Partner
Tony excels at developing innovative solutions for our clients’ complex litigation matters.
Clients in a broad range of industries – including mining, manufacturing, services and telecommunications – rely on Tony’s expertise and big-picture thinking to resolve their intricate commercial disputes. He advises on cross-border proceedings, class actions, intellectual property litigation and administrative/regulatory matters. Before joining our firm, Tony was a partner at another leading national law firm.
Tony is an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law and a regular instructor for the Law Society of Ontario’s Professional Conduct and Practice in Ontario program. He is a board member of the Foundation for International Education in Neurological Surgery.
Partner
Tony excels at developing innovative solutions for our clients’ complex litigation matters.
Clients in a broad range of industries – including mining, manufacturing, services and telecommunications – rely on Tony’s expertise and big-picture thinking to resolve their intricate commercial disputes. He advises on cross-border proceedings, class actions, intellectual property litigation and administrative/regulatory matters. Before joining our firm, Tony was a partner at another leading national law firm.
Tony is an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law and a regular instructor for the Law Society of Ontario’s Professional Conduct and Practice in Ontario program. He is a board member of the Foundation for International Education in Neurological Surgery.
TransAlta Corporation
Acting for TransAlta Corporation in defending an oppression action brought by Mangrove Partners, a minority shareholder. Mangrove seeks to set aside a $750-million strategic transaction entered into between TransAlta and Brookfield Renewable Partners.
TransAlta Corporation
Acted for TransAlta Corporation in defending successfully "public interest" proceedings initiated against TransAlta by Mangrove Partners before the Ontario Securities Commission and Alberta Securities Commission in respect of the election of Directors of TransAlta at its Annual Meeting on April 26, 2019, and concerning a $750 million financing transaction entered into between TransAlta and Brookfield Renewable Partners.
Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation
Successfully acted for the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation in a judicial review application brought by the City of Niagara and the Region of Niagara Falls concerning the selection process for an operator of the Niagara gaming bundle.
Vale Canada Limited
Acted for Vale Canada Limited and its affiliates in defending contractual claims before the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador in an amount of almost $500 million that were asserted by the Plaintiff under an Option Agreement pertaining to the Voisey's Bay Nickel Project. This case was settled in September, 2018, at the end of the first week of a four month trial that would have involved dozens of lay and expert witnesses. This was the first "hybrid trial" and first electronic trial ever conducted in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Royal Group, Inc.
Acted for Royal Group, Inc. in its successful defence of a wrongful dismissal action commenced by its former Chief Financial Officer. The action was dismissed by Justice Myers of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in July 2017, following a three-week trial in the Commercial List. Royal Group prevailed on every issue, proving that the Plaintiff's role in certain related party transactions gave rise to cause for dismissal notwithstanding that the Plaintiff had previously been acquitted of criminal charges brought against him in respect of those transactions.
McKesson Corporation
Acted for McKesson Corporation, a leading international healthcare services and information technology company, in connection with its $3-billion acquisition of Rexall and Rexall Pharma Plus, which operate approximately 470 pharmacies in Canada, from Katz Group, one of Canada's largest privately owned enterprises.
Detour Gold Corporation
Acted for Detour Gold Corporation in a securities class action involving alleged breaches of the public disclosure requirements of the Securities Act (Ontario) in relation to the company's production and cost guidance during the ramp-up of the Detour Lake Mine, and to details of one of the company's credit agreements.
Barrick Gold Corporation
Acting for Barrick Gold Corporation and certain of its former and existing officers and directors in defending eight multi-billion dollar class actions commenced in jurisdictions across Canada pertaining to alleged breaches by Barrick of its disclosure obligations under the securities laws of Ontario and other provinces concerning Barrick's Pascua Lama mining project in Chile and Argentina.
Robert Schad and Athena Automation Limited
Acted for Robert Schad and his company Athena Automation Limited in defending successfully a series of claims asserted against them for damages and injunctive relief arising from their alleged misuse of confidential information and the breach by Mr. Schad of his non-compete and non-solicitation obligations owed to Husky Injection Molding Systems Limited, a company founded by Mr. Schad half a century ago. All claims asserted by Husky against Mr. Schad and Athena in this "bet the company" case were dismissed by Justice Newbould of the Ontario Superior Court in April 2016, following a lengthy trial in the Commercial List.
General Motors of Canada Limited
Acted for General Motors of Canada Limited in defending successfully claims asserted against it for approximately $1 billion in a class action before the Ontario Superior Court on behalf of approximately 180 former dealers of GMCL who were eliminated from GMCL's dealer network during the restructuring of the company in 2009. This case resulted in a lengthy trial in the Ontario Superior Court and appeals to the Ontario Court of Appeal. All claims asserted against GMCL were dismissed by the trial judge. The Ontario Court of Appeal upheld the trial judge's decision dismissing all claims against GMCL. This has been described by legal commentators as "one of the highest profile cases in Canadian franchise history".
Not All Customers Are the Same: Top Court Rules Business Customers Cannot Join Consumer Class Action
Apr. 09, 2019 - In its recent ruling in TELUS Communications Inc. v Wellman, 2019 SCC 19 (Wellman), the Supreme Court of Canada held that business customers of TELUS that entered into mandatory arbitration agreements cannot seek relief in court by participating in a class action together with...
Mar. 13, 2018 - Every day, across Canada, business and tax lawyers rely on the judge-made doctrine of “transactional common interest privilege” to facilitate the due diligence process and to ensure the efficient structuring and negotiation of commercial transactions. This beneficial common law doctrine allows a...
Legal Privilege: Are You Protected?
Oct. 25, 2017 - In this article in Listed Magazine, Patricia Olasker, Tony Alexander and Poonam Puri discuss legal privilege in business transactions, the loss of transactional common interest privilege and best practices that companies should consider to protect the confidentiality of their...
Patricia Olasker, Tony Alexander and Poonam Puri discuss legal privilege in Listed Magazine
Oct. 25, 2017 - In this article in Listed Magazine, Patricia Olasker, Tony Alexander and Poonam Puri discuss legal privilege in business transactions, the loss of transactional common interest privilege and best practices that companies should consider to protect the confidentiality of their...
Davies Governance Insights 2017
Oct. 02, 2017 - Davies Governance Insights 2017 provides analysis of the top governance trends and issues important to Canadian boards, senior management and governance observers. The 2017 edition provides readers with Davies’ take on important topics ranging from shareholder engagement and activism to...
The Law Society of Upper Canada, The Seventh Annual In-House Counsel Summit, “Solicitor-Client Privilege: A Guide for In-House Counsel”; Toronto, ON
Feb. 27, 2017
Federal Court Refuses to Recognize Common Interest Privilege in the Transactional Context
Dec. 23, 2016 - The doctrine of “common interest privilege” ensures that a document or communication that is already protected by solicitor-client or litigation privilege does not lose that protection when it is shared between two parties sharing a “common interest” in either litigation or a...
The Law Society of Upper Canada, Professional Conduct and Practice in Ontario, “Solicitor-Client Privilege and Confidentiality Rule 3.3: Issues for Corporate Lawyers”; Toronto, ON
Dec. 01, 2016
New Record-Keeping Obligations for Ontario Corporations Are Coming
Nov. 04, 2016 - A year ago, the Ontario Legislature passed the Forfeited Corporate Property Act, 2015 and the Escheats Act, 2015. Both new statutes are scheduled to come into force on December 10, 2016. Despite the arcane subject matter of these new enactments – namely, the modernization of the...
Cross Border & Multijurisdiction Class Actions – A Canadian Perspective
Apr. 20, 2015 - Recent Developments in Business and Corporate Litigation, 2015 Edition (Chicago: American Bar Association)
Benchmark Canada Impact Case of the Year Award (2019)—Recipient
Chambers Canada Award—Litigation Firm of the Year (2018)
Chambers Canada: Canada’s Leading Lawyers for Business—Litigation, General Commercial Department: Ontario (Band 1 for firm)
Ontario, 1994
University of Toronto, LLB, 1992
Queen’s University, MA, 1989
Queen’s University, BA (Honours), 1988
Foundation for International Education in Neurological Surgery
Tony is a regular instructor at the Law Society of Ontario’s Professional Conduct and Practice in Ontario program. He has lectured on the defence of securities class actions as part of the Osgoode Hall Law School LLM course Securities Litigation and Enforcement. Tony has taught The Business Torts (an upper-year seminar) as an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.
