Torys LLP Podcasts

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day… but who doesn’t love a mid-morning pickup? Join our BWA panelists for their candid reactions to the latest Supreme Court decisions, all in the time it takes to enjoy a quick coffee. In this episode, Jeremy Opolsky and Alicja Puchta discuss the Supreme Court’s disagreement on the principles of factual causation and remoteness in Hemmings v. Padmore.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day… but who doesn’t love a mid-morning pickup? Join our Breakfast With Appeal panelists for their candid reactions to the latest Supreme Court decisions, sharing their views on what’s heating up the bench with that classic BWA flair you know and love—and all in the time it takes to enjoy a quick coffee. In this episode, Jeremy Opolsky and Jon Silver discuss the Supreme Court’s findings in Sinclair-Desgagné v. Canada (Chief Electoral Officer), where the Court overturned an election result that hinged on a single missing ballot.

At the start of his career, Brent Belzberg, Founder and Senior Executive Chairman of TorQuest, set out to prove that success in the cutthroat world of private equity could be achieved by the “nice guy”. Thirty years later, Brent’s values- and relationship-driven approach to business has made TorQuest a $5.5 billion leader in middle-market acquisitions, and has shaped his attitude towards philanthropy, family, and community.In this conversation, Brent shares his views on the importance of collaboration, the value of humility, and why kindness is a strength both within and beyond the boardroom.

The patent landscape is evolving, with entrepreneurs and investors alike seeking new approaches towards protecting IP rights consistently across jurisdictions. In this, organizations like the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) provide a valuable forum in which to voice concerns, analyze issues, and advance policies aimed at accelerating innovation across borders. In this podcast, taken from a recent webinar, Nicole Mantini and Andrew Shaughnessy sit down with IPO’s President, John Cheek, and Executive Director, Jessica Landacre, ahead of the IPO’s 2026 Annual Meeting to discuss the growing importance of IP regulation, education, and representation, and share insights into how differing perspectives on IP policy in Canada, the United States, and abroad offer the potential to shape the innovation ecosystem.

In 2019, Jeff Davis, Chief Legal and Corporate Affairs Officer of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, was awarded Counsel of the Year. When he got up to give his acceptance speech, he spoke not about his career achievements, but about the mental health challenges that face legal professionals. While the speech might have come as a surprise to some in the room, those who have worked with Jeff know that his focus on vulnerability is one that has defined his career and leadership style. In this episode, Jeff breaks down the importance of championing mental health in the workplace, and offers his views on how creating a culture of psychological safety contributes to corporate and personal success.

Do electoral riding officers have to live in the riding they represent – or does mandating their place of residence infringe their right to liberty? In this episode of BWA, our panelists discuss the scope of the right to liberty as outlined in section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and offer their views on why an upcoming Supreme Court case offers the possibility for robust debate on the issue of whether section 7 applies to claims that arise from interactions with the administration of justice.

After a 30-year career as one of Torys’ top dealmakers, Sharon Geraghty made a bold career move by becoming Executive Vice President and General Counsel at Great-West Lifeco. Swapping the legal world for a corporate environment was a challenge Geraghty knew she was up to—but what about trading the collaborative dynamic of a law office for overseeing hundreds of employees across global offices?  In this wide-ranging conversation with Zehra Sheerazi, Sharon shares her journey from private practice to executive leadership, and offers insight into the importance of prioritizing health along the way. 

When a longstanding property deal falls through, can a party claim damages for hypothetical, rather than market, value? In this episode of Breakfast With Appeal, the panelists discuss the Alberta Court of Appeal’s decision in Remington Development v. CPKC, offering new insight into the concept of indeterminate liability and limits to expectation damages.

Growing up as the lone corporate in a family of creatives, Tori Buffery’s pioneering career in GP-led secondaries has been anything but conventional. At what point did she stop considering her trajectory to be a series of “right place, right time” moments and begin recognizing her own role in her success? In this episode of In the Chair, Buffery—Principal at Neuberger—shares how she played a pivotal role in building the GP-led secondaries market from the ground up, and how fostering meaningful, long-term connections and turning down job offers helped her embrace opportunity.

 Fiat-backed stablecoins are swiftly gaining ground as an alternative means of payment—but how can Canada harness the full potential of the digital revolution? Without a clear domestic framework to support the use of blockchain-based payments linked to the Canadian dollar, Canadian digital payments risk being eclipsed by foreign-issued stablecoins, which could weaken domestic regulatory control over the system as a whole. In this podcast, taken from a recent webinar, members of Torys’ Fintech team speak with Peter MacKenzie, Senior Policy Analyst at C.D. Howe Institute and co-author of The Window is Closing: How Canada Can Shape the Future of Stablecoins and Digital Payments, about the regulatory, economic, and policy considerations needed for Canada to establish a regulatory model for blockchain-based payments to compete in the digital payments market on a global scale.