Find Lawyers in Toronto, Ontario for Corporate and Commercial Litigation
Practice Area Overview
Commercial litigation is a very broad practice area encompassing all disputes potentially arising in a business context. Consequently, practitioners in this area must have wide-ranging knowledge of both the business world and the myriad legal issues that can arise in that arena.
Commercial disputes may take on various forms, from breach of contract to shareholder disputes. Every litigious situation gives rise to a wide variety of remedies and recourses, such as an action for damages, a motion for an injunction, or a seizure before judgment. Furthermore, depending on their nature, such disputes can fall under the jurisdiction of several courts, each with its own set of rules.
In this challenging environment, commercial litigators must be able to assess the strengths and weaknesses of each situation and gauge their potential impact. Thorough knowledge of the commercial and operational issues at play will allow the practitioner to propose an appropriate litigation or ADR strategy, perhaps even a business solution.
Commercial litigation has evolved considerably over the years due to several factors, such as the near-universal adoption of information technology by businesses, and the increased complexity of commercial disputes. Add to that a slowing Canadian economy, and it is clear that commercial litigators must be prepared for war but open to peace.
Caroline Abela specializes in complex business and estate litigation matters. Focusing on commercial and corporate litigation and estates and trusts litigation, Caroline represents clients ranging from large corporations and institutions to small business owners and professionals. Caroline has appeared as counsel before all levels of courts in Ontario and the Federal Court of Canada. Caroline has been named in the Who’s Who Legal for Asset Recovery and in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Dire...
Rahool's practice focuses on complex commercial and civil litigation, including contractual disputes, shareholder disputes, proxy fights, director and officer liability, complex fraud cases and class actions. He 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...
Sarah Armstrong is the Chair of Fasken’s Ontario Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice Group. An experienced and strategic litigator with broad litigation, arbitration and dispute resolution experience, she has developed a robust practice focused on commercial and contractual disputes and class action defence. Sarah is also a member of Fasken’s Ontario Professional Development Committee and is Co-Chair of the firm’s Ontario Pro Bono Committee. Working with clients acros...
Known for her strategic counsel and trial skills, Sandra Barton is a leading civil and commercial litigation lawyer based in the Toronto office. Sandra is recognized as one of the top corporate commercial litigators in Canada by the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory , and was featured among the country’s leading class actions lawyers in the 2015 edition of The Best Lawyers in Canada . Working seamlessly with clients and counsel across Canada and the U.S., Sandra brings extensive expertis...
Brendan solves difficult problems. Brendan has a combined 25 years of experience at Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP and a boutique full-service firm. Brendan began his career as a litigator and trial lawyer before focusing his practice on insolvency, restructuring and commercial litigation. Brendan’s expertise as a trial lawyer is especially sought after by clients looking to resolve and restructure complex claims. Brendan has acted for borrowers, creditors, purchasers, court officers, and g...
Robert Brush is recognized as one of Canada’s leading securities and corporate commercial litigation lawyers. In addition to being recognized as Securities Litigation Lawyer of the Year for 2020 by Benchmark Litigation , Robert has been recognized by Lexpert as one of the Top 500 Lawyers in Canada and has been featured in the Lexpert Special Edition on Canada’s Leading Litigation Lawyers. He has also been recognized as a leading corporate commercial litigator by Best Lawyers in Ca...
John is the former head of the firm's litigation practice. With degrees in both engineering and law, he practises in the areas of environmental law, litigation, and administrative law, and has appeared as counsel on matters in all levels of the courts in Ontario, and before several administrative tribunals, including the Environmental Review Tribunal, the Board of Directors of the College of Chiropractors of Ontario, the Commercial Registration Appeal Tribunal, the Law Society of Upper Canada...
David Byers is senior counsel and former Co-Chair of the National Litigation & Dispute Resolution Group. David is highly experienced in complex commercial litigation, including product liability, securities, insolvency and insurance, as well as in domestic and international arbitration. David has extensive advocacy experience appearing before both the Trial and Appellate levels of courts in Ontario. His representations reflect a practice of extraordinary depth and scope, including acting ...
Nadia Campion'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. Nadia has extensive trial experience and appears regularly before the Superior Court of Justice, Ontario Court of Appeal and various regulatory and administration tribunals. She also has expertise in Toronto Commercial List pro...
Frank is a senior litigator in Hicks Morley’s Toronto office. He is a strategic counsel for his clients, and has significant courtroom and hearing experience representing clients in complex and high-profile cases. Frank represents his clients as a close and long-term advisor, and as a highly skilled advocate on their most important and challenging cases. Frank has particular expertise in arguing judicial review and appeals, and in litigation relating to the following: employment dispute...
John’s practice is in corporate and commercial litigation, and includes contract disputes, real estate litigation, shareholder remedies, fiduciary obligations, insolvency and class actions. He has appeared before all levels of trial and appellate courts and before domestic and international arbitral tribunals. A significant percentage of his practice is in the Ontario Commercial Court. He has also represented members of the National Hockey League in salary arbitrations with their player...
Clifford Cole is a partner at the firm's and head of the firm's Advocacy Department in Toronto. He is also a past leader of Gowlings' firm-wide Advocacy Group. Clifford's practice focuses upon complex commercial litigation with particular emphasis on contract disputes, shareholder litigation, professional liability claims and environmental law. His practice also includes cross-border disputes in the areas of environmental, product liability and class action litigation. Given his experience, h...
Laura Cooper is Leader of Fasken’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice Group and Co-Chair of the firm’s Class Actions practice group. She has extensive experience in class action litigation, with particular emphasis on securities, competition, consumer and privacy class actions. Laura acts regularly for internationally known corporations in the defence of significant class actions. Many of her cases have cross-border and international implications and Laura works closely wi...
Alistair Crawley is a founding partner of Crawley MacKewn Brush LLP and is one of Canada’s leading securities and corporate commercial litigation lawyers. Alistair’s practice includes all aspects of litigation and advice involving the capital markets and the securities industry, including investigations and enforcement hearings, contested corporate transactions and investment loss claims. Alistair has argued some of Canada’s most significant securities law cases, including t...
Sam De Caprio is an accomplished litigator with over 25 years of practice experience. He represents clients in commercial disputes, tort actions and construction-related project claims. Sam has significant trial and arbitration experience and has appeared as counsel in criminal law proceedings, administrative hearings and professional disciplinary proceedings. Sam has experience working with public and private corporations, and he advises foreign clients doing business in Canada. He is also c...
Ken Dekker, a partner of Affleck Greene McMurtry LLP, has over two decades of successful trial and appellate experience. Ken has litigated noteworthy and complex cases, including class action defence, securities and broker-dealer litigation and regulatory proceedings, corporate and shareholder disputes (including oppression and winding up cases), defamation, civil fraud litigation, disputes over contracts, injunctions, professional liability litigation, employment litigation and cross-border ...
Jeremy Devereux acts as an advocate and negotiator in a wide range of complex commercial and regulatory matters. His experience includes securities and financial services disputes, regulatory investigations and prosecutions, corporate and commercial litigation, class actions, employment law, estates litigation, mining law and administrative law. He has appeared as counsel before the Ontario courts, the Federal Court of Canada, and numerous tribunals and arbitration panels. Mr. Devereux freque...
Alan D’Silva is a partner in the Litigation & Dispute Resolution Group. He is considered a leading litigation lawyer in Canada with expertise in a number of areas of law, including defence of class actions, corporate/commercial disputes, securities litigation, shareholder/oppression cases, large insurance litigation, accountants’ and auditors’ negligence, professional negligence, sports law and directors’ and officers’ claims. Alan has served on the Managemen...
Valerie is a senior member of our Litigation Group and is a highly respected member of the litigation bar. In addition to her extensive experience as trial counsel, she has appeared as appellate counsel before both the Ontario Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. With more than 25 years of experience at the Bar, Valerie has demonstrated established expertise in damages analysis, including business loss claims, business and share valuations, and real property valuations. She has ex...
Bryan Finlay KC is recognized as one of the top litigation lawyers in Canada. Bryan's counsel practice is broad and has engaged the most complex commercial, constitutional, tort and public law issues. These have included issues of corporate espionage, spoliation, fraud, shareholder rights, directors' and officers' responsibilities, financial reporting obligations, responsibilities and obligations of government and its various agencies, securities regulation, fiduciary obligations, defamation,...
John is a founding partner of TGF and has a broad practice in complex commercial litigation with significant experience in insolvency and restructuring litigation. John has been lauded as an "excellent commercial litigator" and "a very credible, no-nonsense litigator who is extremely effective in court" in Chambers Global. John has been recognized as one of Canada’s top lawyers in the Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada, as a leading lawyer for US/Canada C...
Gideon Forrest’s litigation and dispute resolution practice is focused on corporate and commercial matters. Regularly appearing before all levels of court in Ontario, Gideon assists clients with a broad range of commercial litigation and arbitration matters. Clients frequently rely on Gideon’s expertise in corporate and shareholder disputes and oppression remedy applications, as he has acted for both majority and minority shareholders in oppression and winding up proceedings. With...
Paul Fruitman’s commercial litigation practice focuses on contract disputes, health law, real estate, departing employee cases, shareholder disputes and product liability. He has extensive experience acting for healthcare institutions and professionals in civil and regulatory proceedings. He also regularly acts as counsel to corporate directors and officers and in shareholder disputes and oppression claims. Paul has appeared at all levels of court in Ontario, the Federal Court and the F...
Linda Fuerst is one of Canada’s leading securities and commercial litigators. Her litigation practice covers a broad range of commercial and professional liability matters, with a particular focus on securities litigation, class proceedings and regulatory issues. She has litigated civil, criminal and regulatory matters and has appeared before all levels of court in Ontario, the Supreme Court of British Columbia, the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, and r...
David Gadsden represents global clients in complex commercial disputes. He is the Chair of Baker McKenzie's Canadian Class Actions Group and is known for his sound advice on commercial class actions, competition and antitrust matters, arbitration, fraud cases and product liability matters. Clients value David's pragmatic and determined approach to disputes and have described him as "absolutely terrific at bringing across the finish line the most complex and multidimensional issues". David has...
Gasper is a partner in our litigation department. Gasper's practice focuses on a broad range of complex matters, including both commercial and civil disputes. He has particular experience with commercial lease disputes, contractual disputes, construction law disputes, as well as debt collection matters. Gasper has appeared as counsel before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice; various administrative tribunals and both private mediations and arbitrations. Gasper has also assisted with variou...
Matthew Gottlieb 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 has been recognized as one of Canada’s top litigation lawyers. He has significant expertise in trials, applications, tribunals and arbitrations and regularly appears at all levels of court in Ontario and other provinces, the Federal Cour...
Douglas Harrison is an independent commercial arbitrator and mediator, handling both international and domestic Canadian business disputes. He also acts as legal counsel in select matters, including designing arbitral procedures and enforcing arbitral awards, as well as doing opinion work. Mr. Harrison is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a member of the CPR Panels of Distinguished Neutrals as both an arbitrator and mediator (Global Panel, Product Liability Panel and Pro Bon...
Peter Howard is senior counsel in the Litigation & Dispute Resolution Group. His practice focuses on commercial litigation, including securities law, class actions, commercial contracts, oppression and other types of shareholder and/or joint venture litigation and insolvency matters. Peter also has extensive experience in arbitrations, mediation and alternate dispute resolution. Peter has appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada and the trial and appellate levels of courts in Ontario a...
A former Bay Street law firm partner, Marlon formed and built the firm’s platform for delivering e-discovery and information governance services. Motivated by his keen interest in meaningful legal innovation and recognizing a gap in the market for a seamless platform designed to deliver flexible, sophisticated legal and technology expertise, innovative technology and resourcing models all in one place, Marlon founded INNOV-8 Data Counsel & INNOV-8 Legal Inc. INNOV-8 is a law firm an...
Katherine Kay is a partner in the Litigation & Dispute Resolution and Competition & Foreign Investment Groups. She has served on the Partnership Board and Executive Committee, as well as the Management Committee in the Toronto office. Katherine leads the competition litigation group and her practice is concentrated on complex commercial litigation, often involving the interplay between regulatory, civil and criminal law regimes, and across multiple jurisdictions. Chambers Global has d...
Megan Keenberg, C.S., Q. Arb., is a born litigator with an easy, confident advocacy style. As a Certified Specialist in Civil Litigation, Megan's background packs a one-two punch combining Bay Street experience with a practical business mindset. She’s a careful thinker, a straight talker, and a natural story teller. Her clients appreciate her ability to explain complicated legal strategy in plain terms so that they can confidently provide informed instructions about the management of th...
Eliot Kolers is the Head of the Litigation & Dispute Resolution Group and a member of the Management Committee and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee in the Toronto office. Eliot is recognized by his peers as a leading litigator with vast expertise in the areas of corporate commercial litigation, class actions, securities litigation and competition litigation matters. He has represented clients in numerous complex and high-profile commercial cases involving oppression remedies, p...
Sharon is a founding partner of Reconstruct LLP. Prior to joining her partner, Sharon spent close to a decade at McCarthy Tétrault. Sharon’s expertise is in insolvency and restructuring and commercial litigation. She frequently acts as counsel to debtors and various stakeholders in insolvency and restructuring proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act and the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. Sharon also acts for court officers in wide-ranging court-appointed,...
Aaron Kreaden is a partner practising in the Litigation & Dispute Resolution Group. He has a broad civil litigation practice, which includes corporate-commercial litigation, complex negligence (professional and otherwise), directors’ and officers’ liability, class actions, and product liability. He has appeared at the Supreme Court of Canada, as well as various levels of court in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Nova Scotia. Aaron has acted on some of Canada’s most...
Scott Kugler is a partner in the firm’s Toronto office and head of the firm’s National Class Actions Group. His practice emphasizes complex commercial matters, including class actions (securities and competition law/anti-trust), shareholder disputes, claims against directors/officers, broker/dealer disputes (civil and regulatory), product liability cases, franchise disputes, dealer/distributor disputes, and multi-faceted corporate litigation often involving the oppression remedy. ...
Matthew Latella has over 20 years of experience as a trial lawyer and a track record of success in high-stakes matters, both acting for plaintiffs and defendants. He was seconded to the Firm's London office, where he focused on multijurisdictional fraud litigation, including ground-breaking asset recovery and enforcement matters. He has been recognized as an "outstanding professional" by the Legal 500 Canada in Dispute Resolution. Matthew is a frequent contributor to www.Canadianfraudlaw.com ...
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 ...
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The Process
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