John was recognized by Best Lawyers® in Canada in 2024 and 2025 in the area of Corporate and Commercial Litigation. In September 2024, he assumed the role of Practice Group Leader of the firm’s Commercial Litigation Group. He helps clients solve their business and personal disputes:
- Corporate and Commercial Litigation/Insolvency - Business partner and shareholder disputes, breach of contract, environmental contamination disputes, franchise disputes, debt collection, commercial tenancy disputes, construction disputes, real estate disputes, product liability, bankruptcy and receiverships
- Estate Litigation - Disputes between heirs/beneficiaries and executors/estate trustees
- Sports Law - representing amateur hockey and other sport organizations from the local to the national level, as well as athletes regarding internal governance, discipline and dispute resolution
- Family Business Litigation – Corporate divorce between spouses when both their business and marriage partnerships dissolve
John helps clients resolve their disputes in a variety of ways:
- Court proceedings, private arbitrations and other tribunals
- Negotiation
- Mediation
John’s court and tribunal experience:
- Supreme Court of Canada
- Ontario Court of Appeal, Divisional Court and Superior Court
- Nunavut Court of Justice
- Administrative tribunals
- Private arbitrations
Other types of matters John helps his clients with:
- Appeals – John can assist with appeals before the Ontario Court of Appeal and other appellate courts
- Professional Negligence and Discipline – accountants, lawyers, engineers, real estate agents, financial advisors, insurance brokers, dental hygienists and others
- Defamation and Breach of Privacy
- Enforcing Foreign Judgments and Jurisdictional Issues
- Fraud
- Injunctions and other Extraordinary Remedies
John is the editor of the firm’s blog entitled “Blaneys Appeals”, which is dedicated to summarizing all civil law decisions released by the Court of Appeal for Ontario on a weekly basis. The blog receives several thousand reads a month and is circulated widely through various legal information media, including Mondaq, Lexology, CanLii and the Ontario Bar Association website.
John also co-authored two chapters in Civil Procedure and Practice in Ontario, 2nd ed (CPPO), published by the Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII). CPPO is a free online annotated version of Ontario’s Rules of Civil Procedure. John also edits the firm’s Commercial Litigation Update newsletter.