LAWYERS

Michael practices civil litigation with a focus on corporate/commercial and securities disputes, including contractual and shareholder matters, investigations and proceedings before securities and other professional regulators, class actions, professional liability, commercial arbitration, transactional disputes and proxy fights, bankruptcy and insolvency litigation, employment litigation, oppression remedy claims, fraud litigation, transnational litigation, investment loss matters and insurance disputes. Michael also has experience with cases in the areas of defamation, estates, internet and cyber liability, real estate, construction and intellectual property. He has extensive experience acting for both plaintiffs and defendants in civil litigation matters, and for and against regulators in regulatory investigations and proceedings.

Michael has appeared as counsel before all levels of court in Ontario, arbitral tribunals, and administrative tribunals including the Ontario Securities Commission, the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, the Mutual Fund Dealers Association, the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario, the British Columbia Securities Commission, and the Alberta Insurance Council. Michael also has experience in proceedings before the courts of other provinces, and in assisting clients in investigations and proceedings commenced by various regulators including the Financial Services Regulatory Authority, the CFA Institute, and the FP Canada Standards Council.

Michael regularly volunteers as pro bono duty counsel to unrepresented litigants at the Superior Court of Justice and Small Claims Court, and acts as a coach to the Osgoode Hall team at the annual Corporate/Securities Law Moot.

Michael joined the firm after practicing in the litigation department of a major national law firm.

Awards & Recognition

Michael has been recognized by Benchmark Litigation Canada as one of the top litigation lawyers under 40 in Canada and a Future Litigation Star.

Speaking Engagements & Publications

Co-Author, “OSC Steps Up Crypto Enforcement and Targets Foreign Crypto Platforms”, July 19, 2022

Co-Author, “Preserving Privilege in M&A Transactions”, M&A Risk Advisor, April 11, 2022

Co-Author, “Clash of the Cine-Titans: Court Finds That COVID-19 is Not an Excuse to Walk Away from an M&A Transaction”, December 23, 2021

Co-Author, “New Guidance on Regulation of Crypto-Trading Platforms in Canada”, April 29, 2021

Speaker, “Overview of Securities Litigation”, Institute for Law Clerks of Ontario Seminar, October 24, 2018

Speaker, “Liability of Directors and Officers”, Eighth Annual Securities Symposium, Advocates’ Society,  September 5, 2018

Speaker, “Do’s and Don’ts’ of Handling Client Complaints and Conducting Investigations”, Client Seminar, July 2018

Author, Individual Acts and Corporate Benefits: Towards a More Expansive Standard for Company Liability, April 2018

Co-Author, “Don’t be the next Equifax: Cyber-liability in an Age of Data Insecurity: Recognizing and Managing Cyber-risk”, Private Capital Markets Association Newsletter, October 2017

Co-Author, “Separate, Independent and Confounding: Understanding Personal Liability for Corporate Acts”, Annual Review of Civil Litigation (Toronto: Thomson Reuters Canada Limited, 2017, reproduced with permission).

Co-Presenter, “Outside Business Activities and Personal Financial Dealings: Civil and Regulatory Risk and When to Seek Legal Advice” Association of Canadian Compliance Professionals, November 2016

Co-Author, “Ontario Securities Commission Reviews: An Exercise in Futility or a Road out of the Quagmire?” Private Capital Markets Association of Canada Market Insights Issue, Fall 2014

Co-author, “The Remedies for Defamation on Wikipedia”, The Lawyers Weekly, September 27, 2013

Co-author, “The Growing Reach of the Ministry of the Environment”, (paper presented to the Ontario Bar Association Section on Environmental Law, Toronto, Ontario, February 7, 2013)

Co-author, “Canada” in International Insolvency: a Jurisdictional Comparison, 3rd Edition, ed. J. William Boone, European Lawyer Reference Series (London: European Lawyer, 2012)

Co-author, “Damages: Considerations in addressing Physical Damage to Land”, (paper presented to the Ontario Bar Association Section on Environmental Law, Toronto, Ontario, November 28, 2012)