Paliare Roland Rosenberg Rothstein LLP

Managing Partner: Emily Lawrence

Number of partners: 28

Number of lawyers: 51

Languages: Cantonese, English, French, Italian, Mandarin, Spanish

Firm Overview:  

Paliare Roland Rosenberg Rothstein LLP is a litigation boutique with a broad range of expertise and experience. It is routinely involved in Canada’s highest profile cases, whether complex commercial litigation, class actions, professional discipline or labour disputes. The firm is trusted to manage the most sensitive legal issues facing businesses of every size, individuals, labour unions, professional regulatory bodies, academic institutions and public interest organisations.

Main Areas of Practice: 

Corporate Commercial Litigation:  

Paliare Roland represents public and private companies, partnerships, shareholders, directors, officers, boards, special committees and professional advisors in a wide range of complex business disputes.

■ Acted for one of the world’s largest mining royalty and streaming companies in a dispute with Vale involving the Voisey’s Bay nickel mine in Newfoundland and Labrador. Issues included interpretation of a net smelter return royalty on one of the world’s richest nickel deposits, and how the royalty would be calculated after Vale’s construction of a $6 billion processing facility

Class Actions: 

Paliare Roland represents both plaintiffs and defendants in a broad spectrum of class actions. The firm has been appointed by the court to act as amicus curiae, and is regularly retained to provide insolvency advice on class actions. Recent examples on the plaintiff side include claims of:

■ Breach of trust and fiduciary duty on behalf of class of RRSP account holders, and holders of similar registered accounts, with BMO Nesbitt Burns, BMO InvestorLine, and BMO Trust Company: Successfully obtained judgment and disgorgement of profits on over $100,000,000 in revenue

■ Breach of franchise agreements on behalf of the class of franchisees of Shoppers Drug Mart

■ Breach of contract on behalf of users of the PayPal payment system in respect of transactions involving currency conversions.

■ Auditor negligence on behalf of class of investors in Southern China Livestock Inc.

■ Violation of Aboriginal rights on behalf of a proposed class of holders of Aboriginal and Treaty Rights Access Passports against the Province of Nova Scotia. On the defence side, the firm has acted for major manufacturers, pension funds, educational institutions and insurers

Bankruptcy & Insolvency Litigation: 

Paliare Roland acts regularly in transnational, national and local insolvency cases. The firm’s practice is independent of major financial institutions, permitting them to act for a full range of insolvency stakeholders, including court appointed officers, debtors, employee groups, unions, bondholders and governments.

■ Counsel to the representative plaintiffs in Sino-Forest’s CCAA proceeding and class action.

■ Counsel to the United Steel Workers in CCAA proceedings before the Ontario Superior Court and the Ontario Court of Appeal involving US Steel Canada Inc.

■ Counsel to the Superintendent of Financial Services as Administrator of the Pension Benefits Guarantee Fund in the Nortel CCAA insolvency proceedings. Nortel Networks Corporation (Re), 2010 ONSC 5584.

Employment: 

Paliare Roland provides advice and advocacy relating to all areas of the employment relation- ship for both employees and employers.

■ Represented the Waterloo Regional Police Association in an appeal brought by the plaintiffs, current and former uniform women members, in a proposed class action proceeding.

Appeals & Judicial Review: 

Paliare Roland has argued many important appellate cases including:

■ Representing the University of Toronto in responding to a motion for an interim injunction.

■ Argued the appeal of R. v. Nugent in the Ontario Court of Appeal.

■ Acted for (and with) Justice for Children and Youth, a legal clinic acting for young people.

Securities Litigation:  

Paliare Roland acts for both investors and issuers in litigation involving public disclosure issues and provides assistance to investors, investment advisors and other persons in proceedings before the Ontario Securities Commission, the Investment Industry Regulatory Organisation of Canada (IIROC) and the Mutual Fund Dealers Association including, in recent high profile insider trading cases.

Constitutional Litigation:  

Paliare Roland has acted on a number of high profile constitutional cases and has long associations with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and other public interest organisations.

Libel & Slander:  

Paliare Roland has expertise in all aspects of defamation law including litigation and litigation strategies, media strategies and pre-publication review. Paliare Roland's defamation practice includes representation of senior executives, politicians, corporations, athletes, educational institutions and others.

Product Liability & Tort Claims: 

Paliare Roland acts for both plaintiffs and defendants in cases involving product failure, negligence and economic torts. While these sensitive issues generally result in settlement, the firm’s lawyers have argued leading cases on international jurisdiction and insurance coverage.

Professional Discipline & Regulation: 

Paliare Roland represents both regulators and a wide range of professionals in connection with complaints, investigations and discipline proceedings.

Judicial Inquiries and Inquests:  

Paliare Roland has brought their expertise in advocacy and commitment to the public interest to their work for judicial inquiries.

■ Inquiry Counsel to The Honourable Mr. Justice Herman J. Wilton-Siegel who was appointed Commissioner of the City of Hamilton’s Red Hill Valley Parkway Inquiry in May 2019