Lawyer Profile
David Bish
Toronto, Ontario
Overview
David is one of Canada’s leading insolvency lawyers. He brings highly experienced counsel in insolvency and restructuring mandates, with a focus on creative solutions and practical perspective for clients navigating distressed circumstances.
As the head of Torys’ Corporate Restructuring and Advisory Practice, David regularly advises across all aspects of bankruptcy, proposals, wind-ups, liquidations, reorganizations, restructurings, receiverships and security enforcement, and advises boards of directors on corporate governance issues in distressed circumstances. He has extensive expertise in plenary and ancillary cross-border insolvency and restructuring matters, and brings a wealth of experience to commercial financing, private equity and M&A transactions.
David’s long track record as corporate and litigation counsel to a wide range of parties—leading corporations, financial institutions, distressed investors and accounting firms—gives him a nuanced perspective of stakeholder interests on large, complex insolvency and restructuring transactions, helping clients navigate challenges and advance their business objectives.
He is one of the top technical lawyers in the country. He knows the law inside out.’
As a leading practitioner, David is sought after as a speaker on insolvency and restructuring law and has been a guest lecturer at several Canadian law schools. He has been a lecturer since 2002 at the CNIE (Chartered Insolvency and Restructuring Professional Qualification Program [CQP] National Insolvency Examination) administered by the Canadian Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals (CAIRP). He is a past instructor of insolvency law at the Bar Admission Course for the Law Society of Upper Canada.
David is the author of Canadian Bankruptcy and Insolvency Law for Commercial Tenancies (LexisNexis) and has authored numerous articles and has contributed to various publications, including by the Insolvency Institute of Canada (IIC), the Canadian Bankruptcy Reports (CBRs), INSOL International and the World Bank. He is a contributing author to Halsbury's Laws of Canada: Bankruptcy and Insolvency and is a member of the editorial board and contributing author to the Canadian Commercial Law Guide published by CCH Canadian.
David is a past or present member of numerous legal and professional organizations in the field of bankruptcy and insolvency law, including the Insolvency Institute of Canada (IIC) – Member and Board Member of the Board of Directors; Turnaround Management Association (TMA) – Past Secretary and Member of the Board of Directors, Co-Chair of Newsmaker Committee, Education Committee, Networking Committee, and a member of Symposium Committee; International Insolvency Institute (III) “Next Gen” Leadership Program (Class I); Canadian Insolvency Foundation (CIF); National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (NCBJ) "Next Gen" Leadership Program; and Insolvency Section, Ontario Bar Association.
Practice Areas
Bar Information
Called to the bar: 1999 (ON)