Alan is one of Canada’s leading litigation counsel, with over 40 years’ experience in trials, appeals, arbitrations and mediations. He has carried on a broad and varied practice involving all manner of domestic and cross-border business disputes, including expertise in corporate governance and finance, class actions, insolvency and restructuring proceedings, insurance, and matters concerning Ontario’s electricity sector. He is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the Litigation Counsel of America and is a past president of the Advocates’ Society.
Alan is member and former head of the Litigation and Disputes Resolution Group of Goodmans LLP in Toronto, one of Canada’s leading law firms. He is widely recognized as a leading litigation counsel with over 40 years’ experience in a wide range of commercial disputes at the trial and appellate level, in arbitrations and in regulatory proceedings.
Alan’s areas of specialization include corporate/commercial law, governance disputes, securities and M&A disputes, insolvency and restructuring proceedings and class actions. Alan has extensive experience in the energy field, including in Ontario’s electricity sector. He has appeared at all levels of court in Ontario and several other provinces and in the Supreme Court of Canada. Alan has represented numerous Fortune 500 companies and some of Canada’s most significant corporations in both domestic and cross-border matters. Amongst his many cases, he led the litigation team which obtained a $1.2 billion judgment for Cineplex Inc. arising out of its failed merger with Cineworld. and represented Nortel Canada in its world-wide and precedent-setting insolvency proceedings. Alan has been involved in several high-value disputes within some of Canada’s wealthiest families and private companies. He has for many years represented numerous public sector and private sector participants in Ontario’s electricity industry in regulatory, judicial and arbitral proceedings concerning all aspects of the generation, purchase and sale, transmission and distribution of electricity in Ontario. Alan also has expertise in insurance matters, including coverage disputes.
Alan has extensive experience in the arbitration and mediation fields. He has represented numerous domestic and international clients in ad hoc and institutional arbitral proceedings and has served as arbitrator. He has litigated many jurisdictional issues related to arbitral proceedings. Alan has achieved successful resolutions in many complex and multi-party mediations.
Alan has been the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions. He is listed as recommended counsel in numerous leading guides and directories, including Chambers Global, Chambers Canada, The Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada, the Lexpert Special Edition: Canada’s Leading Energy Lawyers, the Lexpert Special Edition: Canada’s Leading Litigation Lawyers, Best Lawyers in Canada, The Legal 500 Canada, The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, Benchmark Canada and Euromoney’s Guide to the World’s Leading Litigation Lawyers. In 2022, Alan was named “Ontario Litigator of the Year” and one of the “Top 50 Trial Lawyers in Canada” by Benchmark Canada. Benchmark Canada previously recognized Alan as Canada’s “Energy/Resource Litigator of the Year”.
Alan graduated from Osgoode Hall law School in 1980 and was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1982. Alan is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the Litigation Counsel of America. He is also a former director and past president of The Advocates’ Society, Canada’s leading association of advocates. Alan has been a dedicated trial advocacy instructor for many years at both Osgoode Hall Law School and The Advocates’ Society. He speaks regularly at CLE Programs and is a frequent contributor to legal publications.
