Our Team

John B. Laskin

Partner

	Direct: 416.865.7317 Office: Toronto Fax: 416.865.7380 Email: jlaskin@torys.com

	John is repeatedly recognized as a leading litigator in Canada.

Practice

John Laskin is a senior trial and appellate counsel with a broad practice in business litigation and an emphasis on administrative and constitutional law, competition law and class actions. He has appeared as counsel in the Supreme Court of Canada, in the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal, at every level of court in Ontario, in the courts of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, in domestic and international commercial arbitrations and before a variety of administrative tribunals.

Recognitions

Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business, 2008-2013—Leading lawyer in competition/antitrust litigation, arbitration, and in dispute resolution (Ontario)

Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, 2008-2012—Most frequently recommended 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’ and officers’ liability litigation

Lexpert/ALM Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada, 2008-2013—Leading lawyer in corporate/commercial litigation, and in 2008—Leading lawyer in directors’ and officers’ liability

Lexpert's 2012 Guide to the Leading US/Canada Cross-border Litigation Lawyers in Canada—Leading lawyer in class actions and corporate commercial

Benchmark Canada, 2013—Leading litigator for class actions, commercial, competition and constitutional

Benchmark Canada, 2012—Leading litigator in class actions, commercial, competition, intellectual property, product liability, professional liability, securities and white-collar crime

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

IAM Life Sciences 250: The World’s Leading Life Sciences Patent Litigators 2010—Leading lawyer globally

Best Lawyers in Canada, 2009-2013—Leading lawyer in administrative and public law, bet-the-company litigation, class action litigation, competition/antitrust law, international arbitration, litigation, corporate/commercial litigation, defamation and media law, director and officer liability and securities

Best Lawyers 2011—Toronto administrative and public lawyer of the year; 2009-2012—Leading lawyer in administrative and public law, bet-the-company litigation, class action litigation, competition/antitrust law, international arbitration, litigation, corporate/ commercial litigation, defamation and media law, director and officer liability and securities

PLC’s Which Lawyer? Yearbook, 2007-2012—Leading lawyer in Ontario in dispute resolution

Guide to the World’s Leading Litigation and Product Liability Lawyers, 2012—Leading lawyer in Canada

Guide to the World’s Leading Competition & Antitrust Lawyers, 2012—Leading lawyer in Canada

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

PLC’s Cross-Border Dispute Resolution Handbook, 2008 and 2009—Leading practitioner in dispute resolution

Guide to the Leading US/Canada Cross-Border Litigation Lawyers in Canada, 2007 and 2008—Leading lawyer in corporate commercial litigation, class action litigation and securities litigation

Cases

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
Canada Post Corporation, in a class action relating to its parcel shipping practices
Public Mobile in a challenge to a federal order in council dealing with Canadian ownership and control requirements for telecommunications carriers
seven 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 over ISPs
Ontario Power Generation in defending an application for judicial review of the environmental assessment of the Darlington New Nuclear Power Plant Project
Metrolinx, the Ontario government agency responsible for transportation planning and delivery in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area, in defending an application for judicial review relating to the Air Rail Link between Pearson International Airport and downtown Toronto
Great-West Lifeco in the defence and settlement of a Manitoba class action
an Alberta-based pipeline company in arbitrations and court proceedings dealing with tax and contract issues
Panasonic Canada and United Airlines in the defence of class actions alleging breaches of the Competition Act
Ontario’s Chief Electoral Officer in defending an application for judicial review and the appeal from its dismissal
a major pharmaceutical company in patent proceedings and appeals
Ontario Power Generation in an appeal from a rate decision of the Ontario Energy Board
a Canadian mining company in an international arbitration under a bilateral investment treaty
prominent Canadian businesses and institutions in human rights proceedings raising disability and other discrimination issues

Professional Involvement

John is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators 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 editor for civil cases of Canadian Charter of Rights Annotated.

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.

Selected Publications and Presentations

Moving Forward after the Securities Act Reference: The Future of Securities Regulation in Canada
Commercial Litigation and Arbitration Review, vol. 1, no. 1 | February/March 2012

Defending Competition Class Actions in Canada: New Challenges and Next Steps
Canadian Bar Association 2010 Annual Fall Conference on Competition Law | 2010

The Law of Climate Change in Canada
Co-author, Canada Law Book (approx. 1200 pages) | 2010

Arguing the Facts: Some Suggestions for Drafting the Facts Part of a Factum
Effective Written Advocacy, chap. 9, ed. The Honourable Justice Thomas A. Cromwell, Aurora: Cartwright Group Ltd. | 2008

Selected Media Highlights

February 10, 2012: John Laskin comments on Supreme Court decision that Internet service providers do not qualify as broadcasters and are not covered by Canada's Broadcasting Act

November 28, 2011: Torys represents Scotiabank in Banco Colpatria acquisition and many other transactions worldwide

July 18, 2011: Arbitration may not be cheaper or quicker than litigation, but can provide more confidentiality, says John Laskin in Lexpert

July 12, 2011: The Law of Climate Change in Canada is awarded the Walter Owen Book Prize

April 18, 2011: Globalive exception to CRTC rules on foreign ownership is not appropriate, says John Laskin in Law Times

April 18, 2011: The rulings could have a substantial impact in cutting back on indirect purchaser class actions as a Canadian class action phenomenon, says John Laskin in Law360

October 22, 2008: Government of Canada Releases Report of the Iacobucci Internal Inquiry

Memberships

The Advocates' Society

Practice Areas and Industry Groups

Administrative and Regulatory Arbitration Class Actions Competition and Antitrust Constitutional Professional Liability Environmental, Health and Safety Government and Public Policy Healthcare Intellectual Property Intellectual Property Litigation Litigation and Dispute Resolution Media and Defamation Trade and Investments White Collar Crime

Bar Admissions

Ontario, 1979
Alberta, 1987

Education

LLM, 1977
University of California

LLB (Gold Medallist), 1976
University of Toronto

BA, 1971
York University