Michael Brown

Biography

D. Michael Brown practises primarily civil litigation, with an emphasis on class actions and competition litigation. He advises and represents corporate defendants in antitrust class actions involving alleged breaches of the Competition Act, securities class actions relating to the purchase or issuance of securities, personal injury class actions arising out of mass accidents, product liability class actions, and real estate class actions on behalf of condominium developers. Mr. Brown has appeared as counsel at all levels of court, including the Ontario Court of Appeal, the Federal Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. He has also appeared on behalf of defendants in class actions before the superior courts of British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador. In addition, he has represented clients in proceedings before the Competition Tribunal and in competition-related prosecutions before the criminal courts.

He has also represented corporate defendants and plaintiffs in general corporate and commercial litigation matters, including disputes involving breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, oppression and fraud, court proceedings relating to large corporate acquisitions, actions by employees for wrongful dismissal, and actions to restrain the use of confidential information by departing employees.

Year of Call

• Ontario Bar, 1997

Law School

• LL.B., University of Western Ontario, 1995

EDUCATION

• B.A. (Hons.), University of Western Ontario, 1991

Selected Client Work

• Counsel for the Dow Chemical Company in respect of class actions based on allegations relating to the use of Agent Orange and other herbicides at CFB Gagetown
• Counsel for Archer Daniels Midland in numerous class actions in Ontario and British Columbia relating to allegations of price-fixing in respect of four different commodity products
• Counsel for Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. and related companies in class actions in Ontario and British Columbia relating to allegations of price-fixing in the linerboard market
• Counsel for Magna Donnelly Corporation in a product liability class action relating to allegedly defective automobile parts
• Counsel for Nortel Networks Corporation in class actions by Nortel shareholders based on allegations of misrepresentation in financial reports
• Counsel for Canadian National Railway Company in two different class actions by rail passengers arising out of train derailments
• Counsel for Domtar Inc. in a class action based on allegations of price-fixing in the carbonless paper market
• Counsel for GlaxoSmithKline in a class action based on the use of Thimerosal in vaccines
• Counsel for Wellman Inc. in a class action relating to allegations of price-fixing in the polyester staple market
• Counsel for the Interprovincial Lottery Corp. and various provincial lottery corporations in respect of a reference before the Prince Edward Island Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada relating to the legality of internet lotteries
• Counsel for WIC Communications Inc. in court proceedings relating to an attempted hostile takeover by Canwest Global Inc.

Publications

• "It is Personal: The Representative Plaintiff in Class Actions", Canadian Class Action Review, v.1, No. 1, January 2004, (Co-authored with Alan H. Mark)

Speaking Engagements

• Chadha v. Bayer: Anomaly Or Reality Check?, The Competition Act, Class Actions And Causation, Presented to the Insight Information Co. program on "Class Actions: The Litigators Conference"; January 24-25, 2002
• Litigating Forward-Looking Corporate Disclosure: Fact Or Forecast?, Presented to the Canadian Institute program on "Securities Litigation"; October 29-30, 2001
• Aggregate Assessment Of Damages In Class Actions, Presented to the Canadian Bar Association Ontario program on "Civil Litigation: What's the Damage?"; February 3, 2001 (co-authored with Charles F. Scott)
• Using Electronic Evidence To Prove Your Case. Presented to Insight Information Co. Program on "Electronic Evidence: Managing, Collecting and Using Computer-Based Evidence"; Toronto, September 29, 2000 (co-authored with Charles F. Scott).

Memberships and Activities

• Law Society of Upper Canada
• Advocates' Society
• Canadian Bar Association
• Ontario Bar Association
• Past Chair of the Young Advocates Committee of the Advocates' Society
• Advocates' Society Standing Committee on Advocacy and Practice
• Reviewable Matters and Private Actions Committee of the CBA's Competition Law Section