Paul acts for and provides advice to individuals, public and private companies, and public and other quasi-governmental institutions in the areas of administrative law, professional discipline and regulatory law, defamation and media law, class proceedings, and general civil and commercial litigation. He has appeared before all levels of court in Ontario, the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal Court, and various administrative bodies, including the Ontario Securities Commission, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, the Ontario Racing Commission, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario, and the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.
Paul received his Hons. B.A. (Philosophy) from York University in 2004 and LL.B. from Osgoode Hall Law School in 2007, where he was awarded the Dean’s Gold Key and other academic honours upon graduation. He served as a law clerk to the Honourable Justice Phelan of the Federal Court before being called to the Ontario bar and joining Stockwoods in 2008.
He is a member of The Advocates’ Society, the Canadian/Ontario Bar Associations, the Toronto Lawyers Association, the Canadian Council of Administrative Tribunals, the Society of Ontario Adjudicators and Regulators, as well as a director of the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers.
Paul is a co-author of the chapter “The Authorized Provision of Legal Services by Non-Lawyers” in Canadian Legal Practice and author of various publications in peer-reviewed legal journals. He is the Faculty Advisor to Osgoode’s Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Team and a volunteer lawyer with Pro Bono Law Ontario, the Ontario Securities Commission Litigation Assistance Program, and the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario Legal Support Centre.
- Bruno Appliance Inc. v. Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP et al /Fred Mauldin et al v. Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP et al /Demessey Ltd. v. Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP et al
These three cases involve claims against a law firm, a former partner, and their former client. The plaintiffs alleged that the defendants were engaged in business activities that amounted to a fraudulent investment scheme. Stockwoods successfully defended motions for summary judgment brought by the plaintiffs in the first two cases and had parts of the claim in the third case struck by the court, as well as obtained significant awards of costs and security for costs for their client. - Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission v. Whatcott
This appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada involves an activist who claims that he was obliged by his religion to speak out against same sex relationships and to oppose teaching about these issues in Canadian schools. The SCC considered whether the provision of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code prohibiting certain types of publications, and under which the original complaint was brought against the respondent, infringed the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Stockwoods acted for the intervener Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, which argued that the legislation’s impact on freedom of expression resulted in an unjustifiable breach of s. 2(b) of the Charter. - Williams v. Corporation of the City of Toronto
Stockwoods is counsel for the representative litigant in this class proceeding in which damages are claimed against the municipality for its failure to comply with its statutory obligations. The class consists of low-income tenants who did not receive notice from the municipality of their entitlement to statutory rent reductions and, as a result, overpaid rent.
- ALS Society of Essex County et al v. Corporation of the City of Windsor /Belle River Hockey District Association v. Corporation of the Town of Tecumseh
Stockwoods is counsel for the defendants in these related class actions, which seek recovery of lottery licensing fees paid to the municipalities dating back over forty years. At certification, the defendants successfully persuaded Justice Patterson to issue a restrained order and reduce the proposed claim to an approximate five-year claim as of 2010 (see 2011 ONSC 91). - Coventree Inc., Geoff Cornish and Dean Tai
This was an enforcement proceeding before the Ontario Securities Commission with respect to allegations that the respondent company and its directors/officers failed to comply with disclosure obligations under Ontario securities law. The allegations arose out of the market disruption in August 2007 and the liquidity issues in the asset-backed commercial paper market in Canada. Stockwoods is counsel to one of the co-founders and former CEO of the respondent company, a niche investment bank specializing in structured finance using securitization-based financing technology. - Turmel v. CBC
These appeals arose out of claims regarding an episode of “The Dragons’ Den”, a CBC reality television program on which the plaintiff appeared, and by which he was allegedly defamed. CBC obtained summary judgment dismissing the plaintiff’s actions. Paul was co-counsel before the Ontario Court of Appeal, which upheld the dismissal (see 2011 ONCA 519), and before the Supreme Court of Canada, which dismissed the plaintiff’s application for leave to appeal. - Attaran v. Canada (Foreign Affairs)
This application in the Federal Court sought review of the Minister’s decision to redact portions of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade’s annual human rights reports on Afghanistan before releasing them pursuant to an access to information request. The applicant sought disclosure of the reports for his academic research. Stockwoods was counsel to the intervener Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, which supported the applicant’s position.
- Co-Author, The Authorized Provision of Legal Services by Non-Lawyers: Paralegals and Others (loose-leaf), Dodek and Hoskins (eds.), Canadian Legal Practice (Butterworths)
- Author, The Common Law: A dynamic and messy process, Advocates Society Journal (pp. 34-35), June 2011
- Author, Ethical Lawyering Across Canada’s Legal Traditions, Indigenous Law Journal, Vol. 9, No. 1, p. 167, 2010
- Co-Author, Statutory Interpretation by Tribunals, Regulatory Boards and Administrative Law Litigation, Vol. X, No. 4, 614-627, 2009
- Author, Improving Wrongful Conviction Review: Lessons from a Comparative Analysis of Continental Criminal Procedure, 45 Alberta Law Review 117, 2007
- Author, A Virtuous Profession: Re-Conceptualizing Legal Ethics from a Virtue-based Moral Philosophy, 22 Windsor Review of Legal and Social Issues 1, 2007
- Author, Emotional Implicature, Philosophia: York University Undergraduate Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 4, 2004
- Adjunct Faculty / Course Instructor, Foundations of Canadian Law, University of Toronto Faculty of Law, Internationally Trained Lawyers Program, 2011
- Faculty Advisor, Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot, Osgoode Hall Law School, 2009 to present
- Panel Moderator, Road to Justice, Law Society of Upper Canada / Metro Toronto Chinese and South Asian Legal Clinic / Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers, 2011
- Member, The Advocates’ Society
- Member & Director, Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers
- Member, Law Society of Upper Canada Equity Advisory Group
- Member, Canadian Bar Association / Ontario Bar Association
- Member, Toronto Lawyers’ Association
- Member, Canadian Council of Administrative Tribunals
- Member, Society of Ontario Adjudicators and Regulators
- Member, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, Canadian Issues Committee
