Restructuring and insolvency

Pamela Huff

Practice Area: Pamela is the National Practice Group Leader of the Firm's Restructuring & Insolvency group, with over 30 years of experience in the field, served on member of the Firm's Executive Committee for over a decade. She is experienced in all areas of insolvency practice, including both the litigation and commercial aspects of workouts, reorganizations, receiverships and other enforcement of security. Pamela has acted as counsel to debtors, financial institutions, asset-backed lenders, debtor-in-possession (DIP) lenders, secured and unsecured creditors, receivers, trustees and monitors in complex domestic and cross-border insolvencies, across a wide range of industries. She has also acted for purchasers in significant acquisitions through insolvency proceedings and has particular expertise with aircraft financings and airline insolvencies.

Caitlin McIntyre

Associate

Jocelyn Perreault

Partner

Adam Slavens

Adam’s commercially minded and rigorous counsel helps clients find solutions and realize goals in their restructuring and insolvency matters. Adam advises and represents creditors, investors and purchasers, restructuring corporations, equity holders and official court-ordered appointees in the financial restructurings of distressed companies in out-of-court workouts and refinancings as well as formal proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act and arrangements under the Canada Business Corporations Act.

David Bish

David is one of Canada’s leading insolvency lawyers. He brings highly experienced counsel in insolvency and restructuring mandates, with a focus on creative solutions and practical perspective for clients navigating distressed circumstances.As the head of Torys’ Corporate Restructuring and Advisory Practice, David regularly advises across all aspects of bankruptcy, proposals, wind-ups, liquidations, reorganizations, restructurings, receiverships and security enforcement, and advising boards of directors on corporate governance issues in distressed circumstances. He has extensive expertise in plenary and ancillary cross-border insolvency and restructuring matters, and brings a wealth of experience to commercial financing, private equity and M&A transactions.David’s long track record as corporate and litigation counsel to a wide range of parties—leading corporations, financial institutions, distressed investors and accounting firms—gives him a nuanced perspective of stakeholder interests on large, complex insolvency and restructuring transactions, helping clients navigate challenges and advance their business objectives.

Kelly Bourassa

Kelly is an experienced insolvency lawyer who advises clients in all aspects of complex corporate restructuring, including both the litigation and commercial aspects of workouts, reorganizations, corporate arrangements, receiverships and other enforcement of security, both domestic and cross-border. For over 20 years, Kelly has acted as strategic counsel to financial institutions, debtors, court-officers and other stakeholders across a broad range of industries. Kelly is recognized by her peers and various publications as a leading lawyer in restructuring and insolvency in Canada, and a market leader in Calgary and nationally.  

Tony DeMarinis

Tony is a widely recognized leader in his field, with decades of experience playing pivotall roles in prominent and successful Canadian and cross-border restructurings and insolvencies. Clients call upon his leading corporate and insolvency experience to drive many of this field’s most demanding transactions and proceedings.As Chair of Torys’ Canadian Corporate Restructuring and Advisory Practice, Tony advises a wide range of leading clients on all aspects of corporate financial restructurings or insolvencies, including transactions and proceedings involving negotiated workouts, recapitalizations, debt exchanges, re-financings, distressed investments and acquisitions, court proceedings under the federal Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act or Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, plans of arrangement under the Canada Business Corporations Act, sales auctions, bridge and debtor-in-possession loans, and receiverships.Tony’s clients include public companies seeking to re-finance or restructure debt, lenders and lending syndicates, ad hoc bondholder groups, bridge and debtor-in-possession lenders, financial sponsors, distressed business purchasers, exit lenders, receivers, monitors and information officers. He has deep expertise across many industry sectors, including energy, mining, oil and gas, retail, entertainment, manufacturing, financial services, real estate, media, tobacco, forestry, agriculture, telecommunications and technology.

James Gage

Practises exclusively in bankruptcy, insolvency and restructuring matters. Extensive experience advising debtors, creditors and court officers in work-out, restructuring, receivership and bankruptcy proceedings in both Canadian and international contexts. Recent matters include lead bankruptcy counsel to Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc. in its restructuring proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, to the syndicate of senior secured lenders in the cross-border restructuring proceedings of a natural gas and electricity retailer, and to CannTrust Holdings Inc. in its restructuring proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act. Other recent matters include Canadian restructuring counsel to a car rental company in its global restructuring proceedings implemented under chapter 11 the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, and to U.S. Steel Canada Inc. in its restructuring proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act and chapter 15 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

Linc Rogers

associate

Peter Rubin

Peter practice focuses on restructuring and insolvency and complex commercial litigation matters. His R&I practice involves advising debtor companies, lender syndicates, secured and unsecured creditors, purchasers of distressed assets, debtor-in-possession lenders, and other parties affected by business insolvency issues. He has acted as independent counsel for monitors in reorganization cases, receivers and trustees in bankruptcy. Peter's commercial litigation practice focuses on contractual disputes, tax appeals, tort claims, shareholder and securities litigation, equitable remedies, including fiduciary duties and creditors' rights. Peter has co-authored Continuing Legal Education (CLE) papers, frequently appears as a lecturer at insolvency conferences, and is a contributing author to a comprehensive text on government liability. He is also a regular guest lecturer at the Law Society's professional legal training course.

John R. Sandrelli

Office Managing Partner

Alain Tardif

Alain N. Tardif is a partner in the Bankruptcy and Restructuring Group in Montréal. His practice focuses on domestic, cross-border and transnational corporate restructuring transactions, including All kind of cross-border restructurings, out-of-court restructurings and workouts, strategic insolvency-based acquisitions, and near-insolvency investing scenarios He has acted in a significant number of restructurings and reorganizations, leading representation of debtor companies, lenders, creditors, key shareholders, private equity firms and strategic investors. He frequently assists the World Bank as an insolvency law expert, and as such, participated in missions in various countries in the Caribbean and Africa. His expertise and experience have led to regular invitations to speak to various organizations about insolvency issues and to present restructuring strategies tailored to the firm’s clients , to be chosen as co-editor of the Canadian Bankruptcy Report and to becoming a member of the intervention committee of CAIRP.

Sean Zweig

Partner

Kevin Zych

Partner, Co-Head of Restructuring + Insolvency