LAWYERS

Michael is an experienced litigator whose practice focuses on corporate/commercial and securities disputes. Michael’s practice includes contractual and shareholder litigation, investigations and proceedings before securities and other professional regulators, commercial arbitration, professional liability (including the defence of claims against accountants, financial and insurance advisors, and lawyers), class actions, transactional disputes and proxy fights, bankruptcy and insolvency litigation, employment litigation, oppression and derivative claims, fraud litigation, cross-border claims, real estate cases, investment loss matters and insurance disputes. He has extensive experience acting for both plaintiffs and defendants in civil litigation matters and commercial arbitrations, including on trials, appeals, motions and injunctions, and for and against regulators in regulatory investigations and proceedings. Michael has worked with a broad range of corporate and individual clients, with particular experience in disputes in the financial services, securities, mining and natural resources, software and technology, cannabis and accounting sectors.

Michael has appeared as counsel before all levels of court in Ontario, arbitral tribunals, and administrative tribunals including the Ontario Securities Commission (now Capital Markets Tribunal), 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 financial regulators.

Michael 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 Chambers Canada as an Up and Coming securities litigator and by Benchmark Litigation Canada as one of the top litigation lawyers 40 & Under in Canada and a Future Litigation Star.

According to his Chambers Review, “Michael has got great insticts and a lot of talent.” and “Michael is always a pleasure to work with. He is very service-oriented; his ability to grasp issues quickly and distil key points is excellent.”

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)