Thornton Grout Finnigan LLP

Number of partners: 12 (plus 3 counsel)

Number of lawyers: 25

Firm Overview:  

Thornton Grout Finnigan LLP ( TGF ) is widely recognized as a leading firm for commercial litigation and insolvency / restructuring in Canada, and for high profile multi-jurisdictional proceedings. Representative mandates reflect the breadth and depth of the team, and the creativity involved in resolving some of the most complex legal issues in Canada. TGF is a mix of senior restructuring and litigation lawyers with a full range of experience, combined with talented and energetic younger lawyers who thrive in the entrepreneurial environment of a highly focused firm. Retired Justice Frank Newbould, KC joined the firm as Counsel in 2017, after serving as judicial team leader on the Commercial List in Toronto and presiding over some of the most complex restructuring and litigation proceedings in Canada.

Main Areas of Practice:  

Restructuring & Insolvency:  

6 partners; 14 lawyers  

• Counsel to debtor Laurentian University of Sudbury in its CCAA restructuring, being the first insolvency proceeding in Canada involving a publicly funded university
• Counsel to debtor entity JTI-Macdonald Corp. in its CCAA restructuring seeking to resolve the myriad of litigation claims against it exceeding $500 billion, as part of an unprecedented industry-wide proceeding involving the three largest tobacco companies in Canada
• Counsel to PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. as court-appointed Receiver and Manager of Bridging Financial Inc. and its funds, an alternate lender with $2 billion in assets under management raised from over 26,000 investors.
• Counsel for Grant Thornton Limited as Trustee in bankruptcy of AP Private Equity Limited and Aiden Pleterski, a 23-year-old self-proclaimed crypto king who was, along with his company, adjudged bankrupt following the obtaining of a Mareva Order.
• Counsel to BDO Canada Limited as court-appointed monitor in the CCAA restructuring of Eve & Co Incorporated, Natural Medco Ltd., and Eve & Co International Holdings Ltd.
• Lawyers for FTI Consulting Canada Inc. as court-appointed monitor in the CCAA proceedings of the Just Energy Group, which sells power to residential and commercial customers in Canada and the U.S.
• Counsel to A. Farbers & Partners Inc. as court-appointed receiver of Pure Global Cannabis Inc., PureSinse Inc., 237A Advance Inc., 237B Advance Inc., SPRQ Health Group and The Great Canadian Hemp Company, Ltd.
• Counsel to Ernst & Young Inc, as court-appointed Monitor of the Country Fresh Foods Group
• Counsel to the court-appointed Monitor in the restructuring of the Carillion Group in Canada
• Counsel to debtor company AgMedica and its subsidiaries, the first licensed cannabis producer to file for CCAA protection in Ontario
• Counsel to the court appointed Monitor in the CCAA restructuring and U.S. Chapter 15 recognition proceedings involving Peraso Technologies Inc.
• Counsel to the Province of British Columbia in the CCAA proceedings of Purdue Pharma L.P.
• Counsel to Alvarez & Marsal Canada Inc.as court-appointed Monitor of Lydian International Inc. and its subsidiaries, including as foreign representative for recognition proceedings in Jersey, Channel Islands
• Counsel tothe court appointed Receiver of the Comsale Group of Companies in a Canadian receivership with foreign recognition proceedings in the U.S. and Malaysia
• Counsel to the court appointed Receiver of Unique Broadband Systems Ltd. in a Canadian receivership and U.S. Chapter 11 recognition proceeding
• Canadian counsel to Westmoreland Coal Company in its USD$110 million recapitalization and restructuring transaction through a Chapter 11 proceeding in the U.S.
• Counsel to BDC Capital Inc. in the Quebec CCAA restructuring of sustainable chemicals company BioAmber Inc., the largest global producer of bio-based succinic acid
• Counsel to the court-appointed monitor of Performance Sports Group Ltd. and its 17 subsidiaries (sports and apparel company and owner of the Bauer and Easton brands)
• Counsel to the court-appointed Monitor in a CCAA and Chapter 11 proceeding involving Pacific Exploration and Production Corporation, the largest privately-owned oil and gas producer in Latin America
• Canadian counsel to SquareTwo Financial Corporation and 17 of its direct and indirect subsidiaries in completing a pre-packaged joint plan of arrangement in a U.S. Chapter 11 proceeding to implement a cross-border share and asset sale
• Counsel to United States Steel Corporation as the parent and largest secured creditor of US Steel Canada Inc. during its CCAA proceedings
• Canadian counsel to the UK Pension Claimants in the global insolvency proceedings of Nortel Networks and the historic multi-jurisdictional 'pro rata allocation' of US$7.3 billion in sale proceeds among 40 insolvency estates in 19 countries
• Settled the “longest running legal saga in Canadian history” by a creative application of the CCAA to resolve an acrimonious and multi-faceted auditor’s negligence case
• Counsel to Endurance Energy Ltd. in its restructuring under the CCAA and U.S. Chapter 11 proceeding, successfully obtaining amendments to pension legislation to address the company’s pension liabilities
• Restructuring counsel to Hollinger Inc. in the windup of Hollinger and its subsidiaries
• Counsel to the court-appointed Monitor of Mobilicity in its restructuring
• Counsel to the court-appointed Monitor in the restructuring of the Canadian Abitibi-Bowater entities, one of the world’s largest publicly traded pulp and paper manufacturers
• Counsel to the Insolvency Institute of Canada as intervenor in two separate ground-breaking appeals to the Supreme Court of Canada

Key Clients:  

Private and public companies, banks and other lenders, national and international accounting and advisory firms, boards of directors, law firms and turnaround professionals in Canada and in other jurisdictions, directly and on behalf of their clients

Restructuring Contact: D.J. Miller 

Tel: 416 304 0559 

Email: [email protected]

Litigation:  

6 partners; 15 lawyers  

• Counsel to PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. as court-appointed Receiver and Manager of Bridging Financial Inc. and its Funds
• Court-appointed litigation counsel to the Litigation Trustee of Cash Store Financial in pursuing nine figure damage claims against Cash Store’s professional advisors
• Counsel for Crosslinx Transit Solutions Constructors on major subcontractor claims on the $5.3 billion Eglinton Crosstown LRT, one of Canada’s largest infrastructure projects
• Counsel to Oxford Properties in litigation with Hudson Bay Company over rent and the scope of appropriate terms for relief from forfeiture during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Court-appointed Representative Counsel for 630,000 non-mutual policyholders in the $2 billion demutualization of Economical Mutual Insurance Company, in the first demutualization of a property and casualty insurer in Canada
• Counsel for several joint ventures of public companies on P3 and traditional projects for governments involving highway construction and storm water management
• Counsel for Coopers & Lybrand in defending auditor’s negligence claims stemming from the collapse of Castor Holdings Ltd. that were later being addressed in a proceeding under the CCAA
• Counsel to a syndicate of European lenders in a $75M breach of contract claim against a major North American air carrier
• Counsel to a committee of contesting bondholders in the proposed privatization of BCE Inc., involving the world’s largest leveraged buy-out with an enterprise value of $52 billion, including an appeal before the Supreme Court of Canada
• Represented the former principal of Lakeport Brewing Corp. in the successful defence of a $50 million officer and director liability case
• Litigation counsel to the court-appointed Chief Restructuring Officer and Litigation Trustee of Hollinger Inc., in pursuing extensive litigation claims in the estate
• Counsel to the court-appointed Receiver, RSM Richter Inc., in the Norshield hedge fund scandal involving the tracing and attempted recovery of over $400 million in investor funds in multiple jurisdictions

Key Clients:  

Private and public companies, directors and officers, turnaround professionals, national and international law firms and advisory firms, Canadian and international lenders and construction companies and joint ventures.

Litigation Contact: Deborah E. Palter 

Tel: 416 304 0148 

Email: [email protected]