LAWYERS

Michael Byers is an experienced litigator whose practice focuses on corporate/commercial, securities and complex employment disputes.

His corporate/commercial litigation practice includes breach of contract claims, shareholder and oppression disputes, commercial arbitration, class actions, insolvency litigation, cross-border issues, professional liability, fraud claims, transactional disputes, and insurance litigation. Michael’s securities litigation practice includes significant experience in investigations and proceedings conducted by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) and other securities regulators, investment loss claims, securityholder issues in bankruptcy and insolvency proceedings, securities class actions, and broker/dealer disputes (with significant experience assisting both dealer clients and advisors on issues and claims arising from a broker or advisor’s changing firms and related employment or contractual disputes). Michael leverages his expertise in the capital markets and knowledge of the securities regulatory landscape to assist employers and employees in wrongful dismissal matters, with particular experience in employment litigation in the financial services sector and disputes involving complex financial and damages quantification issues or allegations of cause.

Michael has worked with a broad range of corporate and individual clients, as well as insurers and regulators. He has particular experience in disputes in the financial services, securities, mining and natural resources, software and technology, cannabis, cryptocurrency, and accounting sectors.

Michael has appeared as counsel before all levels of court in Ontario, arbitral tribunals, and administrative tribunals including the Ontario Securities Commission (now Capital Markets Tribunal), the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO, formerly, the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada and the Mutual Fund Dealers Association), the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario, and the British Columbia Securities Commission. Michael also has experience in proceedings before the courts of other provinces, and in assisting clients in investigations and proceedings commenced by regulatory bodies across the country, including FSRA, provincial insurance councils, and provincial securities regulators.

Michael joined the firm after practicing in the litigation department of a major national law firm.

Awards & Recognition

Michael has been recognized by Lexpert as a leading securities litigator, by Chambers Canada as an Up and Coming securities litigator and by Benchmark Litigation Canada as one of the top litigation lawyers 40 & Under in Canada and a Future Litigation Star.

A client in Michael’s Benchmark Review  described Michael as “highly dedicated, committed to client service, perceptive and very intelligent. He quickly became an expert in my situation and was proactive, caring and got me the best possible outcome.”

According to reviewers in Chambers Canada,

Speaking Engagements & Publications

Co-Author, “ Bank Error in Your Favour!: Restitution and the Law of Mistaken Payments in Canada”, Advocates’ Quarterly, Vol. 54, 332

Author, “You’re Fired!”: Calculating Employment Damages for a Loss of Incentive Based Compensation, October 17, 2023

Co-Author, What Can SEC Sweeps of Off-Channel Communications Teach Canadian Securities Markets Participants? Stop Texting (for Work), October 10, 2023

Co-Author, “OSC Steps Up Crypto Enforcement and Targets Foreign Crypto Platforms”, July 19, 2022

Co-Author, “Preserving Privilege in M&A Transactions”, M&A Risk Advisor, April 11, 2022

Co-Author, “Clash of the Cine-Titans: Court Finds That COVID-19 is Not an Excuse to Walk Away from an M&A Transaction”, December 23, 2021

Co-Author, “New Guidance on Regulation of Crypto-Trading Platforms in Canada”, April 29, 2021

Speaker, “Overview of Securities Litigation”, Institute for Law Clerks of Ontario Seminar, October 24, 2018

Speaker, “Liability of Directors and Officers”, Eighth Annual Securities Symposium, Advocates’ Society,  September 5, 2018

Speaker, “Do’s and Don’ts’ of Handling Client Complaints and Conducting Investigations”, Client Seminar, July 2018

Author, Individual Acts and Corporate Benefits: Towards a More Expansive Standard for Company Liability, April 2018

Co-Author, “Don’t be the next Equifax: Cyber-liability in an Age of Data Insecurity: Recognizing and Managing Cyber-risk”, Private Capital Markets Association Newsletter, October 2017

Co-Author, “Separate, Independent and Confounding: Understanding Personal Liability for Corporate Acts”, Annual Review of Civil Litigation (Toronto: Thomson Reuters Canada Limited, 2017, reproduced with permission).

Co-Presenter, “Outside Business Activities and Personal Financial Dealings: Civil and Regulatory Risk and When to Seek Legal Advice” Association of Canadian Compliance Professionals, November 2016

Co-Author, “Ontario Securities Commission Reviews: An Exercise in Futility or a Road out of the Quagmire?” Private Capital Markets Association of Canada Market Insights Issue, Fall 2014

Co-author, “Canada” in International Insolvency: a Jurisdictional Comparison, 3rd Edition, ed. J. William Boone, European Lawyer Reference Series (London: European Lawyer, 2012)