Peter had been a senior partner, litigation co-chair and executive committee member of one of Canada’s largest firms. Peter decided to join in the formation of our boutique litigation practice in order to be free of the myriad of conflicts that routinely arise in a large full service firm.

Peter has been counsel on many noteworthy reported cases. His more recent and on-going publicly disclosed cases include his work as senior litigation counsel for:

• Pre-1986 and past-1990 Hepatitis C plaintiff class that resulted in a $1,000,000,000 settlement in favour of those claimants;
• BHP with respect to claims against the Government of Canada for contribution toward the long term tailings maintenance costs arising from Cold War uranium production;
• Oppression remedy claims by the shareholders and former board members of Coalcorp Mining Inc.;
• Defending a proposed securities class action on behalf of Directors of Western Coal;
• An action commenced under the Class Proceedings Act against Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP with respect to allegedly negligent tax advice;
• Hislop same sex survivor pension benefits class action against the Federal Government;
• An action commenced under the Class Proceedings Act with respect to unpaid overtime against the Bank of Nova Scotia;
• An action commenced under the Class Proceedings Act with respect to alleged misclassification of employees and related overtime entitlements against CNR;
• Indemnification and damage claims on behalf of the founder of Unique Broadband Systems including CCAA proceedings and related Take Over Bid Injunction;
• BMO Nesbitt Burns with respect to the Defence of various national and international multi-billion dollar individual and class proceedings arising out of the collapse of Bre-X Minerals;
• Kinross Gold Corporation with respect to contractual and fiduciary claims arising out of the acquisition and disposition of Greek mining assets.

Peter is a frequent contributor to professional development conferences. He has written and presented papers on complex and international litigation, electronic discovery and arbitration in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Peter is a frequent speaker on class action proceedings and trial practice.

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In 2023, David was recognized as the Canadian Plaintiff Litigator of the Year by Benchmark Canada (the guide to Canada’s leading litigators). He has been recognized as a finalist for the Benchmark Canada awards for Class Action or Plaintiff Litigator of the Year in 2015 and again in 2017, and in each year since 2019.   He was also one of the finalists for the Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers in Canada in 2015 and again in 2016, as nominated in Canadian Lawyer magazine.

David has also been recognized by Benchmark Canada as a litigation star in class actions and commercial litigation every year since Benchmark’s arrival in Canada (2012), with peer praise and respect for his “prowess” in both areas.  David was also noted by Benchmark as one of the 50 litigators in Ontario who were awarded an additional “Honourable Mention”.

He is ranked in the Chambers Guide to Canada’s Leading Lawyers in the area of Class Actions, with one source quoted by Chambers stating: “I hold him in the highest regard. He’s a brilliant guy and when he’s on your team he’s a huge asset. He has great courtroom presence and a superb intellect.”

David is also a Lexpert® ranked leading class action litigator. David has also been listed in the Lexpert Special Edition of Lexpert – Canada’s Leading Litigation Lawyers – as published in the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business.  He was also listed in the Lexpert Guide to the Leading US/Canada Cross-Border Litigation Lawyers in Canada.   In 2006, he was first recognized by Lexpert® as a finalist for the top 40 under 40 ranking in Canada.

David is ranked by The Best Lawyers in Canada in the area of Corporate and Commercial Litigation.

David is also a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America. That Counsel is an invitation only trial lawyer association composed of less than one-half of one percent of all litigation lawyers in North America.

David and his partners were previously featured in the Canadian Bar Association National Magazine and recognized as one of the best class action firms in the country, with an undeniable track record for excellence. At the same time, David and his partners were further recognized as a stellar example of lawyers making a difference.

David has achieved significant success in class actions.

On the defence side, he was, for example, successful on behalf of defendant corporations and individuals in defeating a motion for certification in an investment/financial advisor proposed class action involving claims of breach of fiduciary duty, breach of trust, oppression, etc.  By way of further example on the defence side, David was successful on behalf of defendant directors in defeating motions for certification (involving claims of oppression/shareholder disputes) and for leave to commence a secondary market securities class action seeking over $200 million in damages – that case was the first time that any court in Canada had rejected an application for leave to commence such a securities claim. David was also successful in striking out a $200 million product liability class action against Toshiba. He has successfully negotiated and/or argued for the termination of other class actions.

On the plaintiff side, David is one of the eight senior litigators from across the country who form the Steering Committee controlling and directing the Canada-wide class actions against VW and Audi in the widely known diesel emissions scandal.  Those class actions against VW and Audi have resulted in settlements to date worth as much as $2.3 billion. He is also one of the lead counsel in a settlement of a separate class action against Audi and VW for inaccurate fuel economy representations.  He was also lead counsel in the closely watched national overtime class actions that were certified, and later settled, against CIBC and Scotiabank. Among other things, David was counsel in various other class action settlements (for example, an overtime class action against Livingston,  a class action relating to medical marijuana against Mettrum (now owned by Canopy Growth),  a class action relating to investment funds (Fantl), and a class action relating to tax shelters (Lipson)).  David also acted as co-counsel in successfully resisting appeals by the Federal Government from a significant Charter class action judgment (Hislop v. Canada). Most recently, David is one of the lead counsel on the proposed settlement of the class action relating to the mall collapse in Elliot Lake, Ontario.

On corporate/commercial litigation (non-class action), David has been involved in many cases over his 29 years of practice. He has been successful in pursuing and resisting various claims, including oppression/shareholder claims, breach of fiduciary and contractual duties, directors’ duties and liability, misappropriation, unfair competition and solicitation, Mareva (freezing assets) remedies, complex expert issues and shareholder remedies   For example, David successfully acted for the City of Waterloo in connection with various complex claims by the City arising out of a $50 million financing.

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Sean has diverse experience in matters involving general corporate and shareholder disputes, directors and officers duties and responsibilities and indemnities, securities litigation – OSC/IIROC, estate matters, mining disputes, negligence and contractual disputes, financial institutions, investment advisor disputes, employment disputes, matters before regulated health profession boards, executive compensation, administrative law and both plaintiff and defence class actions.

Sean has been  named a Litigation Star for the last several years by Benchmark Canada.

Some of the recent and ongoing matters he is currently involved in include:

• Successfully defending the certification of a class proceeding against a former Mutual Fund Dealer, sales persons and various other entities
• Acting on behalf of a company in a arbitration involving oppression and other corporate matters
• Acting on behalf of a company and its board in respect of various oppressions claims
• Acting on behalf of various entities in an arbitration to determine proper accounting practices and financial statements relating to a sale of a business
• Acting on behalf of a seller in an arbitration involving alleged financial statement fraud and negligence
• Successfully acting on behalf of a group of beneficiaries in a trust/oppression application in respect of multiple estate freezes
• Successfully having an alleged settlement agreement overturned at first instance and upheld at the Court of Appeal
• Acting on behalf of private company to remove a cease trade order of the OSC for non-compliance with NI 43-101
• Acting as counsel to obtain a vesting order in respect of international property owned by wound-up US entities and parties
• Acting as litigation counsel in various Plans of Arrangement
• Acting on behalf of a party in a successful guardianship application
• Part of counsel group in Quenneville et al. v. Volkswagen et al. (Volkswagen Diesel Emission Manipulations)
• Acting on behalf of a dentist in RCDSO Registrar investigation
• Counsel in various estate matters involving passing of accounts
• Successful appeal before Health Professions Review and Appeal Board
• Acting on behalf of a group of companies in an alleged fraud case
• Acting on behalf of one of Canada’s national banks in respect of various investment related law suits
• Acting on behalf of an investment dealer in proceedings before IIROC
• Acting on behalf of various executives and individuals for claims of wrongful termination and termination for cause
• Acting on behalf of individuals in respect of director and officer liability claims and corporate indemnities
• Successfully acting as part of the counsel team for a group of independent directors in Gould v. Western Coal et al., a class and secondary market liability action
• Successfully acting on behalf of a group of condominium purchasers in a class proceeding brought for alleged overcharges for development fees
• Acting on behalf of Rio Algom/BHP Billiton in respect of litigation with the Federal Government over its historic mines in Elliot Lake
• Acting on behalf of a former director and executive in a circular and proxy disputes
• Acting in a class proceeding on behalf of condominium purchasers who paid allegedly improper development charge increases
• The successful defence of several former Directors of a TSX listed company in multijurisdictional proceedings
• Successfully acting as part of the counsel team in respect of indemnity applications against a TSX listed company
• Acting as part of a counsel team on behalf of a shareholder and creditor in respect of CCAA proceedings
• Acting as part of the counsel team in several national unpaid overtime class actions with respect to alleged unpaid overtime and misclassification of employees
• Successfully acting as part of the counsel team in the national class proceeding in respect of the constitutional challenge of survivor pension benefits, Hislop v. Canada, appearing before the Supreme Court of Canada and responsible for the administration of the proceeding
• Litigation arising out of the RIM Park financing on behalf of the City of Waterloo
• The pre-1986 and post-1990 Hepatitis C settlement for claimants in litigation against the Federal Government
• The defence of various class proceedings and other proceedings arising out of the collapse of Bre-X Minerals

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Adam was named a “Litigation Star” by Benchmark magazine in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

In the area of class actions he is part of the firm’s counsel team in:

• Cunningham v RBC DS (Unpaid Vacation Pay – certified 2023)
• Chiang v Toronto Dominion Bank (Unpaid Vacation Pay – certification to be heard September 2025)
• Stadnyk v City of Thunder Bay (Pinhole Leaks – certified 2024)
• Christiansen v Mettrum Ltd (Tainted Medical Marijuana – settled 2020)
• Stibbe v Audi et al (Gasoline Emission Manipulations – settled 2021)
• Quenneville et al v Volkswagen (Volkswagen Diesel Emission Manipulations – settled 2018)
• Quinte v Eastwood Mall et al (collapse of the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake Ontario – certified February 2014)
• Bozsik v Livingston International (unpaid overtime – settled 2019)
• Fantl v. Transamerica Life (management fee overcharges – settled Summer 2009)
• Monckton v. Canadian Business College (private college class action – settled 2011)
• Fulawka v. Scotiabank (unpaid overtime – settled 2015 & 2016)
• Fresco v. CIBC (unpaid overtime – settled 2023)
• Lipson v. Cassels Brock (negligent tax advice – settled 2023)
• Sa’d v Remington Group (excess development fees – settled March 2013)

On the Defence side, Adam is part of the firm’s counsel team in several alleged defective goods class actions against a Fortune 500 technology company.

Adam is involved in a variety of corporate commercial matters dealing with oppression, derivative actions, regulatory matters and employment issues. As a result of his activities in various aspects of litigation, Adam has appeared as counsel at all levels of court in Ontario.

Adam has written articles for a number of publications on a variety of class action, evidence and commercial litigation topics.

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Robert is fluent in French and was called to the bar of Quebec in 1988 and the Ontario bar in 1992. He is a graduate of McGill University where he holds a BA(Hons) in political science as well as a BCL and LLB. While in law school Robert was an editor of the McGill Law Journal and recognized as a Faculty Scholar and recipient of the James McGill Award.  Prior to joining the firm as counsel, Robert was a partner for 18 years in a securities boutique with Robert Stikeman.  Robert was previously a corporate and securities associate at Ogilvy Renault (now Norton Rose) in Montreal and at Faskens in Toronto.

Robert enjoys speaking at and has been a frequent chair of conferences on contemporary corporate and commercial legal issues. In April 2015, Robert received formal training on negotiation at the Master Class on Negotiation at Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  Robert is a contributing author to Startup Law 101: A Practical Guide by Catherine Lovrics, published by Lexis Nexis in 2017.

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In 2017, James obtained his JD/JD dual degree from the University of Windsor and the University of Detroit Mercy, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude and received Book Awards for highest overall grade in Canadian & U.S. Evidence, Canadian & U.S. Professional Responsibility, U.S. Constitutional Law, U.S. Civil Procedure, Health Law LFP and Selected Topics in Professional Responsibility Seminar. He was the 2015 recipient of the Justice Andromache Karakatsanis Student Scholarship from the Hellenic Canadian Lawyers’ Association for outstanding scholastic achievement and involvement in the community.

Prior to joining Roy O’Connor LLP, James summered and articled at an international full-service firm on Bay Street where he focused on corporate/commercial and civil litigation.

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Jack completed his legal studies at Osgoode Hall Law School and was called to the Ontario bar in June 2024. During law school, he researched the application of international law to cyberattacks for counsel at Global Affairs Canada through Osgoode’s International and Transnational Law Intensive Program.

Jack is a member of the Advocates’ Society, the Toronto Lawyers’ Association, and the Ontario and Canadian Bar Associations.

Prior to joining Roy O’Connor LLP, Jack practiced at a litigation boutique on Bay Street and articled with the Crown Law Office – Civil of the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General.

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