W. Brad Hanna, FCIArb.
Partner
Toronto
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Tel :
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416.865.7276
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Fax :
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416.865.7048
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Professional Experience
Brad is a partner in the firm's Litigation Group and is Co-Chair of the firm's Franchising & Distribution Group.
Brad has represented clients before all levels of courts in Canada, including the Supreme Court of Canada, as well as before domestic and international arbitration tribunals.
Brad's practice primarily consists of complex corporate commercial litigation. He has extensive experience in handling franchise and distributorship disputes, intellectual property disputes, internet disputes, commercial fraud, environmental litigation and a wide range of contractual and business relationship disputes. In addition to Canadian clients, he routinely represents American and other foreign entities that are parties to disputes in Canada.
Brad routinely advises and represents foreign and domestic manufacturers who are terminating relationships with distributors and franchisees. He has handled close to a hundred such disputes, including those involving claims of wrongful termination, breach of contract, bad faith, fraud, misrepresentation, intellectual property infringement, breach of non-compete and confidentiality covenants, licensing issues and competition law. Brad has represented numerous automotive clients in this context, including Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, and Subaru.
Brad has acted in numerous internet-related cases, including cases involving ICANN, "cybersquatting", internet defamation and other violations of intellectual property. He represents clients in trade-mark and copyright disputes and cases involving misappropriation of trade secrets and confidential information.
His corporate fraud practice encompasses all forms of crimes against the company committed by corporate representatives and unrelated parties. With respect to environmental law, Brad's practice includes representing both plaintiffs and defendants in civil environmental actions and he also regularly defends corporations who have been charged under a variety of environmental statutes and other regulatory laws. He has class action experience in defending cases involving breach of contract and fiduciary duties, misrepresentation and patents.
Brad also has extensive experience in alternative dispute resolution techniques. He is a Fellow and member of the Executive Committee of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb.) and routinely acts as counsel in private and court-annexed mediations, international and domestic commercial arbitrations and NADAP proceedings.
awards and rankings
- Benchmark Canada ranks Brad as a "Litigation Star" for commercial litigation, arbitration and intellectual property disputes.
- Global Arbitration Review includes Brad as a "Lawyer to Know" in its GAR 100 Guide.
- Received both entrance and senior year scholarships at the University of Waterloo based on academic performance.
- Award for attaining the highest grade in Constitutional Law at the University of Ottawa.
- Advocates' Society award for attaining the highest grade in the Administrative Law component of the Bar Admissions Course.
- 2002 Leadership in Mentoring Award.
teaching engagements
- Professor Adjunct at Osgoode Hall Law School teaching a course on mediation and arbitration (2004-2007);
- Professor Adjunct at Queen's Law School teaching a course on mediation and arbitration (1998-2004); and
- Lectures for LSUC and the Advocates' Society on a variety of civil litigation and arbitration topics, including Evidence in Arbitrations and Summary Judgment.
Representative Transactions
Recent matters include:
- Representing Miller Brewing Company in a dispute with Molson regarding a Canadian license agreement;
- Representing Mitsubishi Canada in dealer termination litigation;
- Represented Johnson Controls in a corporate fraud case brought against several parties by Windsor Casino;
- Represented GlaxoSmithKline in a patent "evergreening" class action;
- Represented Magna Companies in an international arbitration involving a joint venture dispute;
- Representing Sobeys in a franchise termination dispute; and
- Representing Subaru in dealer termination and intellectual property disputes.
publications and presentations
Brad has spoken and written on a range of subjects and issues, including summary judgment, internet law, internet defamation, alternative dispute resolution, responding to search warrants and environmental investigations, managing distribution networks, terminating distributors, dealers and franchisees, franchise law, handling the media in crisis situations and class actions. In addition to numerous articles on the above-noted subjects, Brad co-authored a book on Arbitration law in Canada, wrote the Canadian Chapter for Kluwer Law International's book on International Franchising, and wrote a chapter on complex, multi-party settlements for a book on settling business disputes to be published by Lexis-Nexis in 2013. He has given presentations on evidence and cross-examinations in arbitration and on motions advocacy for the Advocates' Society and on conflicts of interest for the Law Society of Upper Canada.
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