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Ryder Gilliland

DMG Advocates

2026_BM Canada_Litigation Star.png
Position: Partner
Rating:
  • Litigation Star
Practice Areas:
Entertainment
Securities
Tax disputes
Commercial
Media
Defamation
Jurisdictions:
Industry Sectors:
Media
Entertainment
Banking and financial services
Biography

Ryder is an accomplished litigator with a broad litigation practice focused on commercial litigation, defamation, and privacy law. His experience spans a wide range of disputes, including complex contractual disputes, construction and infrastructure-related litigation, internal investigations, securities litigation, professional liability, libel litigation, privacy litigation, and commercial arbitration. He has appeared at every level of court in Ontario, as well as the Court of Queen’s Bench in New Brunswick, the Federal Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Appeal, the Tax Court of Canada, and the Supreme Court of Canada. He has also appeared before many administrative tribunals including the Competition Tribunal, the Ontario Securities Commission, the Ontario Municipal Board, and the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.

Ryder’s hearing room experience and skills are complemented by substantive expertise in the areas of commercial arbitration, defamation, and privacy/cybersecurity.

Commercial Arbitration: Ryder has extensive experience in domestic and international arbitration proceedings, both ad hoc arbitrations and under institutional rules including Alternative Dispute Resolution Institute of Canada (ADR), the International Chamber of Commerce International Court of Arbitration (ICC) and American Arbitration Association’s International Centre Dispute Resolution (ICDR). He is a past-President of the Toronto Commercial Arbitration Society and current member of the Arbitration Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). He is a member of ICDR’s Canadian panel of arbitrators. Ryder holds the Qualified Arbitrator (Q. Arb) designation from the ADR Institute of Canada.

Media & Defamation: Ryder has been recognized by his peers for years as one of the leading media and defamation lawyers in Canada. For more than 15 years he has been advising community and metropolitan newspapers, digital publishers, book publishers and broadcasters on issues relating to defamation law, publication bans, sealing orders, privacy and copyright. He has acted in leading cases in many of these areas. He also has extensive experience as counsel in defamation disputes between individuals and corporations and in advising and assisting in connection with online reputation management. He is the past-President of the Canadian Media Lawyers’ Association. He is an Adjunct Professor at Ryerson where he has taught media law to journalism students for a decade.

Privacy/Cybersecurity: Ryder regularly advises clients on matters relating to fraud, extortion, and security breaches requiring internal and/or external investigation and corporate reputation management. In the cybersecurity space, Ryder has assisted clients with a variety of issues ranging from lost or stolen data, cyber-extortion threats, malware and phishing attacks and vendor service provider breaches.

Key practice areas
  • Arbitration
  • Commercial and transactions
  • Commercial disputes
  • Construction
  • Dispute resolution
  • Entertainment
  • International arbitration
  • Securities
  • Tax disputes
  • Privacy/Cybersecurity
Sector expertise
  • Automotive
  • Financial services
  • Insurance
  • Media
Academic qualifications
  • Bachelor of Laws (LLB), Dalhousie University
  • Bachelor of Arts, University of Toronto
Association/network memberships
  • Canadian Bar Association
  • Toronto Commercial Arbitration Society
  • International Chamber of Commerce – Arbitration Committee
  • International Association of Privacy Professionals
  • Canadian Media Lawyers’ Association (Past President)
  • Media Law Resource Centre
  • The Advocates’ Society
  • ADR Institute of Canada
Bar Admissions
  • Law Society of Ontario, 2002
Address:
155 University Avenue, Suite 1230
Toronto, ON, M5H 3B7
Canada
Tel:+1 416 238 7537 Email:Contact this practitioner Website:https://www.dmgadvocates.com/lawyers/ryder-gilliland/