Commercial insolvency lawyer, with extensive experience litigating complex, sophisticated matters and a particular focus in restructuring and insolvency law, including security enforcement, receivership, bankruptcy and court supervised restructuring processes.
Education & Credentials
Education
University of Manitoba
B.A.- Honours
University of Manitoba
LL.B.- David Levin Memorial Scholarship for highest standing in Real Property
- Canada Law Book Co. prize for highest standing in Taxation
- National Victoria & Grey Trust prize for highest standing in Trusts
- Archer Micay Q.C. prize for highest standing in Business Law
- Dean’s Honour List all semesters
Called to the Bar of Ontario
1988Prominent Assignments
- Experience in conducting real time litigation involving insolvent enterprises, and advising clients on issues arising in large, demanding corporate reorganizations and insolvency cases.
- Smart, tenacious and efficient, a strong team player who gets the job done.
- Adept at quickly understanding complex legal and business issues and producing excellent results under pressure.
- Represents the interests of lenders, shareholders, debtors, receivers, trustees, and monitors in all types of insolvency proceedings both before the courts and in informal restructuring and settlement negotiations.
- Regularly appears as counsel before the civil courts in Ontario, and primarily the Commercial List, litigating a wide variety of commercial matters arising in corporate restructuring and insolvency cases.
- Conducts all aspects of commercial litigation and provides strategic advice to clients in a wide variety of cases, including oppression remedy proceedings, domestic and multi- jurisdictional corporate fraud, restructuring and commercial litigation cases, security enforcement and realization.
- Carriage of numerous cases on behalf of financial institutions and corporate clients arising out of corporate fraud and recovery of commercial indebtedness, including successfully litigating injunction motions, motions for summary judgment, and trials to enforce payment of promissory notes, guarantees, and mortgages, and successfully defending multi-million dollars claims for breach of trust, negligence, infringement of intellectual property rights, and equitable subordination.
Community Involvement
- Executive member, Insolvency and Restructuring Section, Canadian Bar Association
- Member of the Executive, Ontario Bar Association – Insolvency Section
- Instructor – Law Society of Upper Canada, Bar Admission Course, Insolvency Law Seminar
- Advocate’s Society, member
- International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation, member
- Canadian Insolvency Foundation, member
- Insol International, member
Publications/Presentations
- Co-Author, "Managing Uncertainty Through Financial Crisis Requires Proactive Guidance," Dickinson Wright Client Alert, March 2020
- Speaker - Law Society of Ontario, Continuing Professional Development 2018 and 2019
- Speaker - Ontario Bar Association – Continuing Professional Development Program, Bankruptcy: May 27, 2015
- Co-Chair – Ontario Bar Association – Continuing Professional Development Program, Insolvency and Construction Law,Fall 2014
- Speaker - Canadian Insolvency Professional Association Insolvency and Restructuring Forum in Toronto (2010)
- Speaker – Lawyers’ Associated Worldwide Insolvency Law Conference (2008)
- Speaker – CIBC’s Agricultural Lending Seminar (May 2004).
- Presenter – Blakes’ student seminar on insolvency law practice (2000- 2004).
- Presenter – Osgoode Hall Law School, Intensive Business Law Course, cross-border insolvency law seminar (2003 and 2004).
- Speaker – 2001 Canadian Insolvency Professional Association Forum in Toronto.
- Author of numerous papers and articles on insolvency and bankruptcy law, including publications in the Commercial Insolvency Reporter, Insolvency News, and National Insolvency Review.