Robert L. Armstrong

Biography

Robert L. Armstrong has extensive experience both as a trial and appellate lawyer and as a strategist in complex, multi-party, multijurisdictional disputes, working closely with clients and other counsel in all Canadian provinces, the United States, Europe and the Far East. Mr. Armstrong appears as counsel before all levels of provincial and federal courts in Canada, including the Supreme Court of Canada, as well as before numerous administrative tribunals.

Mr. Armstrong's areas of expertise include class actions, securities litigation and regulation, financial services and capital markets litigation, including 25 years representing Canadian chartered banks, foreign banks, investment dealers and international accounting firms, directors and officers' liability, national and international alternative dispute resolution, shareholders' rights and business disputes, and corporate and commercial litigation.

Year of Call

• Ontario Bar 1981

Law School

• LL.B., University of Western Ontario, 1979

EDUCATION

• B.A. (Hons.), Wilfrid Laurier University, 1976

Selected Client Work

• Lead counsel on behalf of Magna Donnelly Corporation in respect of class action proceedings relating to the manufacture of door latches in Ford Motor Company vehicles
• Co-lead counsel for a bank syndicate in a $300 million claim against the officers and directors of Bracknell, a failed public corporation
• Lead counsel on behalf of the Canadian underwriter in respect of class action proceedings relating to Atlas Cold Storage and a series of public offerings made by that corporation in Canada
• Scotia Capital Inc. - Lead counsel on behalf of a Canadian investment dealer in respect of class action proceedings relating to the method of calculating foreign exchange rates
• Lead counsel for BMO Nesbitt Burns in a significant claim against Wellington West related to recruitment of BMO's employees.
• Lead counsel for an international pharmaceutical manufacturer in respect of Canadian class proceedings relating to the use of Thimerosal in childhood vaccines
• Lead counsel for an investment dealer defendant with respect to all civil class proceedings in the Bre-X Minerals Ltd. $3 billion case in British Columbia and Ontario
• CN Rail - Co-lead counsel in the successful defence of a class action brought by pensioners against CN Rail et al. with respect to alleged pension entitlements
• Lead counsel for an international pharmaceutical manufacturer in respect of Canadian class action proceedings commenced in three provinces relating to the sale of Paxil in Canada
• Lead counsel for the Government of Canada in a complex commercial contract dispute involving hundreds of millions of dollars in damages and millions of documents
• Lead counsel for an investment dealer defendant in civil class proceedings in the YBM Magnex Inc. several hundred million dollar case
• General Bakeries - Co-lead counsel in precedent-setting and successful pension surplus litigation across Canada involving hundreds of millions of dollars in claims
• Lead counsel for a successful investment dealer defendant in a large class action proceeding commenced in British Columbia
• Fidelity Claims - Lead counsel on behalf of several chartered banks and investment dealers in respect of over 600 separate civil claims
• Noble China Inc. - Successful lead counsel in a several hundred million dollar international arbitration, based in China and Toronto

Rankings and Recognitions

• Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal, 2002
• Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory
• Lexpert Top 100 Canada-U.S. Litigators

Memberships and Activities

• Law Society of Upper Canada
• Advocates' Society
• Canadian Bar Association
• International Bar Association
• American Bar Association