Torys

Heralded by peers as a "blue-chip corporate commercial firm," Torys has been an Ontario institution since it first opened its doors in 1941. "They are universally regarded as the very top," surmises one peer, echoing the sentiment of several others. "We see them very often, because they seem to get a piece of any litigation coming through Toronto." Speaking to the firm's trial acumen, a fellow trial lawyer observes, "Torys seems to take everything all the way! That is a group of serious litigators who love to be at trial." With its Toronto headquarters being its only Canadian operation for many years, Torys nonetheless achieved recognition and a prestigious standing all throughout Canada. More recently, in March 2011, the firm expanded westward into Alberta and opened an office in Calgary, bridging the east-west divide and now establishing itself as a litigation resource for the two most dynamic Canadian business epicenters. Through its New York location, the firm is also poised to attend to matters bridging the cross-border divide. Most recently, the firm expanded into Québec, opening a Montréal office to be headed by a new hire, class-actions specialist Sylvie Rodrigue, who the firm poached from Norton Rose Fulbright. "Getting Sylvie was a good coup for Torys," opines a peer, "She is very well respected among the class action bar and splits her time between Toronto and Montréal."

The firm still boasts its deepest bench in Toronto, however, and it is also this office that earns recognition for being one of Canada's most diverse. Insolvency specialist David Bish acted for TD Bank and 15 other lenders in the CBCA and CCAA restructuring proceedings of Lightstream Resources, the largest oil and gas CCAA filing in Alberta to date. Bish is also counsel to Bank of America and approximately 20 other lenders owed $2 billion in the CCAA and cross-border US and Colombian insolvency proceedings of Pacific Exploration. Intellectual property partner Andrew Shaughnessy acts as lead counsel in a biosimilar litigation brought by Amgen against generic manufacturers, and is lead counsel to Pfizer on two PMNOC proceedings heading to hearing in April 2017. Securities star John Fabello is lead counsel to underwriter defendants in a securities class action in which he defeated a motion by the class plaintiff to add claims against the underwriters for statutory primary and secondary market liability. He also, as lead counsel to Deutsche Bank (Nova Scotia), won a motion to dismiss claim in a case involving recovery of damages and loss associated with demise of large technology company. Andrew Bernstein maintains a practice that straddles commercial litigation, intellectual property and public law. He is lead counsel representing Thomson Reuters Canada in a class action brought regarding one of its electronic database products. The issue was initially fair dealing but after settlement it ended up before the Divisional Court on an appeal from refusal to approve the settlement. He is also lead counsel representing Resource Well Completions in a patent infringement action brought by Packers Plus, in a case that is due to advance to trial in February 2017. John Laskin, whose practice combines administrative and constitutional law, competition law and class actions, represented Rogers Communications as lead counsel and was successful in the appeal of a case involving the constitutionality of a municipality's attempt to block Rogers from constructing a cell phone tower at the location chosen by Rogers and approved by the Federal Department of Communications; the Supreme Court granted the appeal and held the municipality's actions unconstitutional.