Expertise
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Practice Areas:
Bar Admissions:
Education:
- University of Western Ontario (2007) LL.B. (Distinction)
- Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario (2004) HBA (Distinction)
Details
- Bio
- Cases
- Associations
- Blog Posts
- News & Media
- Publications & Presentations
- Recognition
Matthew B. Lerner
"[Matt] is technically sound and also very strategic and practical." — Chambers Canada
Matthew’s litigation practice is focused on complex commercial litigation, real estate disputes, employment litigation and insolvency matters. He regularly acts for parties involved in shareholder or partnership disputes, commercial arbitration and in prosecuting or defending civil fraud claims.
Matthew has also acted on behalf of boards of directors and officers in the defence of large multi-jurisdiction class actions. He has been actively involved in a variety of insolvency proceedings, acting for the court-appointed officer or secured creditors.
Since the beginning of his career as a litigator, Matthew has also developed significant expertise in defending the interests of physicians involved in regulatory and malpractice matters.
Matthew has appeared as lead counsel at all levels of Court in Ontario and at many administrative tribunals. Matthew’s clients span a wide-range of industries; his clients range from large real estate developers to public companies in the information and technology sector.
Since 2010, Matthew has been the Chair of the Lenczner Slaght Moot in Legal Ethics and Professionalism which is held annually for law students at Western Law.
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Counsel to Zurich in an action to rescind surety bonds worth nearly $300 million, and to recover over $68 million, due to collusion and misrepresentations in the bidding process for the St. Michael’s Hospital Redevelopment Project in Toronto.
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Spencer Properties Ltd v 1863315 Ontario Inc et al
Counsel to the successful defendants in resisting a summary judgment motion in an action for damages arising from the termination of a commercial lease.
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Icona Hospitality v 2748355 Canada Inc et al
Counsel to a major real estate development company on appeal in a dispute relating to a large residential development and the interpretation of a restrictive covenant agreement.
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GCT Canada Limited Partnership v Vancouver Fraser Port Authority and Attorney General of Canada
Counsel to Global Container Terminals in a judicial review of a decision of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority refusing to consider Global Container Terminal’s proposed port expansion project.
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Counsel to Sears Holdings Corporation in connection with four Canadian class actions and related CCAA insolvency proceedings in Canada.
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Counsel to the GIP Primus, LP in oppression proceedings brought by the Monitor in the context of Algoma's CCAA proceeding.
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Robert Mandel and Ellen Pike v Attorney General of Canada et al
Counsel to the applicants in a dispute over the validity of shares purportedly issued to the applicants by the corporate respondents, and whether rectification of the shareholder registers is appropriate if the shares are found not to have been issued.
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The Guarantee Company of North America v Royal Bank of Canada
Counsel to GCNA in a priority dispute with a secured creditor in the context of a receivership. Successfully overturned a body of prior jurisprudence, in an appeal heard by a five-judge panel of the Court of Appeal for Ontario, and established that deemed trust claims under the Construction Lien Act survive bankruptcy.
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Re The Cash Store Financial Services Inc
Counsel in the successful mediation and settlement of multiple Canadian and US class proceedings in the context of an Ontario CCAA proceeding, leading to US recognition and enforcement of a settlement.
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Counsel to the CEO of MtGox Inc, a defendant in a proposed Ontario class proceeding, concerning the failure of the Japanese BitCoin exchange.
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The Advocates' Society
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Ontario Bar Association
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Toronto Lawyers Association
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Canadian Bar Association
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The Supreme Court of Canada today released its long-awaited decision in Orphan Well Association v Grant Thornton Ltd. The Court reversed a decision of the Alberta Court of Appeal that allowed the trustee of a bankrupt oil and gas company to sell its profitable wells and disclaim unprofitable ones, leaving the public to bear the end-of life liability associated with those wells.
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Don’t Believe What You’ve Heard: Provincial statutory trusts do survive bankruptcy
A five-judge panel of the Court of Appeal for Ontario has upset the long-standing conventional wisdom among bankruptcy and insolvency practitioners in Ontario about the fate of provincially-created statutory trusts in bankruptcy.
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When intention matters: assessing the enforceability of termination clauses
An invalid termination clause is a former employee’s golden ticket for employment litigation, increasing a notice period from the statutory minimum to what is reasonable at common law. The monetary difference can be substantial. Given the financial implications, there is a large and growing body of case law on when a termination clause will be deemed unenforceable.
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Resignation or Termination? New Guidance on Navigating Constructive Dismissals
In most cases, an employee who resigns voluntarily from employment is not legally entitled to damages. However, the line between resignation and constructive dismissal has become increasingly blurred and is a common issue of contention in employment litigation. In the recent case of Persaud v Telus Corporation, the Ontario Court of Appeal provides useful guidance regarding the effect of conduct in determining whether a resignation is actually a constructive dismissal.
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So Apparently Pleadings Do Matter…
Lawyers are reminded of the importance of exercising care when drafting pleadings. In the recent case Strudwick v. Applied Consumer & Clinical Evaluations Inc., the Ontario Court of Appeal held that not even the particularly egregious conduct of the defendants warranted relaxation of the principle that a court’s jurisdiction to award damages is limited by the amount sought in the pleadings.
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Court's CCAA supervision trumps forum selection clause
An ongoing insolvency proceeding under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act can now be added to the short list of circumstances in which a court will decline to follow a forum selection clause in a commercial contract.
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Lexpert Highlights Lenczner Slaght’s Professional Excellence
Lenczner Slaght’s litigators continue to be recognized by their peers as the foremost practitioners in their fields.
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Top 10 business decisions of 2019: From bankruptcy to beer
The Guarantee Company of North America v Royal Bank of Canada is named in the Lawyers' Daily's article Top 10 Business Decisions in Canada for 2019. Matthew B. Lerner and Scott Rollwagen are mentioned as counsel to the successful appellant, The Guarantee Company of North America. Matt is also quoted in the article.
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Legal 500 Recognizes Lenczner Slaght as a “Litigation Powerhouse”
Legal 500 distinguishes Canada’s leading litigation firm for its “deep bench and first-class trial experience.”
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Best Lawyers in Canada Recognizes Lenczner Slaght with 100 Rankings
In the latest edition of Best Lawyers in Canada, 28 Lenczner Slaght lawyers earned a total of 100 rankings, up from 86 in 2019.
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Benchmark Recognizes Four Lenczner Slaght Partners
Benchmark Litigation has recognized four Lenczner Slaght partners among the most talented litigators under the age of 40.
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The 2019 Lexpert Directory Recognizes Lenczner Slaght with 89 Rankings
An increasing number of our expert litigators are recognized by their peers as the foremost practitioners in their fields.
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Benchmark Canada Highlights Lenczner Slaght’s Litigation Excellence
Benchmark Canada 2019 not only recognizes Canada’s leading litigation firm with the top tier ranking of “Highly Recommended in Ontario”, 17 Lenczner Slaght litigators are also ranked for their expertise.
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Canada’s leading litigation firm is proud to have acted in one of Lexpert’s Top 10 Deals of 2018. Algoma Steel Inc. was featured in the February issue of Lexpert Magazine as one of the most impactful deals in Canada last year. Lenczner Slaght represented GIP Primus, L.P. and Brightwood Loan Services L.L.C. in connection with the sale of the port assets with a team consisting of Peter Griffin, Monique Jilesen, Scott Rollwagen, Matthew Lerner, Christopher Trivisonno, Robert Trenker.
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Provincially created trusts deemed valid
Matthew B. Lerner and Scott Rollwagen were interviewed by Law Times in their featured story on the Court of Appeal's recent landmark decision in The Guarantee Company of North America v Royal Bank of Canada. The decision upset the long-standing conventional wisdom among bankruptcy and insolvency practitioners in Ontario about the fate of provincially-created statutory trusts in bankruptcy. Matt and Scott acted for the successful appellant, The Guarantee Company of North America.
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Lenczner Slaght Litigators Ranked in Best Lawyers in Canada
Canada’s leading litigation firm is proud to announce that 25 of the firm’s 58 lawyers have been recognized in the Best Lawyers in Canada 2019 publication across multiple categories.
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COVID-19: Litigation Fallout - What Organizations Need to do to Mitigate Their Risk
Matthew B. Lerner spoke on Canadian Lawyer's webinar "COVID-19: Litigation Fallout - What Organizations Need to do to Mitigate Their Risk." His panel discussed the heightened risk of liabilities and the resulting litigation fallout for all organizations as businesses take stock on how best to mitigate the financial impact of the pandemic.
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Discoveries: An Update for Litigators
Matthew B. Lerner presented at the LSO program Discoveries: An Update for Litigators. He shared his expertise on the panel Getting to the Answer – Issues that arise in the discovery process.
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Alive and well: Construction Lien Act deemed trust after bankruptcy
Matthew Lerner and Scott Rollwagen co-authored the article Alive and well: Construction Lien Act deemed trust after bankruptcy in The Lawyer's Daily February 8, 2019 edition. They discuss the recent decision in Guarantee Company of North America v Royal Bank of Canada that has upset the long-standing conventional wisdom among bankruptcy and insolvency practitioners in Ontario about the fate of provincially-created statutory trusts in bankruptcy.
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Successful Advocacy in Insurance Mediations
Matthew B. Lerner spoke at OsgoodePD's program on the panel "Advocacy at the Mediation, Part 2 (After the Opening: Crucial Turning Points and Breaking Impasses)". He shared his expertise on finding creative solutions and approaches to commonly-encountered problems in mediations.
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Examinations for discovery - Advanced Skills Workshop
Matthew B. Lerner served as Faculty at the Osgoode Professional Development Intensive Trial Advocacy Workshop, Advanced Skills Series. -
Examinations for Discovery: Advanced Skills Workshop
Eli S. Lederman chaired a one day skills workshop on May 13, 2016 for Osgoode Professional Development. Matthew Lerner served as an instructor for the... -
A new approach to resolving questions of law on pretrial motions
Matthew Lerner and Stephen G.A. Pitel co-authored an article which appeared in the January 19, 2015 issue of Law Times.
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Benchmark Litigation (2017-2019)
Under 40 Hotlist
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Benchmark Canada (2018-2020)
Future Star - Arbitration, Bankruptcy, General Commercial
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Best Lawyers in Canada (2018-2020)
Corporate Commercial Litigation, Health Care Law, Medical Negligence
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Canadian Legal Lexpert® Directory (2018-2020)
Litigation - Corporate Commercial, Medical Negligence, Professional Liability
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The Legal 500 Canada (2018)
Labour and Employment (Recommended Lawyer)
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The Legal 500 Canada (2020)
Labour and Employment (Recommended Lawyer), Restructuring and Insolvency (Recommended Lawyer)