Jonathan Elliot Ptak

Jonathan Ptak is a partner in the firm’s class action group and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee.

Jon is recognized by Lexpert, Chambers Canada and Best Lawyers as a leading practitioner in class proceedings. He was also selected as a fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America. He was appointed to sit on the Ontario Class Action Bench-Bar Liaison Committee. He has acted as counsel in a wide variety of class actions involving Crown liability, institutional abuse, product liability, medical implants, securities misrepresentation, consumer protection, employment law, pension matters, environmental contamination, public health, and other matters.

He is lead or co-lead counsel in a host of landmark cases involving institutional abuse which are among the largest settlements in Canada including Heyder v. Canada involving sexual misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces (settled for $900 million), Hardy v. Canada involving institutional abuse in Indian Hospitals (settled for $535.5 million in project funding and it is projected that more than $1 billion will be paid in compensation), and Brown v. Ontario involving institutional abuse in Ontario Training Schools (settled for $60 million).

He was counsel in some of Canada’s largest securities misrepresentation cases, including Sino Forest (which settled for over $150 million) and Valeant (which settled for over $120 million).

He was lead counsel in Rosen v BMO , which was the first overtime misclassification case to be certified in Ontario (and not overturned on appeal).

He is also counsel in a variety of other areas including glyphosate litigation and PFAS contamination in drinking water.