National & International Rankings

Stikeman Elliott's National Litigation Group is rated among Canada's top-tier business litigation practices by domestic and international legal directories:

• The firm acted on 4 of the Top 10 Business Cases in Canada for 2009, as selected by Lexpert, more than any other firm.

• Ten litigators (representing its Toronto, Montréal and Calgary offices) were cited in the prestigious Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the 500 Leading Lawyers in Canada in the areas of Arbitration, Class Actions, Competition, Corporate Commercial, Corporate Tax, Directors' and Officers' Liability, Energy (Electricity Regulatory), Insolvency & Financial Restructuring and Securities Litigation.

• Ten lawyers are cited in Lexpert's Guide to the Leading U.S./Canada Cross-border Litigation Lawyers in Canada.

• The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory cites Stikeman Elliott litigators among those recommended in the areas of Class Action, Corporate Commercial, Corporate Tax, Directors' and Officers' Liability, Competition and Securities. The Directory ranks five of the firm's Montréal litigators as leading lawyers in Corporate Commercial and two in the area of Directors' and Officers' Liability.

• Three of the Group's litigators appear in Legal Media Group's The World's Leading Lawyers Expert Guide in the Litigation sector.

• Best Lawyers in Canada has ranked Stikeman Elliott with the most lawyers listed in International Arbitration in Canada. They have also recognized 10 Stikeman Elliott practitioners in Corporate and Commercial Litigation, four in Competition Litigation and Insolvency, three in Class Action Litigation and two in each of Alternative Dispute Resolution and Directors' and Officers' Liability.

• Internationally, nine of the Group's litigators are listed and ranked in the Chambers Global Guide to the World's Leading Lawyers for Business in Dispute Resolution, Restructuring/Insolvency, Intellectual Property and Competition Litigation.

• Eight of the group's litigators are listed in the International Who's Who of Business Lawyers in the areas of Commercial Litigation, Arbitration, Insolvency and Insurance.

• Six litigators are recognized in the PLC Which Lawyer? in Dispute Resolution.

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Experience at Every Level of Canada's Courts and Tribunals

Members of the Litigation Group are regularly retained to act in a wide range of proceedings, from injunction applications to complex trials and appeals at all levels of provincial and federal courts. Members of the group appear regularly before securities regulators, energy regulators, municipal boards, the Competition Tribunal, the Trade-mark Opposition Board, the Patent Appeal Board, the National Transportation Agency, the CRTC (Canada's communications regulator), liquor licensing boards, human rights commissions, arbitration panels, commissions of inquiry and the governing bodies of various institutions and professional disciplines.

Regulatory Expertise

Stikeman Elliott is well-known for its expertise in providing regulatory advice in a range of industries. The firm acts regularly for clients in regulatory proceedings arising from both competition and securities investigations, as well as in a broad range of other regulated industries, such as electricity, oil and gas, insurance, telecommunications, food & drug and transportation. We offer extensive advocacy experience before all levels of trial and appellate courts in Ontario, the Federal Court of Canada, and the Supreme Court of Canada, as well as various administrative tribunals, including the Competition Tribunal and the Ontario Securities Commission.

Trusted by Business

Members of the Litigation Group have acted as counsel to significant public and private corporations in a wide variety of sectors of the economy, major Canadian and foreign financial institutions, all levels of government (including provincial regulators), and a variety of charitable institutions. Members of the group have represented trustees, receivers, monitors, creditors or debtors in most of the major insolvency and restructuring matters that have arisen in recent years. Stikeman Elliott's appointment as Canadian legal representative for the Institute of London Underwriters testifies to its experience in insurance and negligence actions, from the defence of medical negligence claims to the prosecution of auditors' negligence suits.

Canada's Cross-Border Specialists

The Litigation Group has extensive experience with legal issues that transcend Canada's borders. Whether it is an international insolvency or the defence of a class action identical to one commenced elsewhere, Stikeman Elliott litigators have earned a reputation as cross-border specialists who work effectively with lawyers and experts from other jurisdictions. Recently, 10 of our group members were listed as Canadian leaders in Lexpert's Guide to the Leading U.S./Canada Cross-Border Litigation Lawyers in Canada (November 2009).

Our Clients

Some of our litigation clients include:

• Air Canada
• Bank of Nova Scotia 
• Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada Inc.
• Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
• Canadian National Railway 
• eBay Canada Inc.
• EDS Canada Ltd.
• ING Canada
• Insurance Bureau of Canada
• Laurentian Bank of Canada
• Liberty Mutual 
• Lloyd's of London
• Maritime Life Assurance Company
• Mazda Canada Inc. 
• Nortel Networks Ltd.
• Royal Bank of Canada
• Siemens AG
• Sony Corporation
• TJX/Winners 
• Toronto-Dominion Bank 
• Weyerhaeuser Company Ltd.
• YBM Magnex

Helping Clients Avoid Unnecessary Litigation

Recognizing that most clients wish to avoid litigation, the Litigation Group regularly advises on the appropriateness of Alternative Dispute Resolution and on the different forms of ADR that should be considered. Members of the group can also advise clients on how to arrange their affairs to avoid litigation, before problems arise.

Involved in the Legal Community

The Litigation Group is a committed participant in Canadian legal education. Members of the group teach advocacy in the law schools of Western Ontario, Queen's, McGill and Montréal Universities as well as École du Barreau du Québec. They have also served on several Canadian Bar Association's provincial continuing legal education committees and as Directors of The Advocates' Society. Many members have published articles on a variety of litigation and advocacy topics and have presented papers and spoken at national and international conferences.

Unsurpassed Service: On Budget, On Time

Stikeman Elliott's goal is to provide the best client service at a fair price, while observing the highest professional standards. The firm puts together teams that can work ably and efficiently, while maintaining continuity of advice and keeping to the client's budget and time requirements. Litigation clients benefit from the intellectual and technical resources of one of Canada's largest business law practices, including specialized litigation law clerks who can quickly organize documentation relevant to a client's file using Stikeman Elliott's customized document management software.

Recent Group Activities

Directors and Officers in Canada - now available
Stikeman Elliott's publication Directors and Officers in Canada has been updated and is now available. Click here to order a complimentary copy.

Competition article published in Law Business Research guide
Competition litigators Eliot Kolers and Danielle Royal co-authored the "Canada" chapter in The Private Competition Enforcement Review, published by Law Business Research Ltd., (London: 2011), discussing private antitrust litigation activity in Canada.

Litigation partner authors ABA article
Doug Harrison's article "Friendly yet Foreign: Litigating in Ontario, Canada" was recently published in the American Bar Association's Commercial & Business Litigation newsletter, Winter 2012, Vol. 13 No. 2.  Published on the Commercial & Business Litigation Committee's website, http://apps.americanbar.org/litigation/committees/commercial. © 2011 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved.

Lawyer quoted in Financial Post
In the Legal Post's article "Defence hopes B.C. ruling will spark trend", Alan D'Silva discusses the implications of a B.C. ruling that addresses the legal test for granting leave from the court for secondary market misrepresentation claims.

Litigation lawyers author paper on regulatory powers
Eliot Kolers and Daniel Murdoch offer an overview of the evidence gathering powers afforded to regulatory bodies in "Regulators at the Door: Search Warrants and Compulsory Production."

Chapter on Product Liability in Canada available
Doug Harrison, Yves Martineau and Samaneh Hosseini recently co-authored the Canada chapter on Product Liability for Getting The Deal Through 2011, which discusses the most important issues that arise in product liability for corporate counsel, cross-border legal practitioners and executives. Reproduced with permission from Law Business Research. This article was first published in Getting the Deal Through -  Product Liability 2011, (published in August 2011; contributing editors: Harvey L Kaplan and Gregory L Fowler). For further information please visit www.GettingTheDealThrough.com.

Litigation lawyer published in The Globe
Douglas Harrison's article, "Canada Consumer Product Safety Act went into effect June 20, 2011 - What retailers need to know," is featured in the September edition of the Illinois State Bar Association's newsletter, The Globe.

Chapter on Class Actions in Canada available
David Byers and Adrian Lang recently co-authored the Canada chapter on Class & Group Actions for The International Comparative Legal Guide 2012, which discusses important issues that arise in class actions for corporate counsel, cross-border legal practitioners and executives. This article appeared in the 2012 edition of The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Class & Group Actions; published by Global Legal Group Ltd, London. 

Litigation partner quoted in Lawyers Weekly 
Doug Harrison discusses the implications of the newly-passed Canada Consumer Product Safety Act in the Lawyers Weekly article, "The new consumer safety law."

Alan D'Silva quoted in Financial Post
In the Financial Post article "Defendants can't delay statement of defence in class actions" Alan D'Silva is quoted on the recent ruling in Pennyfeather v. Timminco and its significance to future class actions.

Litigation lawyers win dismissal of D&O claim
Our Litigation Group successfully represented several insurers in Canada, the US, and the UK, in a large claim by directors and officers seeking indemnification of losses and defence costs. All claims valued in excess of $50 million against the excess insurers were dismissed outright by the Superior Court of Justice in its June 30, 2011 decision. Legal team: Alan D'Silva, Ellen Snow, and Paloma Ellard

Litigation lawyer quoted in Lexpert magazine
Alan D'Silva discusses the issue of third party funding in class actions in the July 2011 Lexpert magazine article "Enter the Silent Partner".

Litigation lawyer's article featured in ISBA newsletter
Douglas Harrison's article "Canada Consumer Product Safety Act comes into force June 20, 2011 - What retailers need to know" is featured in the August 2011 edition of the Illinois State Bar Association's newsletter, The Corporate Lawyer.

Litigation lawyer s quoted in CBA's National
Yves Martineau and Adrian Lang are quoted on the subject of new trends in class actions and their influence in Quebec in the article "No harm done" appearing in this month's issue of the Canadian Bar Association's National

Toronto partner article in ADR Forum newsletter
Douglas Harrison's article, "New Commercial Mediation Act Makes Ontario a Better Choice for Commercial Dispute Resolution," was featured in the March 2011 edition of CCH Canadian Limited's alternative dispute resolution newsletter, ADR Forum.

Stikeman Elliott cases featured in Canadian Big Suits article
Two of Stikeman Elliott's matters are featured in the The American Lawyer magazine's article "Canadian Big Suits" appearing in the April 2011 edition. Kuwait Airways v. Iraq (Legal team: Patrick Girard, Laurent Fortier, Yves Martineau, and Joseph Reynaud represented Kuwait Airways) and Telezone v. The Attorney General of Canada (Legal team: Peter Howard, Eliot Kolers and Nicholas McHaffie represented Telezone).

Class Actions Group launches its blog: CanadianClassActionsLaw.com
The Class Actions Group is pleased to announce the launch of its Canadian Class Actions Law blog, the latest addition to its blog network. The blog features information and resources on relevant legal developments in class actions law including, certification, settlements, appeals, judicial treatment of common causes of action, judicial treatment of class proceedings legislation, secondary market liability claims and securities class actions, and consumer protection, product liability, competition class actions and more!  Sign-up today for regular updates, via email or RSS, at www.CanadianClassActionsLaw.com or follow us on Twitter @CdnClassAction.

Toronto lawyers contribute to Class Action Defence Quarterly
Toronto lawyers Kathryn Chalmers and Andrew Cunningham co-authored "Class Actions in Ontario: 20 Years of a Growth Industry - Part 2", and Toronto lawyers Adrian Lang and Vanessa Voakes co-authored "When Disclosure Means Litigation: The conflict between good corporate governance and securities class actions", both articles appearing in the Class Action Defence Quarterly (March edition). Ms. Chalmers is the editor of the Class Action Defence Quarterly and Adrian Lang is a contributing author and member of the Advisory Board of this publication.

Chapter on Arbitration in Canada available
John Judge, Peter Cullen and Douglas Harrison recently co-authored the Canada chapter on Arbitration for Getting the Deal Through 2011, which discusses key issues regarding international commercial arbitration within Canada. Reproduced with permission from Law Business Research. This article was first published in Getting the Deal Through - Arbitration 2011, (published in February 2011; contributing editors Gerhard Wegen and Stephan Wilske of Gleiss Lutz). For further information please visit www.GettingTheDealThrough.com.

Article published in ABA's Newsletter
Douglas Harrison's article "Damages for Stigma Awarded in Canadian Environmental Class Action" about the Smith v. Inco decision by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice was published in the Fall/Winter 2010-2011 edition of the ABA's Tort Trial Insurance Newsletter

2011 Edition of Litigation Unleashed now available!
A newly revised Litigation Unleashed: Your Guide to Secondary Market Liability is now available. This book , featured in the Report on Business and Lexpert magazine, has become a standard reference for Canadian directors, officers and corporate counsel concerning key corporate governance requirements. Click here to request your copy today.

Toronto lawyer quoted on LiveInsuranceNews.com
Alan D'Silva is quoted in a recent article on Live Insurance News on directors and officers insurance titled "Canadian companies need to examine their insurance plans." Click here to view the article.

Toronto lawyer quoted in two legal publications
Alan D'Silva participated in the Canadian Lawyer InHouse roundtable discussing discovery, e-discovery and production issues including issues involved in class actions.  Mr. D'Silva also is quoted in the CCCA Magazine in an article on defending securities class actions, which includes eight practice points for in-house counsel.  

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