Why Ellyn Law?

Experience

Our Toronto based lawyers have many years of experience in Courts in Toronto and across Ontario. We are frequently consulted and retained by other lawyers as litigation counsel. Over the last several years, more than 200 lawyers and other professionals have referred complex litigation and family cases to us.

Litigation & Dispute Resolution Services

Ellyn Law LLP provides comprehensive litigation services. Sound advice, effective strategy and negotiations and experienced advocacy are the hallmarks of our approach to each case. We understand and apply ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) methods wherever possible to reduce the time and cost of obtaining the best possible result for our client.

Canadian Business Legal Checkup

Ellyn Law LLP has developed a new legal service which will provide an audit of legal matters affecting small and medium sized businesses.  Canadian Business Legal Checkup  is a diagnostic tool small and medium size businesses could use to verify if legal aspects of their operation comply with the law and also, to minimize risk, litigation and expense. When the Business Legal Checkup is completed, the business owner receives a lawyer’s report red-flagging matters which need correction, improvement or further legal advice.  Please see our recent article on this topic in the Articles section of our website, entitled “The Business Legal Checkup: Preventive advice for the legal health of your Business”.  

Members

News

In this section, we highlight developments in our firm. In addition to the matters listed here, our lawyers achieve regularly results for our clients. Subject to confidentiality and privacy law considerations, we refer to some of our successes in the Recent Cases section of our website.


August 2009: Ellyn Law LLP Business Litigation and Arbitration Lawyers is growing. We are pleased to announce that Michael Blinick has joined our firm as an associate. Michael was recently called to the Ontario Bar after spending his articles with a respected full-service Toronto law firm. Apart from his legal training, Michael Blinick has an aptitude for business which is well-suited to the services Ellyn Law LLP’s clients require. Ellyn Law LLP’s litigation and arbitration team now includes Partners Igor Ellyn, QC, CS and Orie Niedzviecki and Associates Evelyn Perez Youssoufian and Michael Blinick.

 


July 2009: Ellyn Law LLP has been recognized as the developer of a practice innovation by the Lawyers Professional Indemnity Company, the insurance program which covers all Ontario lawyers against errors and omissions. In its July 2009 Magazine, “Changing Directions”, LawPro author Karen Bell writes: “Igor Ellyn, QC of Ellyn Law LLP in Toronto is a senior litigation and arbitration counsel whose firm is developing new ways to deliver preventive law services to small and medium-sized businesses. Over the course of his 30-year career as a litigator, Ellyn concluded that many business litigation problems could have been eased, settled sooner or completely avoided by better preventive planning: better contracting drafting, better strategy and greater client awareness of and preparation for litigation. The result: Canadian Business Legal Checkup (BLC) – a diagnostic audit of various aspects of the business to determine if they are compliant with the law and practice and which need attention. The true value of the BLC developed by Ellyn’s firm is that it will provide input of experts from various aspect of business law at a pre-determined cost. The BLC requires the business owner to answer a series of questions that touch on all aspects of the undertaking. When the BLC is completed, the business owner receives a report red-flagging matters which need correction, improvement or further legal advice. Clients can then take corrective action on their own or with further guidance of counsel, to ensure that the business is better situated to operate effectively and minimize risk in the future – risk of litigation as well as the significant and sometimes crushing costs that litigation generates. For more information about Business Legal Check-up, go to www.ellynlaw.com.” The full article is available online at www.lawpro.ca/magazinearchives.

 


July 2009: Ellyn Law LLP Business Litigation & Arbitration Lawyers has emphasized “Thinking Globally. Acting Locally.” in its approach client service around the world. During the second quarter of 2009, the Toronto boutique law firm has been active in international and cross-border litigation. In June 2009, we represented a Canadian manufacturer of large scale equipment in an international dispute. The case was headed to a multi-million dollar arbitration through an international arbitration court. After intensive document preparation, strategic analysis and advocacy, followed by extensive negotiations with counsel for opposing parties, a settlement was worked out to the satisfaction of all parties. In May 2009, Ellyn Law LLP represented business people based in New Zealand and Thailand in shareholder litigation in Canada. Presently, our firm represents corporations and their shareholders in Europe, Asia, the United States and in various parts of Canada in business and shareholder disputes. Among our cases is a shareholder dispute involving reinsurance brokerages with parties in Australia, Thailand and Canada. Other examples of the firm’s international practice appear on this news page and on other pages of www.ellynlaw.com.


July 2009: Igor Ellyn and Orie Niedzviecki have written an article which explains to business people the ins and outs of resolving shareholder disputes in private corporations, which was published in the online newsletter of the Better Business Bureau of Central and Midwestern Ontario and sent its members. Under the title “Resolving Shareholders Disputes in Canada: What you can reasonably expect”, the article discusses the position of minority and majority shareholders of Ontario corporation and what happens when as a shareholder is treated unfairly. The article provides useful information about the oppression remedy, breach of fiduciary duty, shareholder meetings, derivative actions and other important as aspects of shareholder disputes.
               A copy of the article may be downloaded in the Articles Section of www.ellynlaw.com.


July 2009: The International Network of Boutique Law Firms ("INBLF") is an organization of highly credentialed single-discipline (boutique) law firms, each of which, after a great deal of research, has been identified and hand-selected as prominent in each firm's respective field of practice. Ellyn Law LLP is the Toronto INBLF law firm in the fields of Shareholder Disputes and International Commercial Arbitration. An article entitled “Resolving Shareholders Disputes in Canada” written by Igor Ellyn and Orie Niedzviecki has been published on the INBLF website.


ellynlaw in englandMay 2009: Igor Ellyn, QC was winning counsel (together with Jonathan Wood of Clyde & Co. and Barrister Peter de Verneuil Smith) in a case decided by the United Kingdom High Court of Justice, Queen’s Bench Division on May 27, 2009. Ellyn Law LLP’s Canadian client was sued in England for relief was which previously been refused by an Arbitration Tribunal in Toronto. The opposing party argued that certain issues of European law were exclusively within the jurisdiction of the U.K. High Court The English Court agreed with Mr. Ellyn (and our legal team) that the case had already been fully decided in the Canadian arbitration and granted a stay of proceedings. Mr. Ellyn will appear as counsel in the Queen’s Bench Division of the UK Court of Justice in October 2009.


 

April 2009:  Senior Partner Igor Ellyn, QC has been temporarily admitted as a Barrister in the United Kingdom and a member of the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn.  Mr. Ellyn will appear in the United Kingdom High Court of Justice as counsel on behalf a Canadian corporation involved in complex litigation in England.  His call to English Bar will continue until the case is finished.  Mr. Ellyn’s appearance in British Court is in keeping with Ellyn Law LLP’s focus on international business litigation and expands the firm’s motto  “Thinking Globally. Acting Locally.”






March 2009:  Senior Partner Igor Ellyn, QC and Associate Evelyn Perez were winning counsel in an international arbitration held in Toronto under the Arbitration Rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).   The case, which concerned the rights of enterprises under an international high-tech distribution agreement, was conducted before three world-class arbitrators over 10-day period and involved issues of Canada, British and European Union law.


March 2009: Ellyn Law LLP hosted a luncheon meeting of the prestigious NGO, The International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, an organization formed in 1969 to advance human rights, including the prevention of war crimes, the punishment of war criminals, the prohibition of weapons of mass destruction, and international co-operation based on the rule of law and the fair implementation of international covenants and conventions.  In a speech given by IAJLJ Deputy President Irit Kohn, the aims of the Association to combat racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial and negation of the State of Israel were re-iterated.  Adv. Kohn also discussed the topic of universal jurisdiction and the status of Gilad Shalit, the IDF soldier who was kidnapped by Hamas nearly three years ago.


 

March 2009: Senior Partner Igor Ellyn’s expertise in the enforcement of foreign judgments has been recognized on the global stage.  Mr. Ellyn was invited by international law publisher Juris Publishing of Huntington, New York to re-write the Canada chapter of the text  Enforcement of Money Judgments which includes submissions from leading business litigation experts in 95 countries. With the assistance of Associate Evelyn Perez Youssoufian, Mr. Ellyn authored a 92-page, completely revamped chapter on money judgment enforcement law in Canada, which including the significant changes and case law in Canada over the last decade.   For assistance with the law of the province of Quebec, Mr. Ellyn turned to Jean-Pierre Sheppard, a senior partner in the Montreal law firm of Robinson Sheppard Shapiro S.E,N.C.R.L. LLP, who was assisted by Jennifer Hansen and Jonathan Feingold.   The Ellyn-Sheppard manuscript was submitted in March 2009 and will be published in Summer 2009. An excerpt of the common law aspects of the chapter will appear in the Recent Articles section of www.ellynlaw.com after publication.


April 2009:  An article written by Senior Partner Igor Ellyn, QC entitled “Parties battle over the scope of arbitration clauses” was published in the Focus on Alternative Dispute Resolution Section of The Lawyers Weekly, a national Canadian legal newspaper.  The article which reviews recent cases on the judicial approach to mandatory arbitration agreements in Ontario courts is available for download in the Articles section of www.ellynlaw.com.

 


February 2009:  Partner Orie Niedzviecki was winning counsel in four consecutive court decisions over the last few months.  Details will be posted in the Recent Cases section of www.ellynlaw.com shortly.


 

February 2009: Senior Partner Igor Ellyn, QC and Associate Evelyn Perez Youssoufian have co-authored an article entitled The Standard of Appellate Review: High Hurdles to Right Wrongs which will be published in the Spring issue of The Litigator, the journal of the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association. The Spring issue will be devoted to appellate law and will feature articles by leading Ontario experts on the law and practice relating to appeals in Ontario. The article, which will be available for download in the Articles section  of www.ellynlaw.com after publication, relies in part on Mr.Ellyn's long experience in appellate advocacy.


October 2008:  Igor Ellyn and Orie Niedzviecki’s article “The Business Legal Checkup: Preventive advice for the legal health of your Business” was published on the front page of in the October 2008 Newsletter of the Better Business Bureau of Central and Mid-western Ontario.  The article is available in the Articles section of this website.


October 2008:  Ellyn Law LLP has developed a new legal service which will provide an audit of legal matters affecting small and medium sized businesses.  Canadian Business Legal CheckupJ is a diagnostic tool small and medium size businesses could use to verify if legal aspects of their operation comply with the law and also, to minimize risk, litigation and expense. When the Business Legal Checkup is completed, the business owner receives a lawyer’s report red-flagging matters which need correction, improvement or further legal advice.  Please see our recent article on this topic in the Articles section of our website, entitled “The Business Legal Checkup: Preventive advice for the legal health of your Business”.   Canadian Business Legal Checkup and Business Legal Checkup are registered trademarks.


October 2008:  Ellyn Law LLP is a member of the International Network of Boutique Law Firms (INBLF), an association of more than 250 law firms in North American and globally, which provided specialized expertise.  Firms are selected for membership based on their expertise and experience.  Senior Partner Igor Ellyn attended the INBLF’s annual conference in Atlanta, Georgia, where he expanded Ellyn Law LLP’s North American and global contacts in the areas of international commercial arbitration, litigation, and shareholder disputes.



July 2008:  The Better Business Bureau of Central and Mid-western Ontario has announced that Ellyn Law LLP will provide Legal Line Services to Accredited Businesses in the GTA. BBB’s Legal Line is a service for BBB Accredited Businesses to receive initial legal advice on a business problem. Ellyn Law LLP is the first GTA firm appointed by BBB of Central and Mid-western Ontario to provide this service. BBB has more than 5,000 Accredited Businesses as members.


July 2008:  Partners Orie Niedzviecki and Igor Ellyn contributed a legal column to the BBB’s July 2008 e-Newsletter entitled “So your business has a legal problem. . . Eight useful tips on getting legal advice and what to expect from your lawyer”.   The e-newsletter is distributed to BBB Accredited Businesses.   A copy of the article is available in the Articles section of this website.


June 2008:  Ellyn Law LLP was one of three Canadian law firms listed in a directory of dispute resolution lawyers worldwide in the June 2008 of Corporate UK, the premier strategic finance magazine.   As indicated in the Corporate UK directory, Dispute resolution is the core expertise of Ellyn Law LLP, including litigation and international commercial arbitration, including foreign judgment and award enforcement.


March 2008: Igor Ellyn was a speaker and panellist at an international conference held at the Bloomberg Center, New York in March 2008 entitled “Perspectives on International Labor and Employment Law”, jointly sponsored by the New York State Bar Association and the Cornell University, ILR School, Labor and Employment Law Program. Mr. Ellyn made a presentation on the topic “The Tension between Choice of Law and Mandatory Rules in International Employment and Agency Arbitration”. He participated in a panel with three other distinguished legal counsel, international mediators and arbitrators, Linda Gail Bartlett (New York), Richard DeWitt (Coral Gables, Florida) and Axel Heck (Berlin, Germany). Mr. Ellyn’s presentation appears in the Articles section of this website.


December 2007:  Partner Igor Ellyn, QC published a paper in 2005 entitled “Shareholders’ Remedies in Canada”. The paper was presented a legal conference and was published on www.hg.org and www.lawyers.com.  In December 2007, The Canadian Institute of Chartered Business Valuators requested Mr. Ellyn’s permission to include his paper in the mandatory syllabus for students preparing to become Chartered Business Valuators.   A copy of the paper is available in the Articles section of this website.


October 2007:  Igor Ellyn participated in a Mediation Training Conference in New York, NY conducted by the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ) and the Rabbinic Assembly, where he was the only Canadian delegate.   The Conference, which took place over two days at New York’s Jewish Theological Seminary, was attended by senior legal counsel, arbitrators and mediators from across the United States and Mr. Ellyn from Canada.  Its purpose was to establish a roster of dispute resolution to experienced dispute resolution professionals to mediate and arbitrate future disputes between Conservative synagogues and clergy.   USCJ has 700 affiliated congregations across North America and globally.   The Rabbinic Assembly is regulatory body for Conservative rabbis and has about 1500 members.


September 2007: Senior Partner Igor Ellyn, QC was the keynote speaker at the 17th Annual Operation Update program presented by Ontario Bar Association on September 21, 2007.   Operation Update is a legal conference attended by hundreds of lawyers every year where experts in various fields of law explain developments in the law over the preceding year.  Igor Ellyn presented a paper entitled "The Five Most Significant Decisions of the Courts in 2006-07", which was prepared with the assistance of Evelyn Perez Youssoufian, associate in the firm and former associate, Michelle Gordon. This will mark the fifth time Mr. Ellyn has delivered the keynote presentation at Operation Update.   His paper appears in the Artlcles section of this website and has also been published on www.bar-ex.com www.lawyers.com and www.hg.org.


September 2007:  Ellyn Law LLP is pleased to welcome Evelyn Perez-Youssoufian as an associate in our firm.  Evelyn is a graduate of a dual program in Canadian and U.S. Law from the University of Windsor and from the University of Detroit (Mercy).  She has experience in commercial litigation and also practiced some criminal law.  She also speaks Spanish and Armenian fluently.


August 2007:   Ellyn Law LLP is pleased to announce that our offices have moved to 20 Queen Street West, Suite 3000, Toronto, Ontario.   Our new offices are located in the Cadillac-Fairview Tower, adjacent to the Toronto Eaton Centre.  We share office facilities with the law firm of Daoust, Vukovich LLP, a well-respected Toronto which specializing commercial leasing.


July 2007: Senior Partner Igor Ellyn has been appointed Honourary Legal Counsel of Canadian Jewish Congress, Ontario Region for a two-year term.  In this role, Mr. Ellyn will be active in human rights advocacy on behalf of the Jewish Community and the broader community in Canada and Ontario.   Canadian Jewish Congress is the principal advocacy voice of the Jewish Community in Canada but also advocates on human rights issues generally.  Mr. Ellyn has been active in Canadian Jewish Congress for many years.  In addition to his role as Honourary Legal Counsel, Ontario Region, he is also a member of the Ontario Region Cabinet and of the CJC National Legal Affairs Committee and has held numerous portfolios for Canadian Jewish Congress.


June 2007: Partners Igor Ellyn, QC and Orie Niedzviecki will be breakfast speakers on shareholders' remedies at Macdonald & Partners, a Toronto firm specializing in family law and divorce.


June 2007: As of June 1, 2007, Ellyn-Barristers has become Ellyn Law LLP. Orie Niedzviecki has become a partner of the firm and Michelle Gordon is an associate. After a four year stint, our fomer associate, Jacqueline Dickison, has left our firm returned to Mississauga, Ontario, to continue her practice of family. We wish her success in her new office.


May 2007: Senior Partner Igor Ellyn, QC and Michelle Gordon authored a paper of entitled "Winning Commercial Appeals and the Concept of Commercial Reasonableness", which is available for downloading in the Information Centre of this website. Igor Ellyn, QC delivered a speech and Power point presentation at the Ontario Bar Association's continuing education program, "Your First Appeal".


May 2007: Our firm was a sponsor of the annual Netivot HaTorah Hebrew School Golf Tournament.


May 2007: Igor Ellyn has been invited to deliver the keynote speech at the Ontario Bar Association's continuing education program "Operation Update" on September 21, 2007 on the subject "The Five Most Significant Decisions of the Courts in 2006-2007" This will be the fifth time Igor Ellyn has been asked to deliver this keynote speech. Papers from the previous speeches are available for review and downloading in the Information Centre of this website.


April 2007: Our firm continues the development of a preventative law service to be known as Business Legal Check-up and Canadian Business Legal Check-up. Trademark approval has been received for both of these names. Watch for further development of this innovative legal service in the coming months.


March 2007: Igor Ellyn was a delegate to the International Conference of the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists entitled " Protecting Human Rights and Democratic Values in an Age of Terrorism", which was held on George Washington Law School of American University. The conference was held in conjunction with the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, of which Igor Ellyn is a Vice-President.


On March 22, 2007, Igor Ellyn attended a ceremony at the United States Supreme Court for the presentation of the Pursuit of Justice Award to Justice Aharon Barak, former President of the Israel Supreme Court and one of the most influential scholars and jurists in the history of Israel. The awarded was presented by the Hon. Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Suprement Court and the Hon. Irwin Cotler, former Justice Minister of Canada. On March 23, 2007, Igor Ellyn, accompanied by lawyers Howard Simmons (Brampton) and Theodore Goloff (Montreal) attended a meeting with the Hon. Michael Wilson, Canada's Ambassador to the United States.

 


October 7, 2005: Igor Ellyn delivered the keynote address at Ontario Bar Association's Operation Update on the topic of "The Five Most Significant Cases of the Courts in 2004-2005". An information copy of this paper is available in the Information Centre.


October 2005: Igor Ellyn and Orie Niedzviecki prepared a paper entitled "The Five Most Significant Cases of the Courts in 2004-2005" for Operation Update, an annual seminar of the Ontario Bar Association. An information copy of this paper is available in the Information Centre.


October 2005: Ellyn-Barristers will soon change its firm name to ELLYN LAW. This change is in keeping with the development of our firm's innovative and important legal service for small and medium-sized businesses called "Canadian Business Legal Checkup". Watch this website in the months ahead for further developments. Our firm's expertise business litigation and estate/matrimonial in all the areas listed in this website remain unchanged.


May 2005: Ellyn-Barristers was a sponsor of the Netivot HaTorah Day School Golf Tournament. Orie Niedzviecki participated in the tournament on behalf of the firm.


April 2005: Igor Ellyn delivered a lecture at a conference of the Centre for International Legal Studies in Whistler, British Columbia on the subject of "Shareholders Remedies in Canada". An information copy of Mr. Ellyn's paper is available in the Information Centre.