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Heather Devine is a commercial litigator working out of both the Hamilton and Toronto offices of Gowlings.
Her practice covers a wide range of commercial litigation including insurance and professional liability claims, complex contractual disputes and specializes in shareholder disputes. She has enforced a wide range of remedies, including injunctive and final relief to protect shareholders’ interests, the dissolution and appointment of boards of directors and has protected directors of corporations from civil claims.
Heather acts for a variety of institutional clients locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. She has appeared as counsel before all levels of court in Ontario and Nova Scotia and before the Federal Court of Canada.
Oppression Remedy
- Successfully obtained award of over $1.5 million and conferral of majority of shares held in trust, and appointment of new board of directors;
- Devised unique argument applying s.253 of the OBCA to protect the rights of a guarantor, and shareholder (not a director);
- Devised reverse oppression remedy claim to ensure share and asset purchase.
Injunctions
- Obtained a statutory injunction for a municipality;
- Obtained a mandatory injunction for a student to continue in a nursing program;
- Obtained a vesting order on short notice;
- Successfully defended an injunction on 24 hour notice.
Securities Work
- brought in a plaintiffs’ class action suit related to a de-listed brokerage company and its principals on behalf of several investors;
- personally defended against a de-listing at a Suspension Meeting held by the TSE; personally argued and assisted with successfully defending against counterclaims of $11 million involving issues of alleged stock manipulation in Scintilore Explorations Limited v. Larche;
Regulatory Work
- personally retained to litigate the reappointment of the first female Olympic Swimming Coach to the Canadian Olympic Swimming Team;
- assisted with various matters in Nova Scotia and Ontario including injunctions, applications and two appeals (Ontario Court of Appeal) including moving successfully for a statutory injunction pertaining to municipal by-laws and regulations under the Planning Act and the Provincial Offences Act;
Professional Negligence
- assisted with defending a top-five accounting firm against a Canadian Bank in a very large, document-intensive case involving allegations of professional negligence by both the bank and the accounting firm;
Class Actions
- assisting with a class action suit regarding to a de-listed brokerage company and its principals on behalf of several plaintiff investors;
- assisting senior counsel with research and analysis regarding various procedural and substantive issues pertaining to class action litigation (national and international);
Conferences
Heather has authored an extensive list of articles, and has spoken at several international conferences.
Publications
- H. Devine & C. Porretta, “Foreign Judgments in Hand? How to collect in Canada” (in press)
- H. Devine, "Getting Results Sooner Than Later: Motions Prior to Commencement of Proceedings, and Applications", (2005) The Advocates' Brief, Volume 16, No. 2
- H. Devine, "Reasonable Apprehension of Bias?" (2004) Ontario Bar Association, Young Lawyers' Division, Volume 12, No. 2
- H. Devine, “Controlling Bad Memories: Proving Documents at Trial” (2004) Commercial Litigation, Volume 1 – Number 6
- H. Devine, “Controlling Bad Memories: Proving Documents at Trial” (2003), The Advocates’ Brief, Volume 15, No. 2
- H. Devine, “Admissions to the OSC: Protection Against Use in Subsequent Civil Proceedings” (2003), In-house publication for Gowlings.
- H. Devine, “Payment of Benefits to Insured Pending Trial – A Matter of Proof and Circumstance” (2003), In-house publication for Gowlings
- H. Devine, “Are There Limits to Disclosure of Experts’ Findings?” (2003) The Lawyers Weekly, Volume 23, No. 22
- H. Devine, “Judicial Trends in Insurance Law: Great Expectations” (2003) invited lecture Gowlings Insurance Conference.
- H. Devine, “Use it or Lose it: Avoiding Class Actions By Means of Arbitration Clauses” invited lecture at CILS Conference: Media Technology & Communications in Austria, November 2002
- J.S.Leon, D. Hausman & H. Devine “Securities Law and Class Proceedings in Canada: Some Promise, Some Deliver” –presented by me to CILS in Salzburg, Austria March 2001;
- H. Devine, “Have You Considered Mediation!” (1997) In-house publication for clients;
- H. Devine, “Be Wary of Independent Contractors” (1998) Canadian Employment Law for U.S. Companies Vol. 5, No. 10 at p. 3;
- H. Devine, “Banked Hours: Employee wins withdrawal,” in Ibid.;
- H. Devine, “Constructive Dismissal: What Employers Should Know” (1998) Power Point Presentation;
- H. Devine, “Writers: 1 Publishers: 0 Will a recent U.S. victory influence Canadian media law?” (1999) In-house publication for clients;
- H. Devine & N. Eber, “Defining Your Legal Obligation Within the Context of Undue Hardship and Reasonable Accommodation” ( 1998) Infonex Seminar;
- H. Devine & J. Noonan, “Using Computer and Video Surveillance to Monitor Employees: Are the benefits worth the cost?” In-house publication for clients;
- E. Durnford, C. Gorman, & H. Devine, “Consideration of Legal Importance of Employee Loyalty” in Executive Employment (1998) Vol. 5. No. 1 at p. 245;
- E. Durnford & H. Devine, “Preventing Unionization in Banks” Presentation;
- G. MacDonald, “Super Liens: The Iron Fist of Revenue Canada” Paper published in CBA Construction Law Conference Materials, May 1998 (H. Devine contributor);
- R. Macpherson & H. Devine, “Safety and Seniority: the effects of accommodation on fellow workers” in Management Rights, (1998);
- R. Macpherson, D. Palayew & Heather Devine “The Use of Medical Evidence at Arbitration: A Management Perspective” Labour Arbitration Yearbook (199-2000), Vol. II, p. 151-174
Published Book Reviews
- R. Martin & G. Stuart Adam, A Sourcebook of Canadian Media Law, Second Edition, (1994) in QLJ vol. 20(2) Spring 1995;
- J.C. Weaver, Crimes, Constables and Courts (1995) in QLJ vol. 21(2) Spring 1996; and
- Sheila Jasanoff, Science at the Bar (1997) D.J.L.S.
News Articles
- “Rare Court Ruling Gives Cemetery Space” – Hamilton Spectator, July 2, 2004
- "College Must Admit Student into Course” – Hamilton Spectator, February 28, 2004
- In-house Publication for Gowlings – Regarding Order obtained by The City of Hamilton with respect to proceeding with the Red Hill Expressway construction project.
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