Lenczner Slaght in Top Tier and 11 Lawyers Ranked as Stars
Canada's leading litigation practice also wins two national impact cases.
In the second annual nationwide Benchmark Canada Awards, two of the evening's eight National Impact Case Awards went to Lenczner Slaght, the Toronto-based litigation law firm. These awards recognize cases from the past 12 months that have immediate economic and/or legislative influence.
In Labourers' Pension Fund of Central and Eastern Canada v. Sino-Forest et al., Lenczner Slaght successfully negotiated and completed a complex settlement of a shareholder class action claiming $9 billion in damages on behalf of primary and secondary market purchasers and debt-holders. In a unique combined Companies Creditors' Arrangement Act/Class Proceedings Act joint settlement approval hearing, the litigation team of Peter Griffin, Peter Osborne, Linda Fuerst, Shara Roy, Naomi Loewith and Katie Pentney secured settlement approval of a structure negotiated into a court-approved plan of arrangement and full settlement release. Appeals against the settlement approval to the Court of Appeal for Ontario and Supreme Court of Canada were rejected by those courts.
In Magder v. Ford, Alan Lenczner, Andrew Parley and Katie Petney were counsel for the successful respondent/appellant, Robert Ford, Mayor of Toronto, in an application alleging breach of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act. The case hinged upon an important question of statutory interpretation.
The Benchmark Litigation 2014 directory ranks Lenczner Slaght in its top tier as Highly Recommended and quotes a client as saying: "The talent pool for trial work is deeper at Lenczner Slaght, and the principals work at a high level. The work the firm gets provides them with a base of experience that is better than most."
The following 11 advocates are recognized by the publication as "litigation stars."
- Tom Curry: Local Litigation Star – Ontario; Litigation Star - Canada, Arbitration; Litigation Star - Canada, Class Action
- Marguerite Ethier: Local Litigation Star – Ontario
- Peter Griffin: Local Litigation Star– Ontario; Litigation Star - Canada, Securities; Litigation Star (2014) - Canada, Insolvency; Litigation Star - Canada, Competition
- Eli Lederman: Future Star – Ontario
- Alan Lenczner, QC: Local Litigation Star– Ontario; Litigation Star - Canada, Securities; Litigation Star - Canada, Securities
- William McDowell: Local Litigation Star – Ontario
- Peter Osborne: Local Litigation Star– Ontario; Litigation Star - Canada, Securities; Litigation Star - Canada, Arbitration; Litigation Star - Canada, Insolvency
- Andrew Skodyn: Local Litigation Star – Ontario
- Ronald Slaght, QC: Local Litigation Star– Ontario; Litigation Star - Canada, Arbitration
- Lawrence Thacker: Future Star – Ontario
- Mark Veneziano: Local Litigation Star - Ontario
About Benchmark
To identify the leading litigators and firms, Benchmark researchers conduct extensive interviews with litigators and their clients, examining recent law firm casework and asking the nation's leading lawyers, both private-practice and in-house counsel, for their professional opinions on peers.