Chris’ practice includes corporate/commercial litigation, libel and slander, injunctions, professional discipline and negligence, employment law, securities litigation, medical defence litigation, administrative law, appeals and judicial reviews. He is the co-editor of O’Brien’s Encyclopedia of Forms – Civil Litigation (Canada Law Book) and the author of Interlocutory Proceedings (Canada Law Book).
He has appeared before the Ontario Court of Appeal, Divisional Court, Superior Court of Justice, the British Columbia Court of Appeal, the Federal Court of Canada and the Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench. He also regularly appears before many professional and regulatory bodies and at coroners’ inquests. He has a particular interest in Anton Piller orders and has acted as supervising solicitor for these orders. He also acts as an independent legal advisor to a number of administrative tribunals.
Chris is a frequent speaker and writer on many topics, including civil and corporate/commercial litigation, injunctions, product liability, employment law and workplace investigations.
He is a member of The Advocates Society, Canadian Bar Association, Toronto Lawyers’ Association and the Association for Trial Lawyers of America.
Chris attended Trinity College, University of Toronto (B.A., 1986) and law school at the University of British Columbia (LL.B., 1989). He was admitted to the Ontario bar in 1991 after articling with McCarthy Tétrault LLP. He joined Stockwoods shortly thereafter.
- Successfully appealed to the British Columbia Court of Appeal an order of the British Columbia Securities Commission imposing sanctions based upon agreement with and order of the Ontario Securities Commission.
- Counsel for the Presidents of the Ontario Teachers’ Federations in lawsuit against the then Premier, Michael Harris, Minister of Education David Johnson and Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Ontario. Successfully resisted Summary Judgment and Rule 21 motions brought by the defendants (Lennon v. Ontario (Premier) (1999), 45 O.R. (3d) 84).
- Counsel for a number of Ontario hospitals in the Red Cross CCAA proceedings.
- Counsel for a plaintiff in a multi-million dollar breach of confidence claim against a chartered bank and law firm. Successful on appeal to the Court of Appeal from a Rule 21 motion which decision was then one of the leading decisions on Rule 21. (Hanson v. Bank of Nova Scotia et al (1994), 19 O.R. (3d) 142 (C.A.)).
- Successfully defended a number of Ontario Hospitals in the HIV and Hepatitis C class proceedings.
- Counsel for a major computer hardware company in a multi-million dollar action against its insurance company, insurance broker, alarm system provider, and alarm monitoring service (Supercom of California Ltd. v. Sovereign General Insurance Co. (1998) 37 O.R. (3d) 597).
- Co-Editor, O’Briens Encyclopedia of Forms – Division VIII – Civil Litigation, Canada Law Book, 1995
- Author, Interlocutory Proceedings, Canada Law Book, 2004
- Emerging Issues in Evidence: Getting a leg up in Today’s Tech World, The Canadian Institute’s Conference on Advanced Evidence (Ottawa), 2010
- Seize the Day – and a Bunch of Important Evidence: Anton Pillar Orders (with P. Flaherty), Osgoode Professional Development, Injunctions: The Practical Guide to Law, Procedure and Strategy, 2010
- Good Faith Steps to Preventing Third Party Bad Faith Claims: Understanding and Exploring Developments in the Law, The Canadian Institute’s Conference on Litigation Insurance Coverage Disputes, 2007
- Costs of Motions for Interlocutory Injunctions and for Summary Judgment, The Law Society of Upper Canada, 1999.
- Liability of Officers and Directors in Tort, (with John Cisorio), Corporate Liability Vol. V, No. 1, Federated Press, 1999
- Recent Developments on Waiver of Privilege, Commercial Litigation Volume VI, No. 1, Federated Press, 1999
- Internal Corporate and Workplace Investigations (with B. Gover and J. Braden), Federated Press, April 1999
- Strict Liability for Blood and Blood Products (with N. Spies), For the Defence, August, 1998
- Civil Remedies for Fraudulent Activity, Metropolitan Toronto Police Annual International Fraud Conference, 1997
- Update on Employment Contracts: New Twists, New Curves, New Solutions to Old Problems (with Richard J. Nixon) The Canadian Institute, 1990
- Legal Implications of Storm Water Management Systems (with T. Heintzman and H. Underwood), Storm Water Management Seminar, Technical University of Nova Scotia, 1990
- Panelist, Advocates Society Court House Series: Changing Your Tiger’s Stripes: Controlling Your Own Witness, February 16, 2012
- Speaker, The Canadian Institute’s Conference on Advanced Evidence (Ottawa), June 23, 2010
- Moderator and Speaker, Seize the Day – and a Bunch of Important Evidence: Anton Pillar Orders, Osgoode Professional Development, Injunctions: The Practical Guide to Law, Procedure and Strategy, April 19, 2010
- Speaker, Good Faith Steps to Preventing Third Party Bad Faith Claims: Understanding and Exploring Developments in the Law, The Canadian Institute’s Annual Conference on Litigating Insurance Coverage disputes, June 18th, 2007
- Speaker, Expert Evidence in Administrative Hearings, Advocates’ Society Special Litigation Presentation: Strategies for Litigating before Administrative Tribunals, March 2, 2007
- Panelist, Procedural Justice? Substantive Justice? Ask the Justice? Ontario Bar Association 2007 Institute of Continuing Legal Education, February 5, 2007
- Speaker, The New Lawyer Experience, The Law Society of Upper Canada, November 7, 2002
- Seminar instructor for Advocacy and Civil Litigation Sections of Law Society of Upper Canada Bar Admission Course, 1997-2007
- Instructor, Osgoode Hall, Intensive Trial Advocacy Workshop, July 2002
- Chair, Workplace Investigations Conference, Federated Press, December 1, 1999
- Speaker, Costs: The Bottom Line, The Law Society of Upper Canada, 1999
- Chair and Speaker, Managing Internal Investigations, Federated Press, April 16 and 17, 1999
- Speaker, Metropolitan Toronto Police Annual International Fraud Conference, 1997
- Member, The Advocates' Society
- Member, American Association for Justice
- Member, AD IDEM
- Member, Canadian Bar Association
- Member, Toronto Lawyers’ Association
- BV Distinguished rated by Martindale-Hubbell
