Andrew (Sandy) Robinson is counsel to the firm of Miller Thomson. Mr. Robinson has over 35 years commercial litigation experience representing a wide range of clients in trial proceedings, court applications, arbitrations and appeals to the Ontario Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of Canada. More than 60 of his cases have been reported in various law reports.
Mr. Robinson has acted as counsel on many occasions in Municipal matters before the Ontario Municipal Board on re-zoning applications, official plan amendments, expropriations and appeals from decisions of City Council.
Mr. Robinson has a certificate from the Mediation Workshop of Harvard University and in addition to acting as counsel on many arbitrations and mediations, has delivered papers on ADR, and acted as a mediator in commercial cases.
Professional Achievements
· AV Rated, Martindale-Hubbell
Representative Work
Court Decisions
· Print N' Promotion (Canada) Ltd. v. Kovachis, 2011 ONCA 23 (successful appeal from a decision that had allowed damages for the tort of wrongful interference with contractual relations. In allowing the appeal, the court clarifies the law in Ontario with respect to the requisite intention required to establish the tort)
· Vigneault v. Brosseau, 2010 ONSC 2245 (successful motion to set aside Mareva injunction and stay Ontario action pending determination of Quebec action; case deals with conditions for obtaining Mareva injunctions and interprovincial jurisdiction)
· Oakville (Town) v. Read (c.o.b. Read Farms) (2010), 316 D.L.R. 4th 62 (Ont. Div. Ct.), 2011 ONCA 22 (Ont. C.A) (appeal to the Divisional Court of a decision of the Normal Farm Practices Protection Board to stay a bylaw as against Read Farms; leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal granted on May 25, 2010; issues involve interpretation of Farming and Food Production Protection Act, 1998, S.O. 1998, c. 1)
· Southcott Estate Inc. v. Toronto Catholic District School Board, (2010) 319 D.L.R. 4th 349, (successful appeal by the school board from judgment in favour of Southcott reported at 78 R.P.R. (4th 285 in its action to recover damages for the board's breach of a real estate contract; appeal allowed; case deals with issues of causation, specific performance and mitigation)
· Tropic Spa Inc. v. James D. Mancel (April 26, 2010) Toronto, CV-09-385999 (action for the assignment of ownership rights and an order vesting the legal and registered title to a U.S. patent)
· Fedel v. Tan (2008), 93 O.R. (3d) 274, and on appeal at (2010), 101 O.R (3D) 481 (Ont. C.A) (successful claim for oppression remedy under the Business Corporations Act (Ontario) leading to minority shareholder being awarded in excess of $2 million)
· Toronto District School Board v. Molson Breweries (2009), 82 R.P.R. (4th) 196 (action involving Education Development Agreements, the Education Act, positive covenants running with the land and the statutory authority of school boards)
· MTCC No. 1250 v. Mastercraft Group Inc. (2009), 82 R.P.R. (4th) 1 (Ont. C.A.) (successful appeal by the condominium corporation against the developer dealing with common elements and interpretation of the Condominium Act resulting in a judgment in excess of $2 million)
· Information and Privacy Commission of Ontario v. City of Toronto Economic Development Corp. et al (2008), 292 D.L.R. (4th) 706 (Ont. C.A.) (successful appeal dealing with freedom of information wherein TEDCO was required to disclose information under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act)
· Pecore v. Pecore, (2005), 19 ETR (3d) 162 (Ont. C.A.) (Supreme Court of Canada) (2007) 1 S.C.R. 795 (decision clarified the law of resulting trusts and presumption of advancement in Canada)
· Sutherland v. Birks (2003), 65 O.R. (3d) 812 (C.A.) (oppression remedy claims between siblings who were heirs to a founder of a prominent Canadian retail chain)
· Rochwerg v. Truster (2000), 1 B.L.R. 257 (H.C.); S.C.J. (2002), 58 O.R. (2d) 380 (Ont. C.A.) (partnership dispute involving contractual claims and claims of alleged breach of fiduciary duty)
· Angoss II Partnership v. Trifox Inc. 46 O.T.C. 161 (1998), affirmed 126 O.A.C 293 (Ont. C.A.) leave to appeal to S.C.C. refused (claim and counterclaim involving software licence and quality of software supplied under licence resulting in an award of $4,400,000 in damages plus interest)
Arbitrations
· Ainsworth Engineered Corp. v. Abitibi-Consolidated Company of Canada (mediation-arbitration on Terms of Memorandum of Agreement pursuant to terms of Forest Sustainability Act)
· Ainsworth Lumber Co. Ltd. v. Bowater Canadian Forest Products Inc. (arbitration on Terms of Agreement; interpretation of contract)
· Canadian Alcohol v. Marsh & McLennan (arbitration before R.E. Holland) (successful defence in a 20 day arbitration of a $25 million business interruption claim involving outage at a large alcohol processing plant)
· The Corporation of the Town of Essex v. The Essex-Windsor Solid Waste Authority (interpretation of Long Term Supply Contract)
Expropriation Cases
· Lafarge Canada Inc. v. City of Toronto, Re: Expropriation of King Street property (expropriation of industrial King Street property by City of Toronto)
· Lafarge Canada Inc v. Ministry of Transportation, Re: Highway 15 (expropriation by Highways Department)
· Braun Nurseries v. Ministry of Transportation (expropriation by Minister of Transportation)
OMB Cases
· 1456924 Ontario Inc. Markham (Town), (2009) O.M.B.D. No. 584 (application to amend zoning by-law and Official Plan)
· O'Shanter Development Co. v. Toronto (City), (2006) 54 O.M.B.R. 75 (application to convert apartment buildings containing 1,000 apartments to condominiums)
· Crystal Homes Corporation and Bronte Community Development Corporation (2004) (application to approve plan of subdivision)
Community Involvement
· Director and Vice-President, Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Foundation
· Former Chairman of the Board of Directors, St. Andrew's Heritage Trust
· Former Chairman of the Board of Directors, Clifton House for Boys
· Former Co-Chairman, University of Toronto Schools Parents Fundraising
Memberships
· The Advocates' Society
· County of York Law Association
· Canadian Bar Association
Faculty Experience
· Numerous papers for continuing education for The Advocates' Society, Canadian Bar Association and Law Society
· Former Instructor, Bar Admission Course: Civil Procedure, Law Society of Upper Canada
Publications
· Author, "Why Bother with a Shareholder's Agreement?", It's Personal (Preserving Wealth for People and Private Companies) Volume 4, Issue 3, September 2011, Pages 10-12
Areas of Focus
Appellate and Complex Litigation
Real Estate Litigation
Municipal Law
Publications
Winter 2012, Why the Supreme Court Said No, Securities Practice Notes
September 1, 2011, Toronto, Why Bother with a Shareholder's Agreement?, It's Personal (Preserving Wealth for People and Private Companies), Volume 4, Issue 3, Pages 10-12