Angela Swan LLD

Counsel Admitted to the Ontario Bar: 1970

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  • Bio
  • Awards & Recognition
  • Professional Involvement
  • Selected Publications
  • Insights
  • Education

Angela plays an educational and advisory role as counsel to the firm’s lawyers across all practice areas. With nearly 50 years of experience practising and teaching law, particularly in contracts, tax and complex corporate/commercial matters, she is a highly efficient and comprehensive resource to her colleagues and their clients.

Angela assists the firm’s lawyers with respect to research and opinions. She is particularly experienced in contract law and statutory interpretation and consults with members of the firm on many legal issues, including corporate transactions and civil and commercial litigation.

Angela believes in a practical approach to resolving legal questions and in ongoing legal education. She frequently presents internal case law updates and other educational sessions to lawyers and articling student.

Angela has written a number of papers, reviews, books, case comments and annotations on topics such as contract law, civil litigation and conflict of laws. Her work has been cited with approval by a number of courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada. She is frequently retained by other law firms as an expert witness in connection with matters pertaining to the law in Ontario.

Awards & Recognition

  • Named to the Martindale-Hubbell Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers for earning the highest level of professional skill and integrity in the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory.
  • Appointed Officer of the Order of Canada, 2021.
  • Received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from McGill University, 2021.
  • Received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the Law Society of Ontario, 2019.
  • Recognized in Best Lawyers in Canada in Corporate Law
  • Received the Ontario Bar Association’s 2016 Award for Distinguished Service.
  • Angela's book, Canadian Contract Law, LexisNexis Butterworths, 2006, was awarded the Walter Owen Book Prize (2007). The Walter Owen Book Prize is awarded by the Foundation for Legal Research of the Canadian Bar Association to recognize excellent legal writing and to reward outstanding new contributions to Canadian legal literature that enhance the quality of legal research in Canada. Angela’s text is now in its second edition.
  • Received the highest rating (AV) for legal ability as well as an extremely high adherence to the professional standards of conduct, ethics, reliability and diligence by Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory.

Professional Involvement

Memberships

  • Senior Fellow, Massey College
  • Board of Trustees, McGill Law Journal (past)
  • Canadian/Ontario Bar Association (International Law and Business Law Sections)
  • Editorial Board, Journal of Contract Law (past)

Teaching Engagements

  • Adjunct Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
  • Graduate Supervision, 11 completed LL.M. candidates
  • Visiting Professor and Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, McGill University, 1996 - 2003
  • Special Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, 1991 - 1995
  • Lansdowne Visiting Professor, University of Victoria, 1984
  • Assistant, Associate and full Professor, University of Toronto, 1965 - 1988

Selected Publications

"Design Services Ltd v. Canada" (with J. Adamski), 47 Can. Bus. L. J. 87 – 99, 2008.

"Concurrent Judicial Jurisdiction: A Race to the Court House or to Judgment?" 46 Can. Bus. L. J. 292, 2008

Co-author (with J. Adamski), "Contracts," Halsbury's Laws of Canada, LexisNexis Butterworths, 2008.

"What a Difference a Debt Makes for BCE Debentureholders" (with Jeffrey K. Merk), Corporate Financing, Volume XIV, No. 2.

Canadian Contract Law, LexisNexis Butterworths, 2006

Contracts, Cases, Notes and Materials (with B.J. Reiter and N.C. Bala), 7th ed. (Toronto: Butterworths, 2006).

"Punitive Damages for Breach of Contract: A Remedy in Search of a Justification," Queen’s Law Journal, Vol. 29, 2003.

"The Rights of Third Parties to Contracts: A Suggested Basis for Recognition," Privity: Private Justice or Public Regulation, Kincaid ed., (Aldershot: Ashgate/Dartmouth, 2000) pp. 233 - 258.

"The Future of the Conflict of Laws: Can Morguard Point the Way?" Leading Cases of the Twentieth Century, O’Dell ed., (Dublin: Roundhall, 2001)

"The New Choice of Law Rules in Torts: The Aftermath of Tolofson v. Jensen; Lucas v. Gagnon," paper delivered at Canadian Bar Association Quebec Conference, April 22, 1999. pp. 28.

"Damages for Wrongful Dismissal: Lessons from Wallace v. United Grain Growers Ltd." (1998), 6 Canadian Labour & Employment Law Journal pp. 313 – 332.

"The Attitude of Canadian Courts to Arbitration Clauses and The Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards in Arbitration of International Business Disputes," Negotiating and Structuring International Business Transactions, The Canadian Institute, Toronto, November 6, 1998. pp. 27.

"The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods," Selling Goods and Services Abroad, Canadian Bar Association, Business Law Section, Annual Meeting, Vancouver, August 23, 1996. pp. 22.

"Foreign Proceedings and the Reluctant Ontario Participant," International Law Update: Legislation, Case Law and Treaties, Canadian Bar Association – Ontario, Continuing Legal Education, Annual Institute, January 25, 1996. pp. 20.

"Choice of Forum and Choice of Law: The Implications of the New Criteria for Judicial Control" (1996), 18 Advocates’ Quarterly. pp. 1 – 22.

Insights

Education

  • BCL, Oxford University, 1965
  • LLB, University of British Columbia, 1963
  • B.Com., University of British Columbia, 1962

Expertise

Corporate/Commercial