Practice Profile

Advocacy practice consists of acting for a broad range of Canadian and international clients in the areas of international commercial litigation and/or arbitration, civil litigation, business torts, corporate litigation, class actions and administrative law.  Litigation management advice provided to foreign counsel with respect to the prosecution or defence of actions in Ontario, including coordination of international debt recovery efforts. Numerous reported and unreported decisions in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Court of Appeal for Ontario, the Federal Court of Canada and various provincial and federal administrative tribunals and commissions.

Representative Cases

• Suraleb Inc. v. Production Association “MTW Tractor Works”, Republic of Belarus, Court File No. 08-CV-349415PD1-July 9, 2008 (unreported) (Ont. S.C.J.): Successfully obtained order for the recognition and enforcement of an international commercial arbitration award in excess of $4 Million under The International Commercial Arbitration Act, R.S.O. 1990, C. I.9 and The UNCITRAL Model Law On International Commercial Arbitration.
• ATI Technologies ULC v. Henderson Robb Group, [2008] O.J. No. 1017, 41 C.B.R. (5th) 94, 2008 CarswellOnt 1418, 2008 WL 726946, 165 A.C.W.S. (3d) 779, CanLII 11046 (Ont. S.C.J—in Bankruptcy): Acted for advertising agency involved in litigation with former corporate client. Successfully obtained a stay of the bankruptcy proceedings brought by applicant creditor, ultimately resulting in global settlement (see also companion decisions: William E. Robb Enterprises Inc. v. ATI Technologies Inc.[2006] O.J. No. 4711; 153 A.C.W.S. (3d) 831 (Ont. S.C.J.); ATI Technologies Inc. v. William E. Robb Enterprises Inc. et al. [2006] O.J. No. 3780 (Ont. S.C.J.).
• Tapscott Village Co-Operative Inc. v. Bullin, 2008 CanLII 4258 (ON S.C.J.): Application under the Co-Operative Corporations Act for judgment against former co-op member for housing charges arrears and for an order granting leave to issue a Writ of Possession.
• Ivandaev v. Hlembizky [2006] O.J. No. 2689 (Ont. C.A.): Respondent’s counsel on appeal affirming trial judgment which granted plaintiff client’s partial relief from forfeiture and approximately $175,000.00 in restitutionary damages for defendants’ unjust enrichment.
• Standard Trust Co. (Liquidator of) v. Metropolitan Trust Co. of Canada et al. (2006) 21 E.T.R. (3d) 237; (2006) 40 R.P.R. (4th) 27; (2006) 144 A.C.W.S. (3d) 1130 (Ont. S.C.J.); aff’d [2007] O.J. No. 5002; 2007 ONCA 897; 232 O.A.C. 74; 36 E.T.R. (3d) 209; 62 R.P.R. (4th) 161; 162 A.C.W.S. (3d) 938; 2007 CarswellOnt 8279 (Ont. C.A.): Trial and appellate counsel obtaining judgment of over $800,000.00 (inclusive of interest and costs) for damages for breach of contract, negligent misrepresentation, breach of trust, and breach of fiduciary duty against the defendant trust company for failing to disclose the true pre-sales relating to a construction mortgage.
• 1162994 Ontario Inc. v. Bakker et al. [2004] O.J. No. 2565 (Ont. C.A.): Successfully appealed the Divisional Court's finding of joint and several liability against client for rental arrears and Divisional Court’s interpretation of ''tenant in possession'' under s. 86 of theTenant Protection Act, S.O. 1997, c.24 ultimately resulting in a legislative amendment.
• Canadian Fashion Merchandising Corporation v. CIBC (2000) 106 O.T.C. 317, (2000) 95 A.C.W.S. (3d) 237 (Ont. S.C.J.): Plaintiff’s counsel involving a breach of confidence claim against a major chartered bank. Despite numerous defence motions, including a motion for increased security for costs only two weeks before trial, obtained a significant monetary settlement for the corporate plaintiff at the opening of trial.
• Re Drljo (2000) 21 C.B.R. (4th) 259 (Ont. S.C.J.-Bankruptcy Court): Acted for client involved in bankruptcy proceedings and subsequent professional negligence action brought against client's former trial counsel. In the end, client recovery was achieved through a global settlement with the defendant solicitor's errors & omissions insurer.
• Serra v. Paniccia (Ont. S.C.J.-unreported -- per Somers, J.), varied on other grounds, [1999] O.J. No. 4707 (Ont. C.A.) --Obtained a jury damage award of approximately $55,000.00 all-inclusive for plaintiff client suffering from chronic pain syndrome arising from a motor vehicle accident.
• Shaw v. Allstate Insurance Company, [1997] O.I.C.D. No. 86 (O.I.C. per Arbitrator Blackman), aff’d [1998] O.I.C.D. No. 181(FSCO- Director of Arbitrations, per Susan Naylor, Director's Delegate): Represented client in major arbitration case at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario at arbitration and appeal levels on the issue of definition of the word “spouse” in an insurance contract and also obtained substantial personal injury settlement from third party insurer.
• Ultramar Canada Inc. v. Mutual Marine Insurance Office [1995] 1 F.C. 341, (1994) 82 F.T.R. 1, [1995] I.L.R. 1 – 3195 (F.C.T.D.) per Rouleau, J.: Junior counsel in a major Federal Court of Canada insurance trial. In a legally unprecedented case, researched, analyzed and developed trial arguments and strategy. Conducted direct and cross-examinations of world-renowned experts and prepared final submissions for the trial judge. 
  

Scholarly Papers
                                   
To view Antonin’s publications, visit his SSRN Author page
<http://ssrn.com/author=391200>

• “CASE NOTE: Opinion of Advocate General Kokott in Allianz SpA (formerly Riunione Adriatica DiSicurta SpA) and Others v West Tankers Inc. (Case C-185/07 delivered on 4 September 2008)”The Globetrotter, Vol. 13, No. 1 (October 2008) and Transnational Dispute Management (TDM) (2009, forthcoming).
• “Choice of Law in International Agreements: What Should Parties Watch For? (Canada)”, The International Commercial Practitioner, American Bar Association (ABA) publication of the International Commercial Transactions, Franchising and Distribution Committee, 5-6.
• ““Staking Claims Against Foreign Defendants in Canada: Choice of Law and Jurisdiction Issues Arising from the in Personam Exception to the Mocambique Rule for Foreign Immovables” (2009) Adv. Q. (forthcoming) Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1129283.
• "All Quiet on the CISG Front: Guiliani v. Invar Manufacturing, the Battle of the Forms, and the Elusive Concept of Terminus Fixus" (2008), 46 C.B.L.J. 430 (Co-Authored with James M. Klotz and Peter Mazzacano).
• “A Strategic Functionalist Approach to International Commercial Mediation”, (2008) ICFAI Journal of ADR, Vol. VII, No. 2, 37-58; Transnational Dispute Management (TDM-Special Issue on Arbitrator Bias, Vol. 5, No. 4, July 2008.
• “The Trial Warrior: Applying Sun Tzu’s The Art of War to Trial Advocacy” (2008) 45 Alta. L. Rev. (Issue 4) (forthcoming).
• “Time Is On My Side, Yes It Is (No It’s Not)”: Are proceedings to enforce a foreign arbitral award subject to a limitation period? CBA International Law Section Bulletin (February, 2008)
• “The ‘Third Option’: International Commercial Mediation” (2007) World Arb. & Med. Rev. (WAMR) Vol. 1 No. 4, 563-587.
• “Enforcing Foreign Summary/Default Judgments: The Damoclean Sword Hanging Over Pro Se Canadian Corporate Defendants? U.S.A. v. Shield Development”, (2007) 7 Can. Int’l  Lawyer (No.1), 8-23.
• “‘Thinking Globally, Acting Locally’: Recent Trends in the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Canada”, in ANNUAL REVIEW OF CIVIL LITIGATION 2006, ARCHIBALD, Mr. Justice Todd L. and ECHLIN, Mr. Justice Randall (eds.) (Toronto: Carswell, 2007) pp. 141-199. *
• “‘To Boldly Go Where No One Has (Arbitrated) Before': The Star Trek Mythos as an Heuristic Paradigm for Jurisdictional and Arbitration Issues”, OBA Briefly Speaking, July/August 2007 Issue.
• "Trial and Error--Balancing the Scales of Justice through the Doctrines of Stare Decisis and Ex Proprio Motu", OBA Civil Litigation Section Newsletter, Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 8-11, March 2007.
• "Cross-border High Anxiety? Offensive and Defensive Strategies in Transnational Litigation: Offensive Strategies", The Globetrotter,  Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 6-11, March 2007 (paper presented at the 2007 OBA Annual Institute of Continuing Legal Education, 5 February  2007)
• “The (CISG) Road Less Travelled”:GreCon Dimter Inc. v. J.R. Normand Inc., (2006) 44 Can. Bus. L. J. 92-114; reprinted in the International Bar Association (IBA)-International Sales Newsletter, Vol. No. 26, September 2008, 7-17;
• “‘Bringing Locus into Focus’: A Choice-of-Law Methodology for CISG-based Concurrent Contract and Product Liability Claims”, in REVIEW OF THE CONVENTION ON CONTRACTS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SALE OF GOODS (CISG) 2004-2005, Pace International Law Review (ed.) (München: Sellier European Law Publishers, 2006), 179-223.
• "The Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements",The Globetrotter, OBA International Law Section Newsletter, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2-5, September 2005.
• "Strangers in a Strange Land": Transnational Litigation, Foreign Judgment Recognition, and Enforcement in Ontario, (2004) 13 J. Transnat’l L. & Pol’y 347-391.

Academic and Professional Speaking Engagements, Conferences and Seminars

• Co-Chair/Speaker:  “Application of the CISG by Default”, CISG Hot Spots for Commercial Lawyers and Litigators, CLE Program co-sponsored by the CBA Section on International Law and the OBA International Law Section, March 10, 2009, Toronto, Canada.
• Sessional Lecturer: “Legal Process Advanced” Course (IFA2902) Fall 2008, Diploma in Investigative & Forensic Accounting (DIFA) Capstone Program, University of Toronto at Mississauga, Ontario.
• Evaluator/Judge: Diploma in Investigative & Forensic Accounting (DIFA) Capstone Program (2007, 2008), University of Toronto at Mississauga, Ontario.
• Advisory Committee Member: “Crisis Litigation: The Role Of The Lawyer”, International Bar Association Litigation Conference, June 19-20, 2008, Toronto, Canada.
• Program Co-Chair: "International Legal Issues for Today’s Business Lawyer: Challenges and Solutions", Ontario Bar Association 2008 Institute of Continuing Legal Education, February 5, 2008, Toronto, Canada.
• Guest Speaker: OBA International Law Section Program: “International Law - Sea Changes in Canadian Conflict of Laws Practice: An Update,” May 30, 2007, Toronto, Canada.
• Guest Speaker: 2007 OBA Annual Institute of Continuing Legal Education-Special Event, "International Breakfast: Cross-border High Anxiety?: Offensive and Defensive Strategies in Transnational Litigation", February 7, 2007, Toronto, Canada.
• Guest Lecturer: University of Western Ontario Law School, 402A Commercial Law: “The CISG-An Overview”, Upper Year Law Course, Court Instructor: Prof. Jassmine Girgis, October 2, 2006, London, Canada.
• Guest Lecturer: University of Toronto Law School, Legal Process: “Where to Litigate: Jurisdiction and Forum Non Conveniens”, First Year Law Course, Course Instructor: Prof. Kenneth E. Jull, October 11, 2005; October 5, 2006, Toronto, Canada.
• Moderator, Judge's Panel: “The Most Common Evidentiary Mistakes…And How to Avoid Them” 2nd Annual Conference- Evidence Law for the Civil Litigator, Osgoode Hall Law School-Professional Development Program, September 23, 2005, Toronto, Canada.
• Guest Speaker: “Rule 76-Simplified Procedure”, Your First Civil Trial: Practical Tips from Top Practitioners, OBA –CLE Program (Civil Litigation Division-Young Lawyers Division), February 25, 2005, Toronto, Canada.

Professional Affiliations/Achievements

• Martindale-Hubbell BV® Peer Review Rating®
• Law Society of Upper Canada (Member)
• Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Member)
• Canadian Bar Association/ Ontario Bar Association
• CBA International Dispute Resolution Committee (National Section)
• OBA International Law Section (Vice-Co-Chair)
• OBA Civil Litigation Section (Member)
• Canadian Council of International Law (Member)
• American Bar Association (Associate Member)
• Section of Litigation (Business Torts Litigation; Commercial and Business Litigation; Trial Practice)
• Section of International Law (Steering Committee Member-Canada Committee, International Litigation Committee and International Commercial Dispute Resolution Committee); (International Antitrust Law Committee, International Commercial Transactions, Franchising and Distribution Committee, International Courts Committee, Private International Law Coordinating Committee, UN and International Institutions Coordinating Committee)
• Section of Business Law-Committee on International Law (International Dispute    Resolution, International Trade Law and Multinational Corporations sub-committees)
• Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section
• American Society of International Law (Member)
• Dispute Resolution Interest Group
• International Law in Domestic Courts Interest Group
• International Legal Theory Interest Group
• International Organizations Interest Group
• Private International Law Interest Group)
• International Law Association (Member: Canadian Branch)
• International Bar Association (Member)
• Public and Professional Interest Division (PPID) (Forum for Barristers and Advocates)
• Legal Practice Division (LPD) Corporate Law Section (Closely Held and Growing Business Enterprises)
• Dispute Resolution Section (Arbitration, Litigation) International Sales, Franchising and Product Law Section (International Sales)
• Regional Fora North American Regional Forum

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