199 Bay St, Suite 4000, Commerce Court West, Toronto, ON
Year called to bar: 1982 (ON)
Michael is recognized as one of the leading senior commercial litigators in Canada. In recent years, he has acted on some of the most significant litigation disputes in Canada for clients in various industries. Michael has appeared at all levels of court in Canada, as well as at proceedings in the US, Netherlands and England. He has represented clients in criminal jury trials, civil and constitutional appeals, and other cases including before the Supreme Court of Canada. He is consistently ranked among the top Canadian litigation lawyers in all major legal directories and ranking publications. He is among a distinguished group of the foremost Canadian advocates as a past president of The Advocates' Society, and has a broad range of community involvements. Michael has deep experience in most areas of the law, including corporate and commercial, taxation, securities, constitutional, insolvency, directors' and officers' liability, investment regulation, professional liability, government contracts and relationships, stakeholder rights, trusts, bilateral investment treaties, and international law.
Nortel Networks Corporation (Nortel Canada) is the Canadian parent company of what was one of the largest telecommunications businesses in the world. In early 2009, formal insolvency proceedings were commenced in Canada, the United States and England, among other places. Nortel’s worldwide business was liquidated through a number of Court-approved sales of its business units and a US$4.5-billion sale of its residual patents, resulting in US$7.3 billion of global sale proceeds to be allocated amongst the Nortel debtor companies in Canada, the United States and Europe.
On June 30, 2017, Stelco Inc. (Stelco), formerly U.S. Steel Canada Inc., emerged from Companies’ Creditors Arrangements Act (CCAA) proceedings through the implementation of a CCAA plan. This involved the compromise of more than $2 billion of debt and the restructuring of approximately $2 billion of pension and benefit obligations.
