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Biographie

Paul Morrison is a senior partner in our Litigation Group. He is a member of the Firm’s Board of Partners, a past- chair of the Litigation Group and a past-chair of the National Class Action Group. He has a particular expertise and reputation in complex corporate and commercial litigation, including class action litigation, securities litigation, competition litigation, insolvency litigation, professional liability, products liability and domestic and international arbitration. Mr. Morrison regularly acts in litigious matters on behalf of leading companies and institutions, both foreign and domestic, and has appeared at all levels of trial and appellate court, including the Supreme Court of Canada and before administrative tribunals.

He has acted in numerous complex class action lawsuits. Mr. Morrison represented the General Electric Company in the defence of multiparty class proceedings, which culminated in a comprehensive settlement, a feature of which was the issuance of the first Bar Order in the history of class actions in Canada. He represented Clarica Life Insurance Company (now Sun Life Assurance Co.) in successfully opposing certification in a proposed class action on behalf of 240,000 policyholders claiming entitlement to premium off-set in the sale of life insurance policies. Mr. Morrison represented the Government of Ontario in the defence of highly publicized class proceedings arising out of the widespread contamination of the water supply in Walkerton, Ontario that resulted in seven deaths and illness to thousands of inhabitants of the Walkerton area. He was instrumental in fashioning a unique and widely-acclaimed settlement of this complex class action.

He successfully represented BCE Inc. in the defence of two substantial class proceedings instituted by former debenture holders and by minority shareholders of BCE subsidiary, Bell Canada International Inc. ("BCI"), arising out of the implementation of BCI’s recapitalization announced in December 2001.

Mr. Morrison represented Degussa AG, a leading chemical manufacturer and its affiliates, in the defence of cross-Canada class proceedings based upon allegations of a world-wide price-fixing conspiracy in the sale of vitamins for use in animal feed. This resulted in the largest settlement of its kind in Canadian class action history. He is also acting in several other cross-Canada price-fixing class actions relating to different products for international corporations.

Further recent class action retainers of note include representation of TD Bank and Canada Trust Company in the successful defence of actions alleging improper charges in connection with residential mortgage prepayments; representation of TD Securities Inc. in the defence of cross-border shareholder class actions arising out of the IPO of FMF Capital Group; lead counsel for AirBus SA in the defence of class actions arising out of the landing mishap of Air France Flight 358 at Toronto International Airport in August 2005; and counsel for pet food retailers in cross-border class actions arising out of tainted pet foods manufactured by Menu Foods Inc.

Mr. Morrison’s career has been characterized by numerous lengthy and complex trials. He has represented some of the world’s most prominent institutions and corporations in litigation involving hundreds of millions of dollars. Examples include the following:

• counsel on behalf of the defence in the "test case" of allegations that the pertussis vaccine administered through public health authorities to newborn infants caused massive and permanent brain damage in children. The defence was successful at all levels, up to and including the Supreme Court of Canada;
• representing the Canadian National Railway in a trial lasting more than one year, arising out of a massive multi-building fire in Oakville, Ontario resulting from railway operations;
• acting for Unilever PLC in the trial of damages suffered by Unilever as a result of the infringement of Unilever’s patent by Procter & Gamble Company in the production and sale of the dryer sheet product, "Bounce". This trial, which concluded in January 2000, was the longest patent damages trial in Canadian history. The case concluded shortly before the release of judgment in one of the largest patent damage settlements in Canadian legal history;
• acting for Hollinger International Inc. in highly publicized litigation against Lord Conrad Black and his affiliated companies, Hollinger Inc. and Ravelston Management Inc., arising out of alleged misuse of Hollinger International assets and funds;
• acting for Clifford Chance, the world’s largest law firm, in the successful defence of an action by four Canadian chartered banks, claiming approximately $2 billion arising out of the failure of the Canary Wharf Project in London, England;
• counsel for one of Canada’s largest financial institutions in a lengthy precedent-setting hearing before the Competition Tribunal of Canada, in the successful defence of allegations of abuse of dominant position;
• represented Scotia Waterous Inc., an affiliate of the Bank of Nova Scotia, in the successful defence of multi-jurisdictional litigation arising out of the purchase of international oil and gas advisory firm Waterous & Co.;
• counsel for shareholders of Broadbank Networks Inc. in arbitral proceedings arising out of the sale of their shares to Nortel Networks Inc.;
• representation of Draxis Health Inc. in the defence of arbitral proceedings involving patent infringement claims against the University of Toronto;
• represented Sanofi-Aventis S.A. in the successful defence of claims by Apotex Inc. involving the patents for a leading pharmaceutical product;
• counsel for TD Bank and the Bank of Nova Scotia in the successful defence (by summary judgment) of claims by a large group of borrowers alleging a breach of fiduciary duty in loans made for mutual fund investment;
• counsel for Comerica Bank in lengthy CCAA litigation concerning a failed industrial supplier;
• representing the Pepsi-Cola Company in the successful defence of a claim for approximately $200 million by renowned Toronto lawyer Thomas Baker and related corporate entities;
• acting as counsel for the Ford Motor Company in contested CCAA proceedings arising out of the insolvency of the AG Simpson Group, a leading Canadian automobile parts manufacturer; and
• representing RBC Dominion Securities Inc. in multifaceted litigation arising out of highly publicized multimillion dollar defalcations by the investment banker, Christopher Horne.

Mr. Morrison was profiled on the cover story of Lexpert magazine entitled Canada/U.S. Cross-Border Litigation in October 2005. He was also featured on the cover of The National, the magazine of the Canadian Bar Association for March/April 1998.

Mr. Morrison is annually profiled in the Lexpert Guide to the Leading 100 Canada/US Cross-Border Litigators in Canada and is selected for inclusion in LEXPERT/The American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada.

Mr. Morrison is also profiled as a leading commercial litigator in the Legal Media Guide to the World’s Leading Litigation Lawyers. He is listed in the 2003-2010 editions of Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers as a leading lawyer in the area of dispute resolution. He is regularly listed in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory as a leading lawyer in the area of class action litigation, corporate commercial litigation, and professional liability. He is annually listed in the PLC Which Lawyer Guide as one of Canada’s leading lawyers in dispute resolution. He is recognized in Best Lawyers in Canada as a leading practitioner in numerous fields. He is, by invitation, an Honorary Overseas Member of the Commercial Bar Association, England and Wales (COMBAR).

Mr. Morrison was a special lecturer in Trial Advocacy at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, from 1982 to 1993. He is a regular guest instructor at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University. He regularly appears as a speaker or instructor at seminars and conferences on litigation-related topics and has authored numerous publications, including a chapter on fiduciary duties of directors and officers in Directors’ and Officers’ Duties and Liabilities in Canada (Butterworths, 1997), and a chapter on settlements in Defending Class Actions in Canada (CCH, 2002). He is a member of the Editorial Board of and a regular contributor to Corporate Litigation (Federated Press).

Mr. Morrison currently serves as the appointee of the Attorney General on the Class Proceedings Committee of Ontario. He is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Advocates Society and was co-chair of its Civil Litigation Task Force. He serves on the executive council of the University of Toronto Law Alumni Association.

Mr. Morrison received his BA (cum laude) Honours in Economics in 1972 from the University of Pennsylvania and his LLB in 1975 from the University of Toronto. He was called to the Ontario and Alberta bars in 1977 and 1982 respectively.