Background
Ira Nishisato is a Partner in our Toronto office and Leader of the Toronto Commercial Litigation Group.
Mr. Nishisato obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and French from Trinity College, University of Toronto (with High Distinction), a Bachelor of Laws degree from the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto (awarded Dean's Key); and a Diploma in International Law from the University of Cambridge, England. He was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1995.
Areas of Practice
Mr. Nishisato’s practice focuses principally on:
- complex commercial litigation;
- fraud and anti-piracy litigation;
- public law, judicial review, and appellate litigation;
- injunctions and extraordinary interlocutory remedies, including Anton Piller (civil search), Mareva (asset freezing) and Norwich Pharmacol (equitable discovery) orders; and
- international and multi-jurisdictional dispute resolution.
Professional Experience
Mr. Nishisato has:
- served as counsel in cases involving multi-million dollar fraud schemes perpetrated across multiple jurisdictions, including a worldwide “e-banking” fraud carried out over the Internet;
- designed and executed anti-piracy enforcement strategies across Canada for satellite television providers such as Bell ExpressVu, DIRECTV, and DISH Network;
- represented numerous banks and investment advisory firms (e.g. Bank of Nova Scotia, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.), pharmaceutical companies (e.g. Pfizer/Pharmacia, Bristol-Myers Squibb), leading public and private companies (e.g. JTI-Macdonald Corp.), and government agencies in a variety of high-impact matters;
- developed special expertise in obtaining injunctions and extraordinary interlocutory remedies, including over 75 Anton Piller orders, Mareva injunctions, and Norwich Pharmacol orders;
- served as an “officer of the court” as Independent Supervising Solicitor in connection with various Anton Piller orders;
- participated in drafting “model” Anton Piller and Mareva orders for the Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List);
- developed extensive experience in dealing with electronic evidence, Internet-related matters, asset tracing, and recovery;
- obtained court approval for numerous corporate plans of arrangement;
- argued numerous judicial review applications in Federal and Ontario courts;
- appeared before all levels of courts in Canada, including the Supreme Court of Canada, Federal Court of Appeal, Ontario Court of Appeal, Federal Court, Ontario Divisional Court and Superior Court of Justice; and
- handled cases involving access to information/freedom of information, administrative law, banking, broadcasting and communications, computer and internet law, conflict of laws, constitutional law, contracts, corporate/commercial law, defamation, fiduciary duties, fraud, intellectual property, public and private international law, labour and employment, professional negligence, and shareholder disputes
Recent Speeches and Presentations
Mr. Nishisato has appeared as a speaker at numerous professional conferences including:
- "Measures for combating counterfeiting and piracy", Annual Meeting of the International Bar Association, Singapore, October 2007
- “Remedies and Damages: Interlocutory Injunctions”, The Law Society of Upper Canada, Toronto, March, 2007
- “Anton Piller Orders”, 8th Annual Alliance for Excellence in Investigative and Forensic Accounting Conference, Toronto, November, 2006
- “Cost-Effectively Managing Complex Litigation”, Canadian Institute Conference on Complex Litigation, April, 2006
- “Civil Enforcement in Canada: The Satellite Television Piracy Success Story”, Annual Meeting of the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition, Toronto, April, 2006
- “When the Raid Begins – Crisis Management”, Annual Meeting of the International Bar Association, Prague, September, 2005
- “International Fraud, Mareva Injunctions, and Canadian Courts”, Annual Meeting of the Florida Bar Association, Orlando, June, 2005
- “The Interim Preservation of Property”, Butterworths LexisNexis Annual Commercial Litigation Conference, Toronto, February, 2005
- “The Anton Piller Order: A Civil Solution Against Fraud, Piracy, and Counterfeiting”, Annual Fraud Conference, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Montréal, May, 2003
Professional and Community Activities
- Author of Ontario Litigator’s Pocket Reference (Butterworths, 2001+)
- Witness before Special Joint Committee of The Senate and House of Commons on the Process for Amending the Constitution of Canada
- Judge, Canadian National Division and International Division, Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition
Memberships
- Law Society of Upper Canada
- The Advocates’ Society
- Canadian Bar Association
- Ontario Bar Association
- International Bar Association
- American Bar Association
