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Alan L. W. D'Silva
Toronto |
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Law Practice
Alan D'Silva is a senior partner in the Toronto office and has a diverse commercial litigation practice. His core practice areas include defence of class actions, corporate/commercial disputes, securities litigation, shareholder/oppression cases, large insurance litigation, accountants' and auditors' negligence, professional negligence, directors' and officers' claims, product liability, banking, IT, software and computer disputes, and pension-related matters.
Alan has acted as counsel in more than 150 publicly reported cases and has extensive experience at all levels of court and before administrative tribunals. He is one of the most experienced counsel in appearances before Canadian appellate courts, including acting in more than 75 appeals including eight cases in the Supreme Court of Canada. Alan has also acted as a mediator, arbitrator and an expert witness in Canadian courts.
Alan is widely considered as one of the leading litigation lawyers in Canada and an expert in a number of areas of law. He is listed and recognized for his expertise in many legal and professional publications, including the following:
- The 2013 Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada as a leading lawyer for Class Actions and Corporate Commercial Litigation.
- Legal Media Group's 2013 Benchmark Canada, the Guide to Canada's Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys (Second Edition) as a pre-eminent litigation practitioner in Ontario.
- The Best Lawyers in Canada 2013 in the areas of Corporate and Commercial Litigation and Class Action Litigation.
- The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers 2014 and Who's Who Legal: Canada and is noted as a "'top' counsel" and for having "a 'wealth of experience' acting before courts and tribunals".
- The International Who's Who of Insurance & Reinsurance Lawyers 2013.
- The 2013 Legal Media Group's Guide to the World's Leading Insurance and Reinsurance Lawyers.
- The 2012 Lexpert Guide to the Leading US/Canada Cross-border Litigation Lawyers in Canada for Class Actions.
- The Who's Who Legal 100 2012, referenced as a leading practitioner in Litigation who "has a 'very well-respected' litigation practice and handles large insurance disputes and directors' and officers' claims."
- The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2012 as Most frequently recommended in Class Actions, Consistently recommended in Litigation - Commercial Insurance and Repeatedly recommended in Litigation - Corporate Commercial and Litigation - Securities.
- PLC's Insurance and Reinsurance Multi-Jurisdictional Guide 2012 and the 2012 PLC Which Lawyer? recommended in Insurance: contentious.
Alan is also considered an expert on such diverse areas as: the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, human rights law, securities litigation, class actions, insurance law, sports law, election law and directors' and officers' liability.
Alan wrote the Leave to Appeal factum in Sharma v. Timminco that was recently selected as the precedent in the "Supreme Court of Canada" chapter of Canadian Precedents of Pleading. He is a frequent speaker at legal and business conferences and has published over 50 law articles over the years, including one law review publication that has been cited by a Federal Law Reform Commission and the Supreme Court of Canada. Alan is the co-author of three legal texts, including Directors' and Officers' Canadian Risk Management Guide and Secondary Market Liability in Canada.
Alan acted as senior counsel on three of the four cases featured in "Canadian Big Suits" by American Lawyer magazine (October 2011), on two of the Top 10 Business Cases in Canada for 2009, as selected by Lexpert and six Top 10 Business cases since 2006.
Awards & Recognitions
- Recognized as Benchmark Canada's 2013 Securities Litigation Lawyer of the Year (for Canada) by Legal Media Group.
- Cited as one of the "50 Best Lawyers in Canada" by Corporate INTL magazine for his expertise in Commercial Litigation.
- Recognized member of the University of Ottawa's Tabaret Society (for scholarship foundation).
- Nominated and finalist for Globe and Mail's "Top 40 Under 40" (for charitable work).
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Professional Activities
- Adjunct Professor, University of Toronto Faculty of Law, appeals and judicial reviews (1998-99)
- Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Western Ontario Law School, class actions (2009-11)
- Visiting Professor, University of Ottawa Law School, class actions (2012)
- Chair, Class Actions Invitational Forum, Langdon Hall, Cambridge (2011, 2013)
- Chair, The Advocates' Society Task Force on the Report on Retention of Women in the Profession (2008)
- Chair, The Advocates' Society "Fine Minds in the House" speaker series (2007-2008)
- Guest lecturer, University of Windsor and University of Western Ontario Faculty of Law and Carleton University
- Former instructor at the Law Society's Bar Admission Course, civil litigation and legal writing (1992-98)
- Former instructor at Osgoode Hall, Intensive Trial Advocacy Course
- IBC Property and Casualty Decisions Panel (2010-12)
- Legal counsel at the Ontario Human Rights Commission (1990-91)
- Trained and certified as a mediator, The Advocates' Society/Harvard Program (1998)
- Member of the Board of Directors, The Advocates' Society and chair of a Standing Committee and several task forces (2006-09)
- Director, Sir William Campbell Foundation (2008-09)
- Member of the Equity Advisory Group, Law Society of Upper Canada (2007-09)
- Executive Committee OBA Insurance Sector (2006-07)
- Member of Stikeman Elliott's (Toronto) Management Committee
Community Involvement
- Past president of a large Ratepayers' Association
- Former and current board member of several charitable or non-profit organizations, universities and hospitals
- Board member of Muskoka Cottage Association
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Education
University of Ottawa (J.D. cum laude 1987), Université Laval (French-language programme 1984), Carleton University (BA with distinction 1983).
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Bar Admission
Ontario, 1989
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