial and regulatory cases and defends class actions with a regulatory component. In particular, she is currently defending clients in multiple privacy, antitrust, product liability and consumer protection class actions. Cathy previously served on the Blakes Executive Committee.

Sheila Block

Sheila Block is one of the most recognized litigators in Canada. The depth of her experience, the exceptional quality of her advocacy skills, and her dedication to clients’ interests make her a highly sought-after advocate across all manner of disputes.Sheila is a senior trial and appellate counsel with a broad civil litigation practice, including corporate/commercial and securities litigation, intellectual property, defamation and administrative law cases. She has appeared as counsel at all levels of court in Canada and before international arbitrations and other tribunals.Sheila is the former chair of Torys’ Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice and a former chair of Torys’ Executive Committee.

Matthew Gottlieb

Matthew practises business litigation including corporate and commercial disputes, insolvency and restructuring and fraud and securities litigation. Matt’s extensive track record of success in complex, high-stakes disputes explains why he is recognized as one of Canada’s top litigation lawyers. He has significant expertise in trials and applications, in tribunal and arbitration hearings, and regularly appears at all levels of court in Ontario and other provinces, the Federal Court of Canada and the Supreme Court of Canada. Matt has acted as counsel in many major proceedings, including those regarding Aon, the Stronach Family, Sears Canada, Mattamy Homes, Xplornet, and a number of material parties in complex insolvency proceedings. Matt is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and The International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He is a frequent instructor at many litigation related seminars held by The Law Society of Ontario, The Advocates' Society and other organizations.

Jonathan Lisus

Jonathan’s practice focuses on commercial and public law trial and appellate litigation. He has deep experience with infrastructure and P3-related litigation, class actions for plaintiffs and defendants, product liability, aboriginal land claims, oppression remedies, and securities litigation. He appears as counsel in courts and arbitral tribunals across the country and the Supreme Court of Canada. Jonathan is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He is a member of the Chief Justice of Ontario's Advisory Committee on Professionalism and a member of the Supreme Court Advocacy Institute. He is a Director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and regularly acts as Special Counsel on constitutional challenges to government actions. Jonathan has been lead counsel in many landmark decisions in the area of class actions, professional liability, public and constitutional law, and commercial litigation. He has tried over 90 cases to judgment and argued over 55 appeals in provincial appellate courts and the Supreme Court of Canada.      

Linda Plumpton

A highly accomplished advocate in commercial dispute resolution, class actions and competition and securities litigation, Linda Plumpton is known for her work in bet-the-company litigation and for her long track record defending clients in their most important disputes.Chair of the firm’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice, Linda is a recognized leading practitioner for her vast experience across competition litigation, class action defence, corporate/commercial disputes and securities litigation. Linda has appeared as counsel in the Supreme Court of Canada, in all levels of court in Ontario and in the Federal Court, as well as before the Competition Tribunal and the Ontario Securities Commission. She also advises clients in the areas of public law, constitutional law and employment.Linda is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL).

Linda Rothstein

Partner

R Paul Steep

Litigation partner based in Toronto, with a broad commercial litigation practice that focuses on securities litigation including class actions. Has appeared before all levels of the Courts of Ontario, including the Supreme Court of Canada. Acts in major commercial disputes, including contractual disputes, all forms of securities litigation, directors’ and officers’ liability cases, banking litigation, and class actions. Regularly appears before the OSC on a variety of regulatory and enforcement matters, and acts on behalf of corporations and individuals subject to OSC investigations.

Rahool Agarwal

Rahool’s practice focuses on complex commercial and civil litigation, acting for both plaintiffs and defendants. His experience includes class actions, contractual disputes, franchise litigation, shareholder disputes, proxy fights, director and officer liability, and complex fraud cases. He is frequently called upon to handle time-sensitive matters and has extensive experience bringing and defending urgent court proceedings. Rahool has also acted in a broad range of constitutional and public law matters, including cases involving the constitutionality of a safe injection site, the application of state immunity to claims of torture, and the discretion of physicians to unilaterally withdraw life support. Rahool has appeared in trial and appellate courts in Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Québec, and in six cases in the Supreme Court of Canada. Rahool is also engaged in the broader legal community. He is an active member of the South Asian Bar Association and The Advocates’ Society. He is a regular speaker at professional development programs on topics related to substantive law, legal ethics and practice, and equity, diversity and inclusion. He was previously a member of The Advocates’ Society’s 10+ Committee, the coach of the Lakehead University Wilson Moot team, and a member of the board of directors of the South Asian Legal Clinic (Ontario).

Nadia Campion

Nadia's practice focuses on complex commercial litigation including shareholder oppression applications, D&O liability, estates matters, class actions and professional liability. Nadia also has an active land development and real estate litigation practice. She has extensive trial experience and appears regularly before the Superior Court of Justice, Ontario Court of Appeal, and various regulatory and administration tribunals. She has expertise in Toronto Commercial List proceedings and in arbitration and mediation processes. With both US and Canadian law degrees, and being fluent and practising in French, Nadia is capable of dealing with any case that comes across her desk. Nadia has been recognized by Best Lawyers, The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory and Chambers Canada for Commercial Litigation. She has been recognized by Benchmark Litigation as one of their Litigation Stars, as one of Canada's Top 100 Women in Litigation, and on the 40 and Under Hot List. Nadia is an active author and speaker and regularly presents at the Law Society of Ontario, the OBA, The Advocates’ Society, the Canadian Defence Lawyers Association, the CBA, the Business Women’s Network of York Region, the International Association of Defense Counsel and l’Association des juristes d’expression française.

Matthew Fleming

Partner

Paul Fruitman

Paul’s litigation practice focuses on contract disputes, infrastructure and construction disputes, health law, employment law, shareholder disputes and product liability matters. He has extensive expertise acting for healthcare institutions and professionals in civil and regulatory proceedings, and acts as counsel to corporate directors and officers, in shareholder disputes and oppression claims. Paul has appeared at all levels of court in Ontario, the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal, and in administrative and arbitral tribunals. He regularly appears before the Toronto Commercial List. Paul has acted as counsel in many major proceedings, including the $1 billion class action against SNC Lavalin and alleged nomination fraud involving the Ontario PC Party. Recent clients include the University Health Network and Meta, among others. Paul frequently presents on litigation topics and trial advocacy, and is a frequent instructor at Osgoode's Annual Intensive Trial Advocacy program. He is a member of the OBA’s Alternative Business Structures Task Force and the CBA’s working group for Solicitor-Client Privilege Claims. His writing has appeared in the Annual Review of Civil Litigation and the Advocates’ Quarterly and he is a regular contributor to The Advocates’ Journal.

Adam Goldenberg

Adam is a litigation partner at McCarthy Tétrault. His trial and arbitration practice focuses on commercial and regulatory disputes. He has particular expertise in appeals and judicial reviews. Clients value Adam’s advice on complex business problems, his agility in handling urgent issues, and his prowess in the courtroom. He has litigated matters in the courts of Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and New Brunswick, as well as the federal courts. He has been counsel in more than 20 appeals to the Supreme Court of Canada. Adam regularly acts pro bono for individuals and public interest organizations, including in high-profile matters affecting the LGBTQ2S+ community. Adam serves on the Leadership Council of the World Justice Project, an independent, multidisciplinary organization working to advance the rule of law worldwide. Early in his career, he was a law clerk to Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin at the Supreme Court of Canada. He has taught appellate practice and procedure at the University of Toronto and lectured at law schools across Canada on constitutional and administrative law.

Moya Graham

Partner

Shaun Laubman

Shaun practises corporate commercial litigation, including shareholder and partnership disputes, fraud cases, franchise litigation, estate litigation and real estate disputes. He is an experienced trial and appellate counsel and has successfully represented clients before all levels of court in Ontario, as well as before administrative and arbitral tribunals.  Shaun also has extensive experience with fast-moving cases involving Mareva and injunctive relief. Shaun is a member of the Commercial List Users’ Committee and a former Chair of the OBA’s Civil Litigation Section. He was the valedictorian of his graduating class at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and currently serves as a chairperson for the University’s Academic Discipline tribunal. He previously clerked for the judges of the Ontario Court of Appeal and practiced at a major international law firm in New York for several years. Shaun has been ranked as a leading lawyer for commercial litigation and real estate by leading industry peer reviewed ranking directories.      

Christine Lonsdale

Partner

Sahil Shoor

Partner

Sarah Whitmore

From precedent-setting employment class actions to defamation and public law litigation, Sarah brings broad experience and skilled advocacy to her work with clients on all aspects of their disputes. Sarah maintains an active disputes practice with an emphasis on class actions, employment law, commercial litigation, public law and constitutional litigation. She has appeared as counsel at all levels of court in Ontario, in various administrative tribunals in Ontario (including the Human Rights Tribunal), the British Columbia Supreme Court, the Alberta Court of Appeal, the Québec Superior Court, the Federal Court of Canada and the Supreme Court of Canada. Sarah is counsel to the defendants in a number of leading and precedent-setting employment national class actions, including the Canadian Hockey League, Canada Cartage and Livingston International, as well as a Canadian Schedule I bank in its defence to the first common issues trial to proceed on the merits in an employment class action in Canada. Sarah also assists clients in resolving claims involving allegations of discrimination, sexual harassment and related allegations of wrongful and constructive dismissal, frequently speaking and writing on legal matters related to sexual harassment and discrimination class actions. Sarah is also frequently involved in complex contract disputes, providing representation in all avenues of dispute resolution, as well as proactive advice to mitigate disputes in commercial transactions, joint venture relationships, shareholder arrangements and significant projects. Sarah also has a robust defamation practice and is an advocate for expansive protection for free expression, regularly representing media companies, authors, and individuals in a variety of defamation matters. In particular, Sarah acts on a number of cases engaging the right of complainants to report allegations of misconduct.

Andrew Winton

Andrew Winton is a partner at Lax O’Sullivan Lisus Gottlieb LLP. He has been involved in a wide range of commercial disputes, with a focus on insolvency and restructuring, shareholder disputes and employment matters. His clients include private individuals, small businesses, and major corporations. Andrew regularly acts in various capacities for parties to insolvency and restructuring matters, including as counsel to the court-appointed Monitor or Receiver, as counsel for the directors and officers of insolvent corporations, and as counsel for other interested parties. Recent notable insolvency mandates he has been involved with include Target Canada, Bloom Lake, Urbancorp, Sears Canada, Tobacco, and the Cresford/Clover on Yonge CCAA proceedings. In addition, Andrew acts for both employers and employees in executive terminations, with a focus on the financial industry, and has significant experience in “departing employee” cases involving unfair competition and misuse of confidential information disputes. He is the co-author of the “Injunctions against Ex-Employees” module on Lexis Practice Advisor Canada. Andrew is also an author of the Canada Chapter of the Dispute Resolution Global Guide, one of the Lexology GTDT publications. Andrew served on the Section Executive of the Ontario Bar Association’s Civil Litigation Section between 2013 and 2016 and on the Section Executive of the Ontario Bar Association’s Insolvency Section from 2016 to 2017.

Sandra Barton

Partner

Sarit Batner

Successful trial and appellate practice, focused on complex commercial litigation and arbitrations. Extensive trial and appellate experience including in cases considering breach of contract, patents, shareholder disputes, taxation, oppression, professional negligence, and breaches of fiduciary duties. Appears before juries, arbitration panels, administrative and regulatory tribunals, and appellate courts of all levels, including the Supreme Court of Canada.

Bradley Berg

Brad brings a broad perspective and practical approach for our clients. He is widely recognized as one of Canada’s leading litigators with experience in courts and arbitrations across the country and appearing regularly at the Supreme Court of Canada. Brad's practice includes both complex commercial cases and precedent-setting public interest litigation. He was the practice group leader for Blakes Litigation in Toronto for 11 years (2010-21).

Andrew Bernstein

Andrew provides clients with leading experience, deep knowledge and skilled advocacy to advance their interests in patent and commercial disputes, as well as appellate matters, in all levels of court.Andrew helps clients involved in numerous types of disputes, including intellectual property, commercial and public law matters. A significant portion of his practice involves patents, copyright, trademarks arising in the life sciences, information technology, media and other industries.Andrew’s commercial litigation practice includes considerable experience in class actions, licensing, contract and tort actions, frequently advising and defending traditional and new media clients on defamation and free expression issues. He also has a strong track record in public law matters, having acted for both public- and private-sector clients in administrative hearings, judicial reviews and constitutional law cases.Andrew is an experienced appellate lawyer. He has helped numerous clients navigate difficult appeals before the Ontario and Federal Courts of Appeal, as well as other appellate courts across the country in a wide variety of areas of substantive law, including contracts, patents, copyright, class actions, administrative and constitutional law. He has also argued several appeals before the Supreme Court of Canada.

David Di Paolo

National Group Head, Disputes

Gillian Dingle

A sophisticated and business-minded litigator with deep market insight, Gillian guides clients through the legal and regulatory developments on matters ranging from securities litigation to class actions.Gillian is the practice group leader for Torys’ litigation department and co-head of the firm’s securities defence practice. Her practice focuses on securities litigation and corporate disputes.On the securities side of her practice, Gillian frequently acts for capital market participants in securities class actions, professional liability claims and regulatory investigations involving the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, the Mutual Fund Dealers’ Association and the Ontario Securities Commission. As a complement to her securities regulatory work, she advises financial institutions on investigations involving consumer protection matters.Gillian also maintains an active commercial litigation practice, representing corporations in contested transaction matters, shareholder disputes, breach of contract claims and other business torts. She has appeared as counsel in all levels of court in Ontario, the Federal Court, the Federal Court of Appeal and the Yukon Court of Appeal.

Iris Fischer

Iris’ practice includes complex commercial litigation, internal and government investigations and white-collar matters, constitutional and other public and administrative law cases, and competition and regulatory matters. Iris is a leading media & defamation lawyer, with related experience litigating privacy and access to information matters. Canadian and international media organizations frequently rely on Iris’s expertise in free expression and court openness matters, including defending libel claims, opposing publication bans and getting access to court documents. More generally, she specializes in cases in which online speech intersects with commercial, privacy or other interests. She also regularly deals with evolving laws around social media, technology, and online information. Iris represents multinational clients on government and internal investigations, including in fraud, anti-corruption and Competition Act matters, as well as in matters involving public-sector laws, such as conflict of interest, lobbying and elections finance legislation. She also advises clients in a range of industries on domestic and international anti-corruption legislation and related compliance programs, and assists with anti-corruption due diligence for commercial transactions. Iris is the co-Practice Group Leader of the Toronto Litigation & Dispute Resolution group, leads the Blakes Media & Defamation practice and is also the co-leader of the Firm’s Public Sector Crisis & Compliance group.

Linda Fuerst

Partner

Jeff Galway

Partner

Jeffrey Leon

Partner, Co-Head of Litigation

Ian Matthews

Partner, Commercial Litigation Group

Gordon McKee

Gord is a leading lawyer in class action and product liability defence, and life sciences product liability litigation. He has defended leading multinational manufacturers and their Canadian affiliates in class actions, mass torts and serious personal injury claims across the country involving a variety of products including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, medical devices, automotive equipment and fire protection systems, consumer protection matters, toxic torts and Competition Act matters. Gord has considerable class action trial experience, and manages litigation nationally for some of the world's largest manufacturers of pharmaceutical medicines, medical devices, consumer goods and heavy equipment. Gord leads the Blakes Class Actions team.

Chris Paliare

Partner

Orestes Pasparakis

Partner

Ken Rosenberg

Partner

Mike Schafler

Partner

Junior Sirivar

Junior is a Partner and co-chair of McCarthy Tétrault’s International Arbitration Group. Junior advises domestic and international clients across a broad range of industries, including mining, banking and telecommunications in complex commercial disputes. Junior provides strategic advice and has argued numerous cases before tribunals seated in a variety of venues. Junior has also acted as trial and appellate counsel in numerous civil matters, appearing before all levels of court in Ontario.

Crawford Smith

Crawford’s litigation practice focuses on corporate and commercial matters, energy regulatory proceedings and securities and competition litigation, as well as public and administrative law and class action expertise. Crawford has appeared as counsel in all levels of court in Ontario, in the Supreme Court of Canada, in the Federal Court, in commercial arbitrations, and before a variety of administrative tribunals including the Ontario Energy Board, the Ontario Securities Commission, the Competition Tribunal and the Environmental Review Tribunal. Crawford’s energy practice involves economic issues in multi-party litigation and frequent appearances as counsel before the Energy Board at hearings regarding rate regulation, infrastructure development and demand-side management. His securities broker/dealer practice includes acting as counsel for investment dealers, mutual fund dealers, registered representatives and other securities industry participants. Crawford also handles regulatory proceedings and investigations by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada and the Ontario Securities Commission.

Robert Staley

Partner