David Di Paolo

Partner

Toronto
[email protected]
416.367.6108

David is a leading Commercial Litigation lawyer who also specializes in securities litigation, class actions and shareholder disputes. He represents registrants and public companies and their respective officers, directors and shareholders in class action proceedings and all manner of securities and regulatory investigations and prosecutions.

David's areas of focus include:

  • Class actions, including securities class actions, unpaid wages class actions and investor loss class actions
  • Securities litigation and regulation, including broker liability and departing broker litigation, as well as investigations and proceedings before Provincial Securities Commissions, IIROC and the MFDA
  • Shareholder disputes litigation, including oppression remedy proceedings
  • Directors’ and officers’ liability, including shareholders’ actions, creditors’ actions and offences under the Securities Act and other regulatory statutes
  • General commercial and employment litigation
David has appeared before all levels of court, including the Ontario Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada, as well as provincial securities commissions, IIROC and the MFDA.

At BLG, David is the National Group Head for our Disputes Group

Experience

  • Many of the securities regulatory matters handle by David are confidential in nature and cannot be summarized here. A summary of some of the public cases handled by David are as follows:
    • Fischer v. AIC et al. – represents one of the fund companies in a securities class action regarding alleged market timing activities.
    • Pozgaj v. Mackenzie Financial Corporation et al: acting for Mackenzie Financial in a class action alleging prospectus misrepresentation and breach of trust related to trailing fees paid by mutual funds.
    • Clarus Securities Inc. et al v. Aphria Inc.: acting for a syndicate of underwriters in a class action alleging prospectus misrepresentation and secondary market misrepresentation.
    • Pardhan v. Bank of Montreal and Kherani v. Bank of Montreal: acting for BMO in a class action concerning a fraud committed by a BMO customer.
    • Carrie Eklund v. Goodlife Fitness Centres Inc. – acting for Goodlife, the largest fitness chain in Canada, in an unpaid wages and overtime Class Action claim related to its club locations in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland.
    • Fulawka v. Bank of Nova Scotia – represented the Bank of Nova Scotia in an overtime class action.
    • Represents Handa Student Travel in a wages class action.
    • Wrzesnewskyj v. A. G. – represented Elections Canada in a contested election application in Etobicoke Centre both at the application and before the Supreme Court of Canada.

Beyond Our Walls

Professional Involvement

  • Member, Canadian Bar Association
  • Member, The Advocates' Society

Awards & Recognitions

  • Recognized in the 2025 and previous editions of The Best Lawyers in Canada® (Class Action Litigation, Corporate Commercial Litigation, Securities Law).
  • Recognized in the 2025 edition (and since 2019) of Chambers Canada – Canada's Leading Lawyers for Business (Litigation: Securities - Ontario).
  • Recognized in the 2023 edition (and since 2020) of Lexpert Special Edition: Litigation
  • Recognized as a 2023 Thomson Reuters Stand-out Lawyer
  • Recognized in the 2023 edition of The Legal 500 Canada as a "Leading individual" (Dispute resolution)
  • Recognized in the 2022-2024 editions of The Canadian Legal Lexpert® Directory (Class Actions, Litigation – Corporate Commercial, Litigation – Securities), the 2021 edition (Litigation – Securities), and the 2020 edition (Litigation – Directors' & Officers' Liability).
  • Recognized in the 2024 edition (and since 2020) of the Benchmark Canada - The Definitive Guide to Canada's Leading Litigation Firms & Attorneys as a Litigation Star (Commercial, Securities).
  • Shortlisted for "Securities Litigator of the Year" at the 2023 Benchmark Litigation Canada Awards
  • Recognized in the 2022 edition of Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada

Bar Admissions & Education

  • Ontario, 1998
  • LLB, University of Western Ontario, 1996
  • BSc, (Hons., summa cum laude ) in Biology and Psychology, McMaster University, 1993