
Overview
Peter is a partner in the Dispute Resolution Group at Goodmans. His practice focuses on assisting clients with a wide variety of litigation and arbitration proceedings involving complex commercial and financial transactions, mergers and acquisitions disputes, and securities matters. He has successfully tried to verdict a ten-figure damages award for his client, and has successfully defended cases in which his client was facing ten figure damage exposure. An experienced trial and appellate lawyer, Peter has appeared in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Ontario Divisional Court, the Court of Appeal for Ontario, the Supreme Court of Canada, the Alberta Court of King’s Bench, the Federal Court, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, as well as Law Society of Ontario discipline panels.
He regularly appears before the Toronto Commercial List of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in high profile commercial matters involving shareholder activism and corporate governance, director and officer liability claims, civil fraud, proceedings to enforce foreign judgments, insolvency proceedings, plans of arrangement and fiduciary obligations disputes. Peter has been counsel in four cases that have been recognized as top cases of the year.
Peter is recognized as a “next generation partner” by The Legal 500 Canada in Dispute Resolution: Ontario and by Benchmark Litigation Canada as a “Future Star”. He is also featured in the Lexpert Special Edition: Litigation leading lawyers.
Prior to practice, Peter was a law clerk to former Supreme Court Justice Louise Charron.
Peter is fluent in French.
Expertise
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Appellate Advocacy
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Arbitration - Domestic and International
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Corporate and Commercial Litigation
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Corporate Governance and Stakeholder Litigation
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Dispute Resolution
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Energy
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Insolvency Litigation
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Mergers and Acquisitions
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Professional Liability
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Regulatory, Administrative and Public Law
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Securities Litigation
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Shareholder Activism
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White Collar Defence and Investigations
Featured Work
Peter’s representative work includes acting for:
- Marathon Petroleum Canada as lead counsel in the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion toll application before the Canada Energy Regulator
- An Italian industrial company as lead counsel in a commercial claim brought in the Alberta Court of King’s Bench regarding an oil sands project
- Cargill in contested motions regarding the approval of debtor-in-possession financing in Tacora Resources Inc.’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act proceedings
- An energy company as lead counsel in a judicial review application seeking to invalidate certain offshore oil and gas exploration permits
- Cineplex Inc. as lead counsel in its successful claim against Cineworld Group, plc and a subsidiary for damages for wrongful repudiation of a merger agreement; the decision was recognized as the Commercial Litigation Case of the Year at the 2022 Canadian Law Awards
- an intervener in two appeals to the Supreme Court of Canada regarding the interpretation of Ontario’s anti-SLAPP legislation
- a crypto asset trading platform that was investigated by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) for allegations of breaches of the Ontario Securities Act and Commodity Futures Act, which involved a precedent setting settlement as it was the first time the OSC settled allegations against a crypto asset platform
- Chevron Canada Limited in a successful summary judgment motion, upheld on appeal, that dismissed an action that had sought to enforce a US$9.5 billion Ecuadorian judgment for alleged environmental pollution, now a seminal Canadian case on corporate separateness
- Hudbay Minerals Inc. in a proxy contest that successfully defended a proceeding by a dissident shareholder that sought adjournment of a shareholders’ meeting
- Paulson & Co. Inc. in a proxy contest, including successfully responding to a claim by Detour Gold Corporation alleging insider trading and tipping
- BDC, a Crown corporation, which was a plaintiff in an action for damages for fraudulent misrepresentation where $44 million in damages were awarded following a 16 day trial in which 15 witnesses, including experts, testified
- the Court-appointed Monitor of Nortel Networks in various matters in its proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, including successfully opposing leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal for Ontario from an order allocating $7.3 billion in sale proceeds following a joint trial before the Ontario and Delaware courts; the decision was recognized by Lexpert Magazine’s Top 10 Business Cases of 2016
- Chevron Canada Limited in motions and appeals to stay proceedings on the basis of lack of jurisdiction; the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision was recognized by Law Times’ Top Cases of 2015
- Sun Indalex Finance, LLC in a successful appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada that overturned a decision distributing reserve funds to pay a pension deficit; the decision was recognized by Lexpert Magazine’s Top 10 Business Cases of 2013
- an individual director of a reporting issuer in an appeal to the Ontario Divisional Court from decisions of the Ontario Securities Commission involving violations of the Securities Act
- Look Communications Inc. in a successful defence against three proceedings seeking advances of legal fees from the company that was suing its former officers and directors for breaches of fiduciary duties
- Copper Mesa Mining Corp. and two of its directors in successfully having struck three actions seeking over $90 million for alleged human rights abuses in Ecuador
Awards & Recognition
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The Legal 500 Canada Recommended, Dispute Resolution: Ontario 2024
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Lexpert Special Edition: Litigation Recognized, Canada's Leading Litigation Lawyers 2023
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Benchmark Canada Future Star 2023
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The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory Recognized, Litigation - Corporate Commercial 2023
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The Legal 500 Canada Next Generation Partner, Dispute Resolution: Ontario 2023
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The Legal 500 Canada Next Generation Partner, Dispute Resolution: Ontario 2022
Credentials
Professional Involvement
Peter acts as a mentor to junior litigation lawyers as well as summer and articling students at Goodmans. He regularly teaches on a variety of topics, and has guest lectured at the University of Toronto and the McGill University Faculty of Law. He has also written numerous articles for legal publications.
Credentials
- Osgoode Hall Law School, LL.B., 2006
- McGill University, B.A., 2002, Honours
Professional Affiliations
- Law Society of Ontario
- The Advocates’ Society
- Canadian Bar Association
- Ontario Bar Association
Call to Bar
- 2007 Ontario
Insights
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Dispute Resolution
Director Duties and Climate Change
Decisions earlier this year from the English courts in ClientEarth v Shell Plc et al., and the recent appeal decision from the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, shed light on climate change issues… -
Dispute Resolution
The Courtroom Climate, Best Lawyers
In Best Lawyers’ recent 2023 Business Edition, Peter Kolla explores justiciability, and other limitations Canadian Courts face when trying climate change cases. Excerpt from "The Climate… -
Dispute Resolution
Downstream GHG Emissions and Sierra Club Canada Foundation v Canada (Environment and Climate Change)
The Federal Court’s recent decision in Sierra Club Canada Foundation v. Canada (Environment and Climate Change) highlights the continuing focus in Canada on climate change litigation. The case… -
Competition and Foreign Investment
International Comparative Legal Guide - Enforcement of Foreign Judgments 2023, Canada Chapter
Peter Kolla, Julie Rosenthal and Sarah Stothart co-authored the Canada Chapter of International Comparative Legal Guide - Enforcement of Foreign Judgments 2023. The Canada chapter covers common… -
Dispute Resolution
Limits of Climate Change Suits Against the Government: Mathur v. Ontario Decision
The Superior Court of Justice has now released its decision in Mathur v. Ontario, a case we wrote about earlier this year and which is now a further example of an unsuccessful claim against a… -
Dispute Resolution
Force Majeure and COVID-19 – Appeal Decision in Niagara Falls Shopping Centre Inc. v. LAF Canada Company
Although it has been three years since the COVID-19 pandemic hit Canada with full force in March 2020, the courts continue to address the fallout. In November 2022, we published a case update about a…
News & Events
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Dispute Resolution
Goodmans Partners Recognized in the Lexpert Special Edition: Litigation 2023
We are delighted to announce the Lexpert Special Edition: Litigation 2023 once again features Goodmans partners among Canada's experts in litigation.Congratulations to our 13 featured… -
Banking and Financial Services
Goodmans Continues to Receive Top Tier Recognition from The Legal 500 Canada
We are pleased to announce Goodmans LLP has once again received top tier recognition from The Legal 500 Canada in their 2024 Guide released today. Recognition from The Legal 500 is based on… -
- 09:30 AM Shareholder Activism
Shareholder Activism in Canada: Key Considerations for Both Boards and Activists in Preparation for the 2024 Proxy Season
Shareholder activism continues to be a major force for change in Canadian capital markets and remained strong in Canada for the 2023 proxy season. We see no reason for this level of activity to…