Heading to trial and feeling the nerves mount? Never fear, this episode of Disputed is here.
Hosts Ted Brook and Erin Brown sit down with commercial litigators, Stephen Taylor and Tiffany O’Hearn Davies from our Toronto office, to share their top ten tips for winning civil trials in Canadian courts.
Drawing on years of experience navigating complex disputes, Tiffany and Stephen discuss what true preparedness looks like, from organizing evidence and supporting your witnesses to managing tone and reading the courtroom. They explore how to balance fact with impact and explain why success in the courtroom depends on focus, strategy, and civility. Together, they highlight why winning a trial is not only about theatrics but about meticulous preparation, calculated judgment, and unwavering professionalism.
This episode is accredited 0.8 substantive hours in Ontario and 0.8 substantive hours in British Columbia.
Guests:
When it comes to court orders, clever wording and strategic manoeuvring are not always the best route. Do it wrong, and you could find yourself facing contempt of court, a rare but serious situation. In this episode, hosts Ted Brook and Erin Brown, along with their guests, unpack the intriguing case between the Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) and the Association of Architectural Technologists of Ontario (AATO), whose licensing dispute led to a rare finding of contempt. Joining them in the conversation are guests Chris Muir, a litigation partner in the Toronto office, and David Litwin, Senior Counsel at the Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority.
Together, they take a detailed look at the case, the key players, and the long-standing tensions between the two associations. They walk through everything from the consent order to the contested conduct that triggered the contempt motion, breaking down what makes up the legal standard for civil contempt. Finally, they share broader takeaways for today’s counsel, including the importance of clarity in court orders, consistency in regulatory decision-making, and the caution all regulators must exercise.
This episode is accredited 0.67 substantive hours in Ontario and 0.67 substantive hours in British Columbia.
Guests:
Tariffs are a polarizing topic in today’s economic landscape. In this episode, host Erin Brown takes on the role of guest alongside Martin Masse, Senior Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright’s Ottawa office, as they join Ted to dive deep into the world of tariffs and trade disputes. Together, they demystify tariffs—explaining how they function and why they matter.
In this conversation, Erin and Martin provide the historical context around Canada-US trade relations and share how imported goods are classified, and how tariffs are calculated and applied to goods. With businesses facing financial and contractual risks in the year ahead, Erin and Martin highlight the importance of reviewing supply agreements, updating legal clauses, and reassessing trade strategies to mitigate the impact of tariffs. Beyond individual business concerns, the conversation broadens to the larger economic implications—including the push for trade diversification and the evolving role of inter-provincial trade within Canada. Finally, Erin and Martin share practical steps businesses can take to navigate trade uncertainty and prepare for the future.
This episode is accredited x substantive hours in Ontario, x substantive hours in British Columbia and x substantive hours in Quebec.
Guests:
It’s that exciting time of year again, the release of the Norton Rose Fulbright Annual Litigation Trends Survey! Join hosts Ted and Erin as they dive into this year’s findings and what they mean for corporate counsel in 2025. In this episode, they break down some of the most pressing issues uncovered in the survey, including greenwashing risks, evolving cybersecurity regulations, and shifts in class action litigation. Helping to unpack these insights are three guests each bringing their expertise to the discussion.
Ray Chartier, Senior Partner in the Calgary office and Canadian Co-Head of Responsible Business & Sustainability, examines the growing risks of greenwashing and its impact on Canadian and U.S. markets. John Cassell, Partner in the Calgary office and Canadian Co-Head of Cybersecurity & Data Privacy, explores how the survey reflects major legislative changes ahead for cybersecurity law in Canada. Finally, François-David Paré, Partner in the Montreal office and Co-Chair of the National Class Actions Team, highlights the increasing focus on consumer protection class actions, a key concern in this year’s findings.
For more information on our Litigation Trends Survey and access to the 2025 summit recording, visit our 2025 Annual Litigation Trends Survey webpage here.
This episode is accredited 0.5 substantive hours in Ontario, and 0.5 substantive hours in British Columbia.
Guests:
How much deference do the courts owe regulators? Should courts review regulations differently than other forms of administrative action? In a landmark pair of rulings released late last year, the Supreme Court of Canada clarified the standard of review for challenging regulations in Canada. The SCC’s new guidance in Auer and TransAlta is already impacting businesses in industries and sectors across the country. In this episode of Disputed, Ted and Erin take a deep dive into the SCC’s twin decisions in order to uncover the key takeaways for regulators and regulated businesses in this new legal landscape.
To help guide them through the nuances of Auer and TransAlta, and the cases leading up to them, Ted and Erin are joined by Jean-Simon Schoenholz and Christopher Guerreiro of our firm’s Public Strategy Group – two lawyers with considerable experience litigating these questions. Jean-Simon is a partner based in Ottawa whose practice focuses on public law, appellate advocacy and commercial litigation. Chris is Of Counsel with the firm, based in Toronto. His practice focuses on high-stakes litigation with an emphasis on cases involving intellectual property, administrative law, life sciences and high-technology industries.
This episode is accredited 0.82 substantive hours in Ontario and 0.82 substantive hours in British Columbia.
Guests:
Understanding what can lead to post-closing disputes is crucial as no one likes to see a deal go sour after months of hard work. In this episode of Disputed, hosts Ted Brook and Erin Brown dive into the complexities of post-closing disputes, uncovering how and why deals can go awry even after months of preparation.
Joining them are Vanessa Grant, a senior partner and M&A lawyer from our Toronto office, and Andrea Brewer, a corporate and commercial law expert with a focus on public mergers and acquisitions. Together, they examine the most common sources of disputes and critical areas to address to minimize the risk of litigation, including tax due diligence, earnout provisions, and other key considerations. This episode provides valuable insights into safeguarding the deal lifecycle and ensuring a seamless post-closing process.
This episode is accredited to 0.5 substantive hours in Ontario and 0.5 substantive hours in British Columbia.
Guests:
Hosts Ted Brook and Erin Brown are joined by fellow partners, Maya Angenot, from Norton Rose Fulbright’s Montreal office, and Jeremy Devereux, from Norton Rose Fulbright’s Toronto office, to discuss the intricacies of class actions in Canada.
In addition to comparing and contrasting how these types of cases differ between Ontario and Quebec, this episode takes a closer look at the burgeoning trend of employment class actions, Ontario's amendments to its Class Proceedings Act, the rise of privacy breach class actions in Quebec, and the emerging challenge of fraudulent claims in settlement processes.
This episode is accredited 0.75 substantive hours in Ontario, 0.75 substantive hours in British Columbia and 0.75 substantive hours in Quebec.
Guests:
What makes a great litigator? When it comes to mastering the art of litigation, some lessons are best learned outside the classroom.
In this episode of Disputed, hosts Ted Brook and Erin Brown go back to school and delve into what it takes to become a successful litigator, drawing from the experience of 11 seasoned professionals across all six of Norton Rose Fulbright's Canadian offices.
They’ll discuss how preparedness, above all else, is a major key to success, gain insights into how far to push a witness, talk about dealing with clients, and reflect on hard lessons learned early on by some of our top litigators. From unexpected twists in trials, to the evolving dynamics between junior and senior litigators, this episode is all about the lessons that litigators learn that allow them to turn courtroom challenges into victories.
This episode is accredited 0.92 substantive hours in Ontario and 0.92 substantive hours in British Columbia.
Guests:
Transformative changes to the Competition Act are here. How will they affect the competition disputes landscape?
To kick off season 5 of Disputed, hosts Ted Brook and Erin Brown sit down to discuss the changes with guests Chris Hersh, Partner and Canadian Head of Antitrust and Competition based in Toronto, and Eric Lefebvre, Partner and litigator based in Montreal.
In addition to the changes to the Competition Act, this episode covers the current status of bills C-59 and C-56 and their compounding effects on the potential for expanded competition litigation; environmental performance claims; and why there’s still so much uncertainty in this area. Ted, Erin, Chris and Eric discuss why the changes could result in a significant uptick in litigation on competition issues, particularly where NGOs are eager to bring complaints.
Note: This podcast was recorded on June 5, 2024. Bill C-59 has received Royal Assent and has now been passed into law.
This episode is accredited 0.75 substantive hours in Ontario and 0.75 substantive hours in British Columbia.
Disputed is back for another season, continuing to bring you an inside look on the trends, issues and developments across Canada’s evolving legal landscape through a litigator’s lens, and how to prepare for them.
Fresh from our special miniseries, Undisputed: Litigation Trends Explored, our hosts Ted Brook, Partner, and Erin Brown, Senior Associate at Norton Rose Fulbright are here to bring you comprehensive coverage of emerging trends in Canadian law and answer the burning questions on the minds of Canada’s legal industry.
Subscribe now to get the latest insights.
What lies ahead for governance disputes in Canada? According to our 2024 Annual Litigation Trends Survey, the anticipated key contributors over the next 12 months are:
In the fourth and final episode of our miniseries, hosts Ted Brook and Erin Brown discuss the unique practice of special situations along with Evelyn Li and Fahad Siddiqui. Both Evelyn and Fahad are Partners of Norton Rose Fulbright’s Special Situations team, which has played a leading role in Canada's most high profile shareholder activist and defense mandates across the country.
During the episode, they explore the dynamic, rapidly evolving world of complex M&A, shareholder activism and corporate governance litigation, including current key focus areas for the practice in Canada, from internal investigations, to engagement with securities and regulators, and much more.
Download the full 2024 Annual Litigation Trends Survey at: 2024 Annual Litigation Trends Survey
This episode is accredited 0.75 substantive hours in Ontario and 0.75 substantive hours in British Columbia.
As regulatory requirements around climate and other Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) disclosures take shape and anti-ESG sentiment grows, organizations are increasingly finding themselves navigating a complex risk landscape.
From our survey:
• Issues surrounding board governance, executive compensation, conflict of interest and proxy battles have been flagged by 50% of Canadian survey respondents as something to pay attention to in 2024
• One in 10 respondents experienced ESG-related litigation last year (compared to just two percent in 2022) – a development we anticipated in our 2023 report.
• 38% of organizations are also concerned about future ESG class actions as issues such as greenwashing, diversity policies and regulatory compliance go under the microscope.
In episode three of our miniseries, hosts Ted Brook and Erin Brown draw on the expertise of Alison Babbitt, Partner, Canadian Co-Head of Responsible Business and Sustainability, and Heidi Reinhart, Partner. Together, they explore the discourse around ESG litigation risk as new regulations and policies come to the forefront. We’ll learn how various industries are impacted and why a strong base of corporate governance, transparency, and consistency can set businesses up for success.
Download the full Litigation Trends Survey at 2024 Annual Litigation Trends Survey.
This episode is accredited 0.62 substantive hours in Ontario and 0.5 substantive hours in British Columbia.
Our digital world is creating more data than ever before.
And according to findings from Norton Rose Fulbright’s 2024 Annual Litigation Trends Survey, as data volumes grow exponentially, so do cybersecurity and data privacy concerns.
From our survey:
• 40% of organizations saw their cybersecurity dispute exposure grow in 2023 – more than any other area – as cyberattacks reached record levels and the patchwork of data protection regulations grew in complexity.
• Cybersecurity, data protection and data privacy also top the list of litigation concerns in the year ahead amid the challenges posed by data management and AI.
In episode two of our miniseries, hosts Ted Brook, Partner, and Erin Brown, Senior Associate, are joined by the Canadian Co-Heads of Cybersecurity and data privacy at Norton Rose Fulbright: Imran Ahmad and John Cassell. Together, they dissect the nuances of cybersecurity, data privacy and emerging policies around AI as the dramatic growth of generative AI tools like ChatGPT outpaces existing legal frameworks. Now more than ever, organizations need to remain proactive in order to mitigate risks and take advantage of future opportunities.
Download the full 2024 Annual Litigation Trends Survey at 2024 Annual Litigation Trends Survey.
This episode is accredited 0.62 substantive hours in Ontario and 0.5 substantive hours in British Columbia.
What’s top of mind for litigation and disputes lawyers? Increased regulatory proceedings, rising class actions, and ever-growing concerns around ESG remain a priority for general counsel and in-house litigation leaders across Canada according to the Canadian findings from Norton Rose Fulbright’s 2024 Annual Litigation Trends Survey.
So, what does this mean for the future of litigation in 2024?
Our first episode of Undisputed, hosts Ted Brook, Partner, and Erin Brown, Senior Associate, dive into the survey insights and how to prepare for the challenges ahead, with François-David Paré - Partner, Canadian National Chair, Litigation and Disputes.
Download the full 2024 Annual Litigation Trends Survey at: 2024 Annual Litigation Trends Survey
This episode is accredited 0.5 substantive hours in Ontario and 0.5 substantive hours in British Columbia.
Our brand-new hosts Ted Brook, Partner, and Erin Brown, Senior Associate at Norton Rose Fulbright are excited to bring you a special four episode miniseries that unpacks the findings from our 2024 Annual Litigation Trends Survey.
Undisputed: Litigation Trends Explored will share valuable insights around trending topics like ESG, cybersecurity, regulatory investigations and more, through candid conversations with subject matter experts and industry leaders.
Subscribe now to learn what’s impacting the legal landscape, and stay tuned for more episodes of Disputed, returning in Spring 2024.
Download the full 2024 Annual Litigation Trends Survey at litigationtrends.com.
When will a company be held responsible if its employees are involved in wrongdoing? Are all companies measured by the same degree of accountability? And how is anti-corruption legislation applied when multiple jurisdictions are involved?
The UK is strengthening its anti-corruption legislation, making significant changes that will introduce a statutory test for corporate criminal liability, introducing a new strict liability offence of failure to prevent fraud, and expanding the investigative powers of the UK’s Serious Fraud Office. In this episode, we explore what impact these significant changes will have on Canadian and other international businesses.
Joining us for this special cross-border episode are Neil O’May and Naomi Miles.
is a partner who leads our corporate crime practice in London, and advises and defends some of the world's most prominent organizations and individuals in investigations and prosecutions involving international fraud, corruption and market abuse.
is a senior associate in our London office, who focuses on complex multi-jurisdictional investigations, risk mitigation and compliance.
Note: since recording, the UK Parliament has made the decision to drop the offence of failing to prevent money laundering. You can read more about that decision
.
CPD credits: This episode is accredited 0.7 substantive hours in Ontario and 0.7 substantive hours in British Columbia.
