Deborah Palter 1800x400

Deborah E. Palter

dpalter@tgf.ca
416.304.0148416.304.0148

Bio

Deborah is recognized as a leading advocate with a broad commercial litigation practice.  She regularly acts for individuals, corporations and financial institutions providing creative advice and strategies for litigating and resolving complicated business disputes.  Her significant mandates include cases involving complex commercial agreements, director and officer liability, banking litigation, commercial real estate disputes, fraud claims, shareholder and partnership disputes and securities-related matters.  She regularly appears as counsel in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) and in the negotiation, mediation and private arbitration of commercial disputes.  

Deborah is past President of The Advocates’ Society, the foremost association of litigation counsel in Canada dedicated to the promotion of excellence in advocacy, access to justice and a strong, independent and courageous bar.  She is recognized as one of Canada’s leading lawyers by The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory (Litigation – Corporate Commercial), Best Lawyers in Canada (Corporate Commercial Litigation) and Benchmark Canada.  She is called to the Bar of Ontario (1996) and the Bar of New York (1997).

Representative Mandates

  • Counsel to Oxford Properties on cases involving the interpretation and enforcement of commercial real estate contracts.
  • Defended a large international bank in a dispute over amounts owed under the terms of a carried interest plan and related private equity fund.
  • Defended the former principal of Lakeport Brewing Corp. in the defence of a $50 million officer and director liability claim.
  • Defended an Ontario College sued by employees of the College’s student union for claims involving negligence and negligent misrepresentation.  Obtained an order dismissing the action against the College on a summary judgment basis.
  • Acted for a U.S. subsidiary claiming indemnification for pre-arrangement taxes arising out of a Plan of Arrangement under the Canada Business Corporations Act with a $400 million transaction value.  Defended the responding Application seeking rectification of the tax indemnity agreement executed in connection with the Plan of Arrangement.
  • Court-appointed litigation counsel to the Litigation Trustee of Cash Store Financial Services Inc.
  • Defended the owner in an action for specific performance of an agreement for the sale of land in Georgian Bay.
  • Represented the Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System before a major municipal judicial inquiry.
  • Litigation counsel to the receiver, RSM Richter Inc., in the Norshield hedge fund scandal.
  • Acted on behalf of a committee of contesting bondholders in the BCE privatization, which involved the world’s largest leveraged buy-out with an enterprise value of $52 billion.
  • Counsel on a variety of matters involving interim injunctive relief.
  • Counsel on multi-party mediations and arbitrations pertaining to contractual interpretation disputes.

Representative Mandates

Court of Appeal confirms that COVID-19 Does Not Excuse a Failure to Pay Rent

The Ontario Court of Appeal (“Court”) recently clarified the scope of what terms are appropriate when granting relief from forfeiture p...

COVID-19 Does Not Excuse a Failure to Pay Rent

Courts will not rewrite leases by granting tenants rent abatements, despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. That was the bottom line conclusio...

Western University: Characterization of unpaid tuition under the BIA

This case set a precedent in its findings that (i) unpaid tuition constituted a debt in the nature of a student loan under the Bankruptcy and Insol...

Cash Store: Court-appointed litigation counsel to the Litigation Trustee of Cash Store Financial Services Inc.

Court-appointed litigation counsel to the Litigation Trustee of Cash Store Financial Services Inc. 

Lakeport Brewing: A D&O liability claim that resulted in a $1.8 million award

Defended the former principal of Lakeport Brewing Corp. in the defence of a $50 million officer and director liability claim.

Defended ICI Canada at trial in an action for specific performance of an agreement for the sale of land in Georgian Bay

Defended ICI Canada at trial in an action for specific performance of an agreement for the sale of land in Georgian Bay

Bell Canada reorganization

Acting on behalf of a committee of contesting bondholders in the BCE reorganization, which involved the world's largest leveraged buy-out with an enterprise value of $52 billion.

Norshield

Litigation counsel to the receiver, RSM Richter Inc., in the Norshield hedge fund scandal involving the tracing and attempted recovery of over $400 million in funds in several jurisdictions. Involved cross-border proceedings in the United States, Barbados and the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. 

Professional Involvement

Deborah is past President of The Advocates’ Society and has served as Chair of the Society's Education Committee and Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Advocacy and Practice.  She chaired The Advocates’ Society Task Force on the precedent setting constitutional case Trinity Western University v. Law Society of Upper Canada and Law Society of British Columbia v. Trinity Western University.  Deborah sat on the Commercial List Users’ Committee (2015-2019).  She is a sought after speaker, moderator and advocacy skills trainer at continuing legal education programs.

Deborah is a member of the Canadian Bar Association and Ontario Bar Association, Civil Litigation Section.

Recent professional appearances include:

Recognition

Deborah is most recently recognized as a leading lawyer in:

  • Top 100 Women Litigators in Canada 2022 – Benchmark Canada
  • The Best Lawyers in Canada 2023 and prior years (Corporate and Commercial Litigation)
  • The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2023 and prior years (Litigation – Corporate Commercial)
  • Lexpert Special Edition on Litigation – Leading Litigators in Canada (2021 and 2020)
  • Globe and Mail’s Lexpert/Report on Business Magazine Special Edition – Leading Litigation Lawyers in Canada (December 2019)
  • Lexpert 2016 Guide to the Leading US/Canada Cross-Border Litigation Lawyers in Canada (Corporate Commercial)
  • Benchmark Canada:  The Definitive Guide to Canada’s Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys 2022 and prior years (Litigation Star in Ontario)
  • Who's Who Legal: Commercial Litigation 2022 - leading practitioners in the field

 

Publications

Dec 01, 2021

“An Advocate’s View from the Public Gallery” (Winter 2021) 40:3 The Advocates’ Journal

May 01, 2018

"Rectification Claims and the Enforcement of Complex Agreements" in Commercial Litigation and Arbitration Review, Vol. 7, Number 2

Education

  • LL.B. (University of Windsor, Faculty of Law), 1994
  • J.D. (University of Detroit Mercy, Faculty of Law), 1994
  • B.A. (Hons.) (University of Toronto), 1991