Headquarters:

Suite 4130, 77 King Street West, Toronto, ON, M5K 1H1

Year founded:

1979

Number of employees:

14 partners and 24 employees

Phone:

416 593 7200

Email:

reception@stockwoods.ca

Website:

stockwoods.ca

LinkedIn:

ca.linkedin.com/company/stockwoods-llp

“As leaders, we inspire our team, valuing collaboration and spearheading change while sharing our knowledge to mentor the upcoming legal minds”

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STOCKWOODS LLP

Brian Gover

Partner

Paul Le Vay

Partner

Luisa Ritacca

Managing Partner

Leadership

Brian Gover’s diverse litigation practice is reflected in his Lexpert ranking in the areas of Litigation – Directors’ and Officers’ Liability, Indigenous Law, Litigation – Regulatory and Public Law, and Professional Liability. He is recognized in The Best Lawyers in Canada in six categories, including Appellate Practice, Bet-the-Company Litigation, Corporate and Commercial Litigation, and Criminal Defence, and is rated AV preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell. Gover has extensive experience in both federal and provincial commissions of inquiry and related processes. He appeared as counsel at the Public Order Emergency Commission. His clients include individuals, corporations, regulators, and government agencies. He is regularly retained to act for judges facing disciplinary proceedings. Since 2013, he has assisted the judges tasked with administering the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, Canada’s largest and most complex class action settlement. His extensive teaching experience includes serving as an adjunct professor at Western and Osgoode Hall Law School. From 2018 to 2019, He was president of The Advocates’ Society. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a Fellow and Director of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.

Partner

Brian Gover

Paul Le Vay’s practice includes corporate commercial litigation, securities litigation, class actions, professional liability, claims against directors and officers, employment litigation, and professional regulation. He conducts internal investigations and advises corporations and their boards on them. He has been a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers; international member of The Commercial Bar Association (UK); former trustee of the Law Foundation of Ontario; past president of l’Association des juristes d’expression française de l’Ontario; past director of The Advocates’ Society; and frequent speaker and author in his areas of practice. Being bilingual, he argues cases in English and French before all levels of court, as well as tribunals, including the Ontario Securities Commission. He is ranked by Chambers Global and listed in The Best Lawyers in Canada and Benchmark Canada in his principal areas of practice.

Partner

Paul Le Vay

Luisa Ritacca has been the firm’s managing partner since 2018. Her practice encompasses a wide variety of areas, including administrative law and commercial litigation. From 2016 until 2021, she was a part-member of the License Appeal Tribunal. She is counsel for the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sports and in addition, she acts for university students facing academic and non-academic related charges. Ritacca acts as independent legal counsel for several regulated health colleges and administrative tribunals across the province. In that role, she provides substantive and procedural advice during hearings as well as ongoing training for adjudicators. In 2013, she was appointed by former Chief Justice Warren Winkler to act as court monitor in the administration of two pan-Canadian settlements involving the tainted blood scandal, as well as the settlement involving water contamination in Walkerton, ON.

Managing Partner

Luisa Ritacca

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Brendan van Niejenhuis

Partner

Brendan van Niejenhuis is a leading litigation counsel and strategic advisor. He has extensive experience across a wide range of cases before all levels of court in Canada, as well as administrative tribunals. He has acted as counsel in a variety of specialized fields, including professional and securities regulation, competition/antitrust law, class actions, intellectual property litigation, judicial reviews and appeals, First Nations litigation, corporate disputes, commercial arbitrations, and municipal law. In addition to representing private firms and individuals, he has often been retained as counsel for governments and Crown agencies, police services, municipalities, industry regulators, and professional discipline tribunals.

Partner

Brendan van Niejenhuis

Sam Robinson

Partner

Sam Robinson practices commercial litigation and class action defence. He regularly represents shareholders, officers, and directors of both public and private corporations. He has extensive experience acting and advising in disputes related to the interpretation and enforcement of contractual rights. He also advises both dissident shareholders and boards of directors of corporations in fights for control of public corporations.

Partner

Sam Robinson

Since its founding in 1979, Stockwoods LLP has been a leading Toronto-based litigation boutique, unique among top-ranked litigation firms for its high-stakes commercial litigation, regulatory and administrative matters, and sophisticated criminal litigation. The firm also stands out for its expertise in areas such as professional regulation and liability, securities law, national security, intellectual property enforcement, defamation and media law, appeals and judicial reviews, and class actions. Stockwoods’ leadership has been pivotal in shaping the firm’s top performance. Veteran litigators Brian Gover and Paul Le Vay, along with managing partner Luisa Ritacca, lead the way, supported by rising mid-career lawyers Brendan van Niejenhuis, Sam Robinson, Andrea Gonsalves, Gerald Chan, and Nader Hasan. The leadership team commits to a client-centric approach, strategic vision, and litigation excellence, tailoring the firm’s strategies to each client’s needs. Legal leaders also emphasize mentorship and development by nurturing junior lawyers to realize their full potential, contributing significantly to the firm’s competitive advantage in maintaining efficient file staffing. From senior partners to junior associates, Stockwoods’ lawyers regularly appear in the Ontario and Federal courts, the Supreme Court of Canada, other jurisdictions nationwide, and before various administrative tribunals. Canadian Lawyer has repeatedly recognized Stockwoods as one of the best in the country, naming it to the 2024–25 list of Top Litigation Law Boutiques. “We bring top-quality litigation services that match or exceed those of much larger firms, with a small, dedicated team of lawyers across a range of practice areas,” says Andrea Gonsalves, partner. “Our small size and high performance allow us to offer cost-effective, efficient, responsive, and agile client service.” While Stockwoods’ lawyers often handle high-profile public disputes before the courts, they also frequently advise and represent clients on complex challenges outside the public eye. In recent years, a strategic priority has been staying at the forefront of legal developments and emerging technologies. The team exemplifies dedication in its efforts to understand how these critical factors impact the cases they litigate and the services they provide. Peers and clients have acknowledged the firm’s superior judgment and advocacy and its reputation for efficiency, a hallmark of its practice. “We understand that clients value cost-effective solutions, and we are committed to delivering results without unnecessary complications, costs, or delays,” explains Gonsalves. “Our proactive approach ensures we handle cases efficiently, helping clients achieve their objectives as quickly as possible.” From the initial consultation to a final resolution, Stockwoods provides comprehensive legal support at every stage of the process. It’s committed team guides clients through their legal matters with clarity, confidence, and expertise. Clients appreciate thorough and effective legal support when dealing with litigation, regulatory issues, or advisory services. Above all, the top litigation law boutique measures its success on the strength of its long-term client relationships rather than on short-term wins or losses. Its value-added proposition is fourfold: across-the-board subject matter expertise, courtroom experience, bench strength, and flexibility and adaptability. “At Stockwoods, we believe that the foundation of client satisfaction lies in a deep understanding of our clients’ needs and objectives,” Gonsalves adds. “By customizing our legal strategies, we ensure that clients receive solutions specifically designed to meet their challenges.”

“We’re committed to delivering the highest level of service, assuring clients that their welfare is the firm’s utmost priority”

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Andrea Gonsalves

Partner

Gerald Chan

Partner

Nader R. Hasan

Partner

Liane Brown

Partner

Andrea Gonsalves has extensive experience in litigation and dispute resolution, with particular emphasis in appeals and judicial review applications, administrative and public law, commercial disputes, defamation and media law, intellectual property disputes, and professional discipline matters. She provides practical and strategic advice on complex issues that often arise at the intersection of many of those areas. Gonsalves has tried cases before the Ontario Superior Court, the Federal Court of Canada, and the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench and has argued cases before all levels of court in Ontario and the Federal Courts, as well as various administrative tribunals.

Partner

Andrea Gonsalves

Gerald Chan has been named one of the Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers in Canada (Canadian Lawyer, 2019), one of the Top 50 Trial Lawyers in Canada (Benchmark Litigation, 2023–24), White-Collar Crime/Enforcement Litigator of the Year (Benchmark Litigation, 2023), and Criminal Defence Lawyer of the Year, Toronto (Best Lawyers, 2024). He is a fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and a faculty member with the National Criminal Law Program. Chan is a bencher of the Law Society of Ontario. He serves as vice chair of the Law Society Tribunal, Appeal Division, and a Trustee of the Law Foundation of Ontario.

Partner

Gerald Chan

Nader R. Hasan, a partner at Stockwoods LLP, practises criminal, regulatory, and constitutional law at both the trial and appellate levels. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law, where he has taught courses on the law of evidence and currently teaches a seminar on criminal punishment from a US-Canada comparative perspective. He is a co-author of Search and Seizure (Emond, 2021), Digital Privacy: Criminal, Civil and Regulatory Litigation (LexisNexis, 2018), and Sentencing, ninth edition (LexisNexis, 2017), and an author of numerous articles on criminal and constitutional law.

Partner

Nader R. Hasan

Liane Brown is committed to representing individuals who have suffered serious personal injuries and to families who have suffered the loss of a loved one. Her practice concentrates on personal injury law, including accident benefits, motor vehicle collisions, medical malpractice, occupiers’ liability, product liability and wrongful death cases.

Partner

Liane Brown

Partner

Liane Brown

Ben Irantalab enjoys the complexities of personal injury litigation. His practice is exclusively devoted to representing clients with brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and severe orthopedic injuries. For him, the cases that require special creativity and thinking outside the box are the most gratifying.

Partner

Ben Irantalab

On a larger scale, HSH handles class action and mass tort lawsuits representing groups of people injured by dangerous products, medications, medical devices, and negligent organizations. The HSH team is known for providing caring and attentive service to clients, and is proud of the firm’s excellent reputation within the legal and medical communities.

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“We will continue to strengthen our service proposition and customer experience as a key differentiator, as we build on the momentum we have achieved to date across multiple business lines and territories,” says McLean. “Our im is to continue to grow our market relevance and strengthen our partnerships with our strategic brokers as we expand our leadership position in key sectors. “We will also continue to invest in talent. We are committed to drawing from the broadest pools of talent, and to creating an environment that attracts and retains stellar employees. We recognise the importance of building teams that are diverse, collaborative, and innovative and are dedicated to cultivating a supportive and inclusive workplace culture in which all our employees can thrive.”

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STOCKWOODS LLP

Through its unwavering focus on employee engagement, Accolade strives to create a welcoming and diverse environment where talent is excited to come to work every day.

· Litigation and dispute resolution: JFK Law is composed of skilled litigators with extensive courtroom experience who focus on finding a solution that achieves cost-effective client goals and maintains healthy long-term relationships. · Consultation and accommodation: Providing strategic advice and representation in all aspects of the Crown’s duty to consult and accommodate. · Regulatory review: Helping communities respond to referrals for projects in their traditional territories, representing communities through environmental assessments and other regulatory review processes. · Treaty and related negotiations: Working closely with several First Nations at different stages of the Treaty process, and with many First Nations engaged in other complex negotiations related to land, governance, and resources. · Impact benefit agreements: Advising on negotiating fair and equitable IBAs with proponents interested in developing in client territories. · Commercial agreements: Ensuring negotiated agreements to provide the best value for the client in a manner that ensures the client receives benefits equal to a fair share of the commercial value of the project having their support.

· Day-to-day Shout-outs – to award outstanding work, employees can exchange earned points for gift vouchers of up to $150 · Quarterly Stars Award – employees demonstrating core values have the chance to win $500 · Annual Hero’s Celebration – manager-nominated and peer-voted awards where outstanding employees earn a $5,000 bonus

Ben Irantalab

Partner

Ben Irantalab

Partner

Ben Irantalab

Partner

Liane Brown

Partner

Ben Irantalab

Partner

Paul Miller 

Co-Managing Partner 

Renée Vinett

Co-Managing Partner 

Howard R. Blitstein

Partner

David J. Levy

Partner

Jason Harman

Associate Lawyer

Andrew Lundy

Founding Partner

Zohar Levy

Founding Partner

Eni Eski

Managing Partner