Expertise
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Practice Areas:
- Bar Admissions:
- Education:
- Dalhousie University (1993) LLB
- University of Oxford (1992) BA (Honours - Jurisprudence)
- University of Toronto (1990) MA (Philosophy)
- University of Toronto (1989) BA (Honours - Politics and Philosophy)
Details
- Bio
- Cases
- Associations
- Blog Posts
- News & Media
- Publications & Presentations
- Recognition
Lawrence E. Thacker
"Larry provide[s] great, timely advice on strategy and he consider[s] legal and practical issues." — Chambers Canada
One of Canada's leading trial and appellate lawyers, Lawrence has broad experience in mergers and acquisitions, shareholder disputes, complex class actions, infrastructure disputes, procurement matters, securities issues, tax litigation, commercial arbitrations and insolvency restructuring. He has served as lead counsel in several complex international commercial arbitration matters involving large energy infrastructure and power generation projects. He appears regularly at all levels of the Canadian courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada.
Lawrence is also deeply involved in legal education. For a decade he was an adjunct professor in the Political Science Department at the University of Toronto, where he taught international law. Since 1998 he has been an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, where he teaches trial advocacy and serves as a team leader and instructor in the school's Intensive Trial Advocacy Workshop. He also teaches courses in trial advocacy skills for The Advocates' Society.
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2007414 Ontario Inc v Berman et al
Counsel to the plaintiffs in an oppression and breach of contract dispute regarding real estate developments and not for profit corporations.
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Songbird Life Science Inc v Hyris Limited
Counsel to Hyris Limited, resisting an application before the Superior Court of Justice seeking injunctive relief. The application related to Canadian distribution of Hyris’s proprietary, COVID-19-specific diagnostic technology, which permitted users to conduct accurate COVID-19 testing “on site”, without the need for a medical laboratory.
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Canadian Thermo Windows v Seangio
Counsel to the moving defendants in a successful Anti-SLAPP motion, which determined when a motion is “made”.
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12178711 Canada Inc v Wilks Brothers, LLC
Counsel to G2S2 Capital Inc., a significant creditor, in connection with a contested CBCA restructuring of Calfrac Well Services Ltd.
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Counsel to the successful respondent in an arbitration about the contractual right to recover interest and other expenses from condominium corporations in relation to the construction of a community center in a private residential community.
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Maiero v Jovian Capital Corporation
Counsel to the defendant financial services companies at trial in a breach of contract claim brought by a financial planner and mutual fund salesman seeking $50 million in management fees payable under a royalty agreement. Succeeded in reducing the damages payable to the defendants to under $90,000.
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Galway Gold Inc v Republic of Colombia
Counsel to Galway Gold Inc in an investor-state arbitration against the Republic of Columbia before the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
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Paul J. Murphy v Guyana Goldfields Inc
Counsel to the former Chief Financial Officer of the corporate defendant in a case alleging the breach of an employment contract and seeking damages for libel.
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Irving Shipbuilding Inc v Attorney General of Canada and CSMG Inc
Counsel in lengthy judicial review proceedings in Federal Court (Trial Division) and Federal Court of Appeal relating to the procurement process for the contract for refurbishment and ongoing maintenance of Canadian Armed Forces submarines.
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Bernstein v Peoples Trust Company
Counsel to the Defendants in a class proceeding alleging that various brands of network-branded payment cards were subject to activation, dormancy, and other fees that constitute misrepresentations, breach of contract, and breaches of various provincial consumer protection legislation and related regulations.
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University of Toronto - Adjunct Lecturer of International Law (1999-2009)
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Commercial Bar Association (comBAR) - Honourary Member
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The Advocates' Society - Member-at-Large of the Arbitration and Mediation Practice Group
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Canadian Bar Association
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Osgoode Hall Law School - Instructor and Former Adjunct Faculty
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University of Toronto (Faculty of Law) - Instructor and Former Law Faculty
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Ontario Bar Association
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Peter Griffin, Lawrence Thacker and Derek Knoke acted as counsel to G2S2 Capital Inc., a bondholder and lender to Calfrac Well Services Ltd. (“Calfrac”) in a restructuring and recapitalization implemented pursuant to a plan of arrangement (the "Plan of Arrangement") under the Canada Business Corporations Act ("CBCA").
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Creditor Democracy - The Supreme Court’s Reasons in Callidus
In Back to Methuselah, George Bernard Shaw famously wrote that an election was “as bad as a battle except for the blood”. That is perhaps dramatic in the context of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (“CCAA”), but certainly a creditor vote can be a tense and contested affair. Such was the case when Callidus Capital Corp (“Callidus”), an asset-based or “distressed lender” and secured creditor, made a “second kick at the can” to approve a plan of arrangement already rejected by unsecured creditors, and found itself barred from voting on the plan for having acted for an “improper purpose”.
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Enforcing Arbitral Awards on the Commercial List
Lawrence E. Thacker and Sean Lewis co-authored the article Enforcing Arbitral Awards on the Commercial List, which was published on commerciallist.com.
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Copy and Paste: Avoiding Duplicative Procedures in National Class Actions
The proliferation of parallel class proceedings in multiple Canadian provinces often defeats the very purpose of class proceedings: the avoidance of a multiplicity of actions. In order to streamline procedures, ensure consistent results, and encourage judicial economy, judges in several provinces have started demanding greater co-ordination among both class counsel and the courts. In McKay v Air Canada, Chief Justice Hinkson took this trend even farther in approving a settlement distribution plan by simply reproducing the reasons of the Ontario Court in Airia Brands v Air Canada.
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Any action described by the Judge as novelty on steroids provides an opportunity for the Court to balance the opportunity to develop new law, with the importance of rigorously applying existing law. This duality arose in a motion in the class action Fisher v IG Investment Management Ltd (2015 ONSC 3525), recently decided by the Ontario Superior Court.
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Access to Justice a Key Concern in Certification Decisions
The Ontario Divisional Court has recently affirmed the importance of access to justice as a factor in determining whether to certify a proposed class action.
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Court Certifies Sino-Forest Class Action
The Sino-Forest class action has been certified, and leave was granted to bring a claim under the Securities Act for secondary market misrepresentations.
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The 2022 Lexpert Directory Recognizes Lenczner Slaght’s Litigation Excellence
31 of our expert litigators are recognized by their peers as the foremost practitioners across 18 fields.
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Court Clarifies Role of Public Correction in Secondary Market Misrepresentation Claims
In the Law Times' recent article, Lawrence E. Thacker commented on the decision in Baldwin v Imperial Metals Corporation.
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Lexpert Recognizes Lenczner Slaght’s Litigation Expertise
Following an in-depth peer review process, the 2021 Lexpert Special Edition: Canada's Leading Litigation Lawyers guide recognizes 19 Lenczner Slaght lawyers for their extensive courtroom experience and subject-matter expertise.
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Ontario couple 'bullied' by window company over bad reviews awarded $166,000
Lawrence E. Thacker and Derek Knoke were were interviewed by CTV News following the decision in Canadian Thermo Windows v Seangio in favour of our clients.
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Lenczner Slaght Litigators Appointed to The Advocates’ Society’s Leadership
We are pleased to announce that Brian Kolenda, Andrew Parley, Shara Roy, Nina Bombier, Larry Thacker and Anne Posno have been elected to prominent leadership positions at The Advocates’ Society, a preeminent organization dedicated to promoting effective advocacy and access to justice.
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Chambers Canada Recognizes Lenczner Slaght’s Litigation Excellence
Canada’s leading litigation firm and its expert litigators continue to advance their position in the latest edition of world-renowned directory, Chambers & Partners.
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Lenczner Slaght Litigators Ranked Among Best Lawyers in Canada
In the latest edition of Best Lawyers in Canada, 37 of our expert litigators are recognized for their expertise across 25 practice areas.
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Benchmark Canada Recognizes Lenczner Slaght as a “Powerhouse"
Canada’s leading litigation firm continues to be recognized with the top tier ranking of “Highly Recommended in Ontario” for its Dispute Resolution practice.
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The 2021 Lexpert Directory Recognizes 30 Lenczner Slaght Lawyers
An increasing number of our expert litigators are recognized by their peers as the foremost practitioners in their fields.
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Lenczner Slaght Recognized as a Top-Tier Litigation Firm by Chambers Canada
Canada’s leading litigation firm and its expert litigators continue to be recognized by world-renowned directory, Chambers & Partners.
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Intensive Workshop: Negotiation Skills and Strategies for Litigators
Lawrence E. Thacker joined a faculty at The Osgoode Intensive Workshop Negotiation Skills and Strategies for Litigators on April 11, 2017. -
36th Annual Intensive Trial Advocacy Workshop
Lawrence Thacker, Risa Kirshblum, Monique Jilesen, Eli Lederman, Matthew Sammon, Rebecca Jones, Jaan Lilles and Dena Varah were among the distinguished... -
How ADR and court actions can actually work together
Lawrence Thackers article appears in the April 3, 2015 issue of the Lawyers Weekly published by Lexis Nexis Canada Inc. This article describes the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution in combination with, or supplementary to court proceedings.
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Lawrence Thacker and Mark Veneziano co-authored an article in the September, 2014 issue of the Class Actions Defence Quarterly.
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35th Annual Intensive Trial Advocacy Workshop
Lawrence Thacker, Risa Kirshblum, Monique Jilesen, Eli Lederman, Matthew Sammon, Rebecca Jones, Jaan Lilles and Dena Varah were among the distinguished... -
Advice for Successfully and Cost-effectively Navigating Multi-jurisdictional Litigation
Lawrence E. Thacker presented at the CCCA 2012 World Summit.
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Arbitration (International) Recent Developments of Importance
Thacker, L. and Laxer, J. "Arbitration (International) Recent Developments of Importance". The 2012 Lexpert®/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada.
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Achieving Optimal Results in High-Stake Litigation
Lawrence E. Thacker spoke on panel discussion at the 2011 CCCA National Spring Conference.
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Lawrence E. Thacker presented at the University of Toronto Litigation Association's luncheon discussing some of the tactical decisions and strategies he employs in his cases.
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Trial Preparation: A Trial from A to Z
Lawrence Thacker provides individualized feedback to participants at the Advocates' Society Civil Litigation Skills Development Program on April 1, 2009 in Toronto.
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Benchmark Canada (2012-2022)
Litigation Star – Arbitration, Class Action, Commercial, Insolvency, Securities, Tax
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Best Lawyers in Canada (2019-2022)
Alternative Dispute Resolution, Class Action Litigation, Corporate & Commercial Litigation
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Canadian Legal Lexpert® Directory (2011-2019, 2021-2022)
Litigation - Corporate Commercial; Class Actions - Up and Coming (2016), 25 Cross-Border Litigators to Watch (2006)
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Chambers Canada (2020-2022)
Dispute Resolution: Arbitration (Nationwide – Canada)
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Lexpert Guide to the Leading US/Canada Cross-border Litigation Lawyers in Canada (2014-2017)
Corporate Commercial Litigation
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Lexpert Special Edition: Canada's Leading Energy Lawyers (2021)
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Lexpert Special Edition: Canada's Leading Infrastructure Lawyers (2021)
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Lexpert Special Edition: Canada's Leading Litigation Lawyers (2015-2017, 2019, 2021)
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The Lexpert®/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada