McGowan & Company

McGowan & Company

Barristers & Solicitors

10 Bay Street
Suite 1400
Toronto, Ontario M5J 2R8

Michael McGowan has practiced civil litigation since his call to the bar in 1980. He was certified by the Law Society as a Specialist in Civil Litigation in 1989 and re-certified in 1994 and again in 1999. He is co-author of Watson & McGowan, Ontario Civil Practice and has been editor in chief of Carswell's Practice Cases since 1984. He has recently joined the editorial board of the Class Action Reports, a U.S. based law report concerning class action litigation.

In 1995 Michael established a new firm to focus on class action litigation and act as counsel in the Godi v. TTC class action (the settlement of which was approved by the court in September 1996). His experience in class actions also includes acting as counsel for the plaintiff in numerous lawsuits including: Garland v. Consumers Gas (usury), Gagne v. Silcorp (mass wrongful dismissal), Mangan v. Inco (sulphur dioxide leak), Robertson v. Thomson (copyright infringement), Anderson v. Wilson (Hepatitis B outbreak), Hollick v. Metro Toronto (dump nuisance), Atkinson v. Ault Foods Ltd. (employees' benefits), Bywater v. TTC (subway fire), Guglietti v. Go Transit (train crash), Webb v. K-Mart (mass wrongful dismissal), and Doshi v. Bulk Barn (franchise dispute).

Michael is a frequent speaker at seminars concerning class actions, and has published several works on class actions including Class Actions in Ontario: A Quick Comparison to Rule 23, 15 Class Action Rep. 525, Certification of Class Actions in Ontario: A Comparison to Rule 23 of the U.S. Rules of Civil Procedure, (1993), 16 C.P.C. (3d) 172, A Class Representative's Guide to Class Actions, and Class Actions: A Defendant's Primer.

For a three year term from 1992 to 1995 Michael served on the Class Proceedings Committee established under the Law Society Act initially as Vice-Chair and subsequently as Chair.