Katelyn Ellins
AssociateKatelyn Ellins maintains a general civil litigation practice with a focus on complex commercial and securities litigation.
Katelyn represents both corporate and individual clients on a wide range of commercial law matters. Her clients have included corporate directors, large financial institutions, technology companies, real estate developers and insurance brokers.
Katelyn has extensive experience representing clients in shareholder disputes and complex transactional disputes. Katelyn regularly advocates for clients in relation to claims of oppression, breach of fiduciary duties, fraud, misrepresentation and the duties of good faith and honest contractual performance. Katelyn also provides strategic advice to public and private clients on a variety of corporate governance matters. Katelyn has acted for clients at all levels of Court in Ontario, including the Commercial List and the Court of Appeal of Ontario.
Prior to joining the firm, Katelyn worked at a boutique corporate and securities law firm that specializes in providing legal and strategic advice to undervalued and underperforming Canadian public and private companies.
During law school, Katelyn was the Internal Director of Dalhousie’s Student Advocacy Service and won several awards, including the Robert E. Bamford Memorial Prize awarded to the graduating student who best combines academic excellence with a commitment to the law school community and the Alistair Fraser Award in Commercial Law.
EXPERIENCE
- Acted for a creditor of a foreign state opposing a plan of arrangement under section 192 of the CBCA relating to the disposition of a gold mine from a public Canadian mining company to a company controlled by the state.
- Acted for an insurance broker in a trial concerning the breach of a restrictive covenant, spoliation, oppression, breach of fiduciary duties and the duty of good faith and wrongful solicitation.
- Acts for a large Canadian bank in litigation commenced by the bank against debtors for fraud and misrepresentation and against the debtor’s auditor for negligence.
- Acted for interveners in relation to a challenge to alleged discriminatory practices by airlines before the Supreme Court of Canada.
- Acted for a Canadian company in a Canadian-based manufacturing joint venture in a mediation/ arbitration dispute with its Chinese state-owned company joint venture partner.
- Acted for a private software-as-a-service company providing customer communications management products and services in a commercial arbitration relating to the interpretation of software license agreement.
- Acted for the dissent shareholder in a proxy contest involving a Canadian mineral exploration and development company listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange.
- Acted for a TSX Venture Exchange and Nasdaq listed issuer in relation to litigation commenced by a private equity fund relating to an alleged entitlement to warrants under a private placement.
- Acted for shareholders of numerous private companies in oppression, breach of fiduciary duties, wind-up and related proceedings where the parties did not have liquidity exit provisions.
- Various work relating to OBCA and CBCA plans of arrangement.
- Various work involving the provision of corporate governance advice to officers, directors and special committees in relation to alleged related party transactions and other alleged misconduct.
- Advised an insurance company with respect to the validity of claims made under a representation and warranty insurance policy granted in connection with a share purchase transaction in which the insured claimed that the financial information provided by the vendor contained misrepresentations.
- Acted for a real estate development company in a dispute between the shareholders of the general partner of a limited partnership relating to the acquisition of commercial properties involving claims of oppression and breach of fiduciary duties.
- Acts for an indenture trustee of bonds issued in connection with a failed real estate development and successfully resisted injunctive relief sought by the developer.
- Acted for the purchasing shareholder in a dispute concerning the valuation of the shares in a share-purchase transaction.
- Act of a large international corporation in relation to a challenge to its COVID-19 masking policies by a potential customer.
- English
- J.D., Dalhousie University, 2015
- B.A. (Honours), Queen’s University, 2011
Memberships And Affiliations
- Member, Canadian Bar Association
- Member, Ontario Bar Association
- Member, Advocates' Society
