Our Team

Lexpert/Thomson Canada’s Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2011—Most frequently recommended practitioner in corporate/commercial litigation and public law litigation; repeatedly recommended in securities litigation, class actions litigation, professional liability and international commercial arbitration; consistently recommended in directors' & officers' liability litigation

Chambers & Partners’ Chambers Global: World’s Leading Lawyers for Business, The Client’s Guide 2008-2011—Leading lawyer in dispute resolution (Ontario), arbitration and competition/antitrust litigation

Intellectual Asset Management's IAM Patent Litigation 250: The World's Leading Patent Litigators 2011—Leading lawyer globally

Lexpert/American Lawyer's Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada, 2009-2012—Leading lawyer in corporate commercial litigation

Woodward White’s Best Lawyers 2011—Toronto administrative and public lawyer of the year

Woodward White’s Best Lawyers in Canada, 2009-2012—Leading lawyer in administrative and public law, bet-the-company litigation, class action litigation, competition/antitrust law, international arbitration, litigation, corporate and commercial litigation, defamation and media law, director and officer liability and securities

Intellectual Asset Management's IAM Life Sciences 250: The World's Leading Life Sciences Patent Litigators 2010—Leading lawyer globally

Practical Law Company’s Which Lawyer? 2009-2012—Leading lawyer in Ontario in dispute resolution

Lexpert/Thomson Canada’s Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2009—Most frequently recommended in corporate/commercial litigation and in public law litigation; consistently recommended in directors' and officers' liability litigation; repeatedly recommended in class actions litigation and in securities litigation

Real Time News' LawDay 2009—Leading lawyer in class action/defence, complex litigation and white collar crime

Practical Law Company’s Cross-Border Dispute Resolution Handbook 2008 and 2009—Leading practitioner in dispute resolution

Lexpert's 2008 Guide to the Leading US/Canada Cross-Border Litigation Lawyers in Canada—Leading lawyer in corporate commercial, class action and securities

Lexpert/Thomson Canada’s Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2008—Most frequently recommended in corporate/commercial litigation, public law litigation, and in directors' and officers' liability litigation; repeatedly recommended in class actions litigation and in securities litigation

Lexpert/American Lawyer's Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada 2008—Leading lawyer in directors’ and officers’ liability and in corporate commercial litigation

Lexpert’s Guide to the Leading U.S./Canada Cross-Border Litigation Lawyers 2007—Leading lawyer in corporate/commercial litigation; class action litigation; and in securities litigation

Practical Law Company’s Which Lawyer? Yearbook 2007—Highly recommended lawyer in Ontario in dispute resolution

Legal Media Group’s Guide to the World’s Leading Litigation Lawyers 2006—Leading litigator in Canada

Lexpert/Thomson Canada’s Guide to the Leading 100 Canada/U.S. Cross-Border Litigators in Canada 2005—Corporate commercial, class action and in securities litigation

John has recently represented

• the Investment Industry Association of Canada in the reference to the Supreme Court of Canada on the constitutional validity of the proposed national Securities Act
• the Commissioner of Competition in an inquiry concerning alleged anti-competitive conduct
• Public Mobile Inc. in a challenge to a federal order in council dealing with Canadian ownership and control requirements for telecommunications carriers
• major Canadian Internet service providers in a reference to the Federal Court of Appeal and appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada concerning regulatory jurisdiction
• Ontario Power Generation in defending an application for judicial review of the environmental assessment of the proposed Darlington New Nuclear Power Plant Project
• Great-West Lifeco in the defence and settlement of a Manitoba class action
• the Honourable Frank Iacobucci as Commissioner, as lead counsel to the Internal Inquiry into the Actions of Canadian Officials in Relation to Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad Abou-Elmaati and Muayyed Nureddin
• an Alberta-based pipeline company in arbitrations and litigation dealing with tax and contract issues
• Panasonic Canada and United Airlines in the defence of class actions alleging breaches of the Competition Act
• National Bank of Canada in proceedings to restructure the Canadian asset-backed commercial paper market under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act
• the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in appeals to the Federal Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada from telecom decisions raising administrative law and Charter issues
• a major pharmaceutical company in patent proceedings and appeals
• a Canadian mining company in an international arbitration under a bilateral investment treaty
• a government in an international arbitration under a trust agreement
• the Chiefs of Ontario and the Ontario First Nations Limited Partnership in litigation relating to the proceeds of Casino Rama
• the Beaverbrook Canadian Foundation in New Brunswick litigation relating to the ownership of art
• Canada Post Corporation in an appeal relating to official marks under the Trade-marks Act
• Mitsubishi Corporation in proceedings under the Competition Act
• Upper Canada College in class action proceedings arising from allegations of historical sexual abuse
• GT Group Telecom and its subsidiaries, and the noteholders of Algoma Steel, in restructuring proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act
• Panasonic Canada in defending a consumer class action based on alleged breaches of the Competition Act
• Ontario Power Generation in successfully defending an application for judicial review of the environmental assessment of a used nuclear fuel storage facility, and an appeal from the dismissal of the application
• a U.S. manufacturer and distributor in a successful appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada on vicarious liability and trial procedure issues
• TNT Canada in a successful defence against a charge of conspiring to lessen competition unduly under the Competition Act
• Trilogy Retail Enterprises in litigation and Ontario Securities Commission proceedings related to its takeover bid for Chapters
• prominent Canadian businesses and institutions in human rights proceedings raising disability and other discrimination issues
• the Ontario Health Services Restructuring Commission in defending a series of court proceedings attacking provincial hospital restructuring initiatives on Charter and other grounds
• TrizecHahn Office Properties in litigation concerning a major office development in Calgary
• the Government of Newfoundland in an appeal in the Supreme Court of Canada, involving employment and constitutional issues
• another large Toronto law firm in successfully defending an action for professional negligence, and upholding the trial judgment on appeal
• the principal creditors of Hurricane Hydrocarbons in debt restructuring proceedings in the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench
• a large U.S. manufacturer in an application before a NAFTA Binational Panel
• Canada Post in successful proceedings before the National Transportation Agency for approval of Canada Post’s acquisition of a majority interest in Purolator Courier and in resisting court proceedings to set aside the NTA’s decision
• Thomson Newspapers in a Charter challenge in the Supreme Court of Canada, involving the powers of compulsory investigation conferred by the Competition Act
• various clients in a number of interventions in the Supreme Court of Canada, dealing with Charter and other issues in libel, education, healthcare and labour matters

John is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America and a member of the Ontario Regional Committee of the Supreme Court Advocacy Institute. John speaks, writes and teaches frequently on public law, competition and advocacy issues, and is the principal editor for civil cases of Canadian Charter of Rights Annotated. From 1996 to 1998, John was Torys’ Professional Manager, the member of the Executive Committee responsible for the professional aspects of firm management.

Before entering private practice in 1982, John was Assistant and Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto; he remained there for several years as a part-time lecturer on constitutional litigation. He has been Vice-Chair of the Constitutional and International Law Section of the Ontario Bar Association and a member of the Canadian Bar Association Task Force on Constitutional Amendment Processes. He is currently President of the University of Toronto Law Alumni Association.

The Advocates' Society