Jerry Topolski

Partner

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Jerry Topolski

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Overview

Jerry is a partner in the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Group at Goodmans. He maintains a broad corporate and commercial litigation practice with particular expertise in regulatory dispute resolution and litigation, intellectual property disputes and complex commercial matters.

Jerry regularly advises clients in the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries on regulatory and commercial issues related to regulated products, including pharmaceuticals, medical devices, cannabis and natural health products. His work includes advising on regulatory compliance, product licensing, labelling and advertising, market access, and enforcement strategy. He frequently assists clients in navigating interactions with Health Canada and other federal, provincial and municipal regulators.

Drawing on extensive experience in both litigation and regulatory advisory work, Jerry supports clients across all stages of growth—from emerging market entrants to established multinational players. He provides practical legal and strategic advice to clients entering or operating in the Canadian market, including on regulatory risk, compliance obligations, litigation exposure, and enforcement trends.

In addition to his regulatory and IP-focused work, Jerry advises on shareholder disputes, white collar investigations, bankruptcy proceedings, employment litigation, and construction-related claims. He brings particular strength in managing multi-jurisdictional disputes and aligning litigation and regulatory strategies.

Jerry has appeared before all levels of the Federal, Ontario and Quebec Courts and is experienced in coordinating parallel proceedings across jurisdictions.

He is recognized as a leading lawyer in The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory for litigation – intellectual property and Best Lawyers in Canada for intellectual property and corporate and commercial litigationHe is also featured in the Lexpert Special Edition: Technology and the Lexpert Special Edition: Health Sciences. 

Jerry and Justice Allyson Whyte Nowak of the Federal Court of Canada are authors of Best Practices In Litigating Complex IP Litigation, a guide to ethical considerations in pharmaceutical practice.

Featured Work

Jerry’s work in the life sciences and pharmaceuticals space includes acting for:
  • Canada's leading pharmaceuticals firm to overturn a Health Canada import ban on numerous drug products and API's.
  • A leading mid-sized pharmaceuticals company in addressing a pricing dispute with provincial formularies.
  • Leading pharmaceuticals regulatory organizations on a regular basis to provide advice to federal and provincial governments on health care related statutory reform and amendments.
  • Pharmaceuticals and medical device companies in contractual disputes including with respect to supply chain, cross-border and debt obligations.
  • Healthcare device manufacturers and other companies on product recalls under the Consumer Product Safety Act and before the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.
  • Foreign-based clients with obtaining and addressing issues with respect to Canadian Device Establishment Licences and provincial regulatory equivalents.
Jerry’s recent representative work also includes acting as counsel on a number of significant matters, which have provided guidance to industry on complex loss quantification and recovery questions, including:
  • R. v. JTI-Macdonald Corp. et al. - responding to charges of fraud and conspiracy in respect of RCMP investigations arising from alleged loss of tax revenue to the Canadian government.
  • Apotex Inc. v. Sanofi-Aventis Canada Inc. - claim for damages pursuant to section 8 of the Patented Medicines (NOC) Regulations.
  • AstraZeneca Canada Inc. et al. v. Apotex Inc. et al. - claim for damages and lost profits arising as a result of asserted patent infringement.

Credentials

Professional Involvement

Jerry is a frequent speaker on matters related to his practice, including for the Canadian Judicial Council/National Judicial Institute. He lectures in the LLM Health Law Intellectual Property course at Osgoode Hall Law School and on intellectual property matters at other academic institutions.

Jerry regularly seeks opportunities for and undertakes pro bono work for a number of clients. His work in this regard ranges from assisting Syrian refugee claimants to commencing proceedings on behalf of seniors victimized by illegal door to door marketing.

Upon graduation from law school, Jerry earned numerous academic awards including the Board of Governors Medal awarded to the student standing first in the class.

Professional Affiliations

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