Peter Kolla

Partner

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Peter Kolla

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Overview

Peter is a partner in the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Group at Goodmans.  His practice focuses on assisting clients with a wide variety of litigation and arbitration proceedings involving complex commercial and financial transactions, mergers and acquisitions disputes, and securities matters.  He has successfully tried to verdict a ten-figure damages award for his client, and has successfully defended cases in which his client was facing ten figure damage exposure. An experienced trial and appellate lawyer, Peter has appeared in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Ontario Divisional Court, the Court of Appeal for Ontario, the Supreme Court of Canada, the Alberta Court of King’s Bench, the Quebec Superior Court (Commercial Division), the Federal Court, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, as well as Law Society of Ontario discipline panels.

He regularly appears before the Toronto Commercial List of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in high profile commercial matters involving shareholder activism and corporate governance, director and officer liability claims, civil fraud, proceedings to enforce foreign judgments, insolvency proceedings, plans of arrangement and fiduciary obligations disputes.  Peter has been counsel in four cases that have been recognized as top cases of the year. 

Peter is recognized as a “leading partner” by The Legal 500 Canada in Dispute Resolution: Ontario, as “repeatedly recommended” by The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory in Litigation – Corporate Commercial, and as a “Future Star” by Benchmark Litigation Canada. He is also featured in the Lexpert Special Edition: Litigation and in Best Lawyers in Canada for Corporate and Commercial Litigation.

Prior to practice, Peter was a law clerk to former Supreme Court Justice Louise Charron.

Peter is fluent in French.

 

Featured Work

Peter’s representative work includes acting for:
  • Browning West LP in a proxy contest that replaced the entire board of Gildan Activewear Inc., including successfully responding to a claim by Gildan in the Quebec Superior Court
  • Marathon Petroleum Canada as lead counsel in the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion toll application before the Canada Energy Regulator
  • An Italian industrial company as lead counsel in a commercial claim brought in the Alberta Court of King’s Bench regarding an oil sands project
  • Cargill in contested motions in Tacora Resources Inc.’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act proceedings, including regarding the approval of debtor-in-possession financing and the availability of a reverse vesting order
  • An energy company as lead counsel in a judicial review application seeking to invalidate certain offshore oil and gas exploration permits
  • Cineplex Inc. as lead counsel in its successful claim against Cineworld Group, plc and a subsidiary for damages for wrongful repudiation of a merger agreement; the decision was recognized as the Commercial Litigation Case of the Year at the 2022 Canadian Law Awards
  • an intervener in two appeals to the Supreme Court of Canada regarding the interpretation of Ontario’s anti-SLAPP legislation
  • a crypto asset trading platform that was investigated by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) for allegations of breaches of the Ontario Securities Act and Commodity Futures Act, which involved a precedent setting settlement as it was the first time the OSC settled allegations against a crypto asset platform
  • Chevron Canada Limited in a successful summary judgment motion, upheld on appeal, that dismissed an action that had sought to enforce a US$9.5 billion Ecuadorian judgment for alleged environmental pollution, now a seminal Canadian case on corporate separateness
  • Hudbay Minerals Inc. in a proxy contest that successfully defended a proceeding by a dissident shareholder that sought adjournment of a shareholders’ meeting
  • Paulson & Co. Inc. in a proxy contest, including successfully responding to a claim by Detour Gold Corporation alleging insider trading and tipping
  • BDC, a Crown corporation, which was a plaintiff in an action for damages for fraudulent misrepresentation where $44 million in damages were awarded following a 16 day trial in which 15 witnesses, including experts, testified
  • the Court-appointed Monitor of Nortel Networks in various matters in its proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, including successfully opposing leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal for Ontario from an order allocating $7.3 billion in sale proceeds following a joint trial before the Ontario and Delaware courts; the decision was recognized by Lexpert Magazine’s Top 10 Business Cases of 2016
  • Chevron Canada Limited in motions and appeals to stay proceedings on the basis of lack of jurisdiction; the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision was recognized by Law Times’ Top Cases of 2015
  • Sun Indalex Finance, LLC in a successful appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada that overturned a decision distributing reserve funds to pay a pension deficit; the decision was recognized by Lexpert Magazine’s Top 10 Business Cases of 2013
  • an individual director of a reporting issuer in an appeal to the Ontario Divisional Court from decisions of the Ontario Securities Commission involving violations of the Securities Act
  • Look Communications Inc. in a successful defence against three proceedings seeking advances of legal fees from the company that was suing its former officers and directors for breaches of fiduciary duties
  • Copper Mesa Mining Corp. and two of its directors in successfully having struck three actions seeking over $90 million for alleged human rights abuses in Ecuador

Credentials

Professional Involvement

Peter acts as a mentor to junior litigation lawyers as well as summer and articling students at Goodmans.  He regularly teaches on a variety of topics, has guest lectured at the University of Toronto and the McGill University Faculty of Law, and has been an adjunct professor teaching Business Organizations at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law to its Global Professional Masters students.  He has also written numerous articles for legal publications.

Professional Affiliations

  • Law Society of Ontario
  • The Advocates’ Society
  • Canadian Bar Association
  • Ontario Bar Association