Garth’s practice focuses on class actions and commercial litigation. He represents clients in a wide variety of areas, including securities, competition, Crown liability, product liability, regulatory negligence and institutional abuse.
Garth has extensive experience litigating class actions to judgment, including cases about pension plan interpretation, copyright infringement, employment and institutional abuse. Garth also has experience navigating class actions through insolvency proceedings.
Garth was selected to be the Chair of The Advocates’ Society 2024-2025 National Class Actions Practice Group. He was also elected by his peers to be the Chair of the Ontario Bar Association 2023-2024 Class Actions Executive. Garth has also been recognized by Best Lawyers as One to Watch for Class Action Litigation.
In 2024, Garth was recognized as a Lexpert Rising Star for his work representing plaintiffs in class actions and his leadership in the profession.
Garth has spoken and presented papers on the topic of class actions at conferences and frequently lectures on securities litigation and corporate governance at Osgoode Hall Law School.
Garth volunteers his time at the Osgoode Hall Investor Protection Clinic, providing pro bono legal services to victims of financial misconduct. He is also chair of the board of directors for the Wychwood Barns Community Association.
Garth has commented on class actions in The New York Times, The Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, The National Post, APTN News, Canadian Lawyer Magazine, The Winnipeg Free Press, La Presse and on the CBC and CTV News.
Selected Experience:
Garth’s experience includes acting as counsel to:
LGBTQ2+ members of the Canadian Armed Forces, the RCMP and the Federal Public Service in a class action against Canada for systemic discrimination based on sexual orientation resulting in a settlement for $145 million;
members of the Canadian Armed Forces in a class action against Canada for gender-based discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual assault resulting in a settlement for $900 million and unprecedented changes to internal CAF policies to protect survivors from future harm;
Indigenous peoples in a class action against Canada arising from the so-called “Sixties Scoop” resulting in a settlement for $800 million;
Bell Canada pensioners in a landmark $100 million judgment for Bell’s improper calculation of a cost-of-living increase;
survivors of abuse in class actions against the Anglican Church, the Catholic Church, Scouts Canada, the City of Saint John, the Province of Ontario and the Government of Canada;
investors in securities class proceedings, including class actions against Sino-Forest Corporation, Valeant International Pharmaceuticals, Inc., SNC-Lavalin Group, TILT Holdings, Inc., Kew Media Group Inc., Akumin Inc., Cronos Group Inc., Kinross Gold Corporation, Celestica Inc. and Atlantic Power Corporation; and
purchasers of complex financial instruments in antitrust class actions against some of the world’s largest financial institutions seeking damages arising for their alleged price fixing conspiracies.
Selected Presentations and Publications:
Co-Chair and Speaker, New Frontiers in Competition Law, Ontario Bar Association 15th Annual Class Action Colloquium, December 1, 2023;
Chair and Speaker, Current Issues in Securities Class Actions, Ontario Bar Association, May 10, 2023;
Author, Embrace the Truth: The Class Proceedings Act, 1992 is Substantive Legislation, Ontario Bar Association Section Insider, March 24, 2023;
Co-Chair and Speaker, Strategic Considerations in National Class Actions, Ontario Bar Association 14th Annual Class Action Colloquium, December 1, 2022;
Guest, CTV Your Morning, Price Fixing Real Estate Commissions, CTV, May 30, 2022;
Speaker, Business Interruption Insurance Class Actions: A Case Analysis, Recent Developments and Trends in Class Actions in Insurance Law, Ontario Bar Association, May 11, 2022;
Speaker, Legislative Update, 18th National Symposium on Class Actions, April 29, 2022;
Chair and Speaker, Current Issues in Securities Class Actions, Ontario Bar Association, January 18, 2022;
Co-Chair and Speaker, The Impact of the Amendments to the CPA on Ontario Practice, Ontario Bar Association 13th Annual Class Action Colloquium, December 1, 2021;
Guest, Legal Ease, Business Interruption Insurance, Cable 14, June 3, 2021;
Chair and Speaker, Current Issues in Securities Class Actions: Materiality and the Public Correction, Ontario Bar Association, February 10, 2021;
Co-Chair and Speaker, Proceedings By and Against the Crown, Ontario Bar Association 12th Annual Class Action Colloquium, December 2, 2020;
Speaker, Settlements, Costs and Fees, the Fundamentals of Class Actions, Ontario Bar Association, November 26, 2020;
Co-author, Twenty Years Later: What Are the Risks Faced by Plaintiffs’ Counsel, and How Have These Risks Changed?, Canadian Class Action Review, Vol. 10, Issue 1-2, (2015);
Co-author, Practical and Strategic Advice Concerning Limitation Periods for Plaintiff’s Counsel, Toronto Lawyers Association, February 2014;
Co-author, Reconciling Limitation Period Principles with the Purposes and Complexity of Ontario Class Proceedings, Canadian Class Action Review, Vol. 8, Issue 2, (2013);
Co-author, Update on the Evidentiary Burden at Certification, OBA Class Action Colloquium, December 2012; and
Co-author, Limitation Period Issues in Ontario Class Proceedings, OBA Class Action Colloquium, December 2011.
Associations:
Immediate Past Chair, Ontario Bar Association, Class Actions Group;
Chair, The Advocates’ Society, Class Actions Practice Group;
Chair, Wychwood Barns Community Association Board of Directors; and
Canadian Bar Association.
Credentials:
Called to Ontario Bar, 2012;
J.D., Queen’s University, 2011; and
B.A., Great Distinction, McGill University, 2007.