Lawyer Profile
Ryan A. Morris
Toronto, Ontario
Overview
Ryan is a trusted advisor and advocate for corporations, boards, financial institutions and individuals on their most complex and contentious disputes. Ryan has had significant experience and success defending securities class actions (often with parallel actions in the U.S.), securities transactional disputes and securities regulatory investigations and proceedings. He has successfully litigated contested transactions, takeover bids, proxy contests, poison pills and statutory plan-of-arrangement proceedings.
These mandates often involve oppression and derivative claims, dissent and fair value proceedings, directors' and officers' liability advice, governance issues and using regulatory and legal processes creatively to solve difficult problems. Ryan is regularly sought out as defence counsel on securities class actions, particularly those related to financial products, including exchange-traded funds, mutual funds, syndicated mortgages and cryptocurrency. He has represented clients in investigations and proceedings before the securities commissions in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec, the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization and various exchanges.
Successfully defending The Stars Group Inc. in an application to prevent the conversion of its convertible preferred shares to common shares
Counsel to Instacart in connection with its acquisition of Unata Inc., provider of digital solutions to grocers
Counsel to Washington Companies in connection with its C$1.5-billion acquisition of Dominion Diamond Corporation
Acting for an English coverholder and syndicate of Lloyd's underwriters in staying a Canadian action against them in favour of arbitration in London, England under LCIA Rules
Counsel to Celestica Inc. on its successful appeal before the Supreme Court of Canada to uphold the limitation period for bringing a statutory secondary market securities class action
Defending a syndicate of underwriters in a secondary market securities class action against Detour Gold Inc. and its former CEO
Practice Areas
Bar Information
Called to the bar: 2005 (ON)