Erik Penz is Special Counsel practising commercial disputes in Bermuda.

Erik maintains a broad advocacy and advisory practice in complex contentious matters, including in the insurance, construction and professional-services sectors. His practice areas include shareholder disputes, injunctions, winding-up petitions, policy claims and coverage disputes, international judicial assistance, and recognition of foreign insolvency proceedings and practitioners.

He has appeared as leading counsel before the Court of Appeal, Divisional Court, Superior Court and regulatory panels in Canada, before international and domestic arbitral tribunals, and in mediations in London and Canada.

Erik was a partner at Norton Rose in Canada for 9½  years and then practised international disputes in the Middle East for 4 years where he was ranked Next Generation Partner by The Legal 500 in 2021 and recognised as a leading practitioner in The Legal 500’s Arbitration Powerlist in 2022.

He was counsel on leading insolvency, contract and private-international cases in Canada, and acted in high-profile litigation and international arbitration proceedings in the Middle East including two successful appeals to the Supreme Court of the Sultanate of Oman.

Erik’s practice covers all forms of dispute resolution, including insolvency and regulatory proceedings, and he has extensive experience with strategic / tactical litigation and multi-jurisdictional proceedings. Erik is a strong proponent of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms such as mediation (including through the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution in London), pre-trial settlement conferences, and negotiation.

Erik is called to the Bar of Bermuda and by the Benchers of Upper Canada. He is a member of the Restructuring and Insolvency Specialists Association of Bermuda.

BA (First-class Honours) in History and Politics, University of King’s College, Nova Scotia

LL B, with focus on advocacy, commercial law and public law, Queen’s University, Ontario