After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science at the University of Calgary with specialization in Canadian constitutional law, Christopher attended McGill University’s Faculty of Law where he obtained degrees in both English Common Law and French (Quebec) Civil Law. He then attended Osgoode Hall Law School and completed a Master of Laws degree with his thesis entitled “A Neo-Conservative Approach to Standing in Charter of Rights Litigation.”
Called to the Bar of New York State and Ontario (Law Society of Upper Canada), Christopher’s practice has served clients in both jurisdictions with his base of operations in the Greater Toronto Area since 1997. He has practised both corporate/commercial law as well as litigation – with the majority of his time since 1997 devoted to litigation (mainly commercial and banking litigation). His litigation practice has seen him represent clients before all levels of Ontario and Federal Courts – including the Supreme Court of Canada – and also in arbitrations and many government or industry tribunals.
Christopher’s practice has an emphasis on contractual, shareholder and priority disputes. He has represented individuals, companies and financial institutions from small credit unions to many Schedule I banks and multi-national lenders in diverse areas such as:
- banking litigation
- inter-creditor disputes (eg. priority disputes)
- negotiable instrument litigation (promissory notes, bills of exchange and letters of credit)
- bankruptcy/insolvency matters
- personal and real security enforcement
- debtor-creditor matters including commercial collection lawsuits
- civil fraud litigation (including freezing orders and Mareva / Norwich Pharmacal injunctions)
- shareholder litigation (oppression remedy and appraisal remedy actions, liquidation/winding up applications, disputes arising from unanimous shareholder agreements)
- intellectual property disputes (copyright and trade-mark)
- real property litigation (including commercial tenancy and condominium disputes)
- estates litigation
- employment litigation
- recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards.
Christopher practised with several large firms in downtown Toronto prior to joining Wilson Vukelich in 2008.
Involvement & Recognition
Christopher was called to the New York State Bar in 1994 and the bar of Ontario in 1997. He has been a member of the Canadian, American, and New York State Bar Associations.
Christopher was affiliated with the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and became a Member of that organization following successfully completing accreditation examinations in Lithuania in 2013. He became a Fellow of the Institute in October 2014 following successful completion of his accreditation examinations in New York City in that year.
He has previously been a member of the London Court of International Arbitration. He has also been a member of the ADR Institute of Canada and held its Q.Arb. accreditation for domestic arbitrations.
Since 2019, Christopher has been reappointed as a member of the Real Estate Council of Ontario’s Discipline and Appeals Committees. The Discipline Committee hears complaints against real estate agents and brokers in Ontario and the Appeals Committee hears appeals from decisions of the Discipline Committee.
Christopher is available to assist in arbitrations either as an arbitrator or as counsel in arbitral proceedings.
When not in the office, Christopher enjoys attending CFL football games (he is a long suffering Toronto Argonauts seasons ticket holder) or being with his family in Québec or France.
Christopher is also the author of a blog on commercial law and litigation that can be found at: http://www.ontariolegal.com/blog/