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Breanna Needham

Associate
Toronto
About

Breanna is a commercial litigation lawyer with a focus on matters where serious misconduct is an element.

She has extensive experience working on matters involving investigations, injunctions, and asset recovery. Her practice often involves injunctions and extraordinary remedies, including obtaining Anton Piller (civil search), Mareva (asset freezing), and Norwich Pharmacal (third party disclosure) orders. She represents companies and individuals in a wide variety of proceedings, investigations, and disputes, including in matters involving fraud, wrongful competition, restrictive covenants, breach of confidence, breach of fiduciary duty, and other complex disputes involving shareholders, employees, directors, officers, and nuanced business relationships. 

Breanna has successfully represented clients before all levels of court in Ontario, as well as in mediations and commercial arbitrations. She also has experience advising on legal obligations in the political sector, including in the areas of ethical compliance and conflicts of interest.

In 2022, Breanna was recognized as one of Lexpert's Rising Stars: Leading Lawyers Under 40.

Areas of FocusLitigation, Arbitration and InvestigationsCorporate and Securities DisputesClass Actions
Bar admissionsOntario, 2016

EXPERIENCE

  • Advancing various actions against employees and accomplices in respect of a scheme to operate a competing business through the solicitation of company clients and the ‎misappropriation of confidential company information for their own benefit‎;
  • Lead lawyer on a fraud investigation and forensic audit into a kickback scheme perpetrated by an employee at a large commercial landlord and construction company, culminating in successfully obtaining a Mareva injunction (among other relief), including international asset recovery proceedings; 
  • Successfully prosecuted a claim for recovery of proceeds of a multi-million dollar invoicing fraud committed against an international manufacturing company by a long-term employee, including international asset recovery proceedings; 
  • Advancing a fraud claim on behalf of a financial institution against a former employee in respect of a long-running fraudulent scheme to skim funds from various suspense accounts; 
  • Successfully represented an individual executive defendant in a $30M claim alleging fraud and breach of fiduciary obligations, as well as a proposed worldwide Mareva injunction seeking to freeze assets;
  • Successfully brought a motion for a trustee in bankruptcy invalidating two sham property trusts established by the bankrupt, in part through the use of a typographic (font) expert, the first case in Canada to do so;
  • Obtaining injunctive relief in respect of the search and seizure of evidence of internet streaming piracy of the creative content of a major Canadian telecommunications company.
Languages
  • English
Education
  • J.D., (with Distinction) University of Saskatchewan, 2015
  • BSA, (with Distinction) University of Saskatchewan, 2010

Awards

  • Lexpert Rising Stars: Leading Lawyers Under 40 in Canada 2022
  • Best Lawyers in Canada, Lawyer to Watch (Corporate and Commercial Litigation: Toronto), 2022-2024
  • Leading Lawyer to Watch, Litigation - Corporate Commercial, Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory (2021-2023)‎
  • Recipient of a Lexpert Zenith Award as a Change Agent in Law (2019)
  • Recipient of a Precedent Innovation Award (2019)
  • Canadian Law Blog Awards (“Clawbies”) winner in the “Best Innovative Projects” category (2019)

Publications

  • Contributing Author, Creating a Seat at the Table: Reflections from Women in Law, October 2023
  • Co-Author, "Calling on the Code: Civil Consequences for Cryptocurrency" [republished by Internet and E-Commerce Law in Canada, vol. 23, no 3, July 2022]
  • Featured, “Happy Lawyers: Five Things They Have in Common,” CBA National, September 21, 2021‎
  • Author, “Making (Lateral) Moves: Changing Jobs as an Associate,” The Advocates’ Society Keeping ‎Tabs, Summer 2021‎
  • Co-Author, “Still Doing the Two-Step: Ontario’s Divisional Court in Kuiper Confirms a Two-Step Approach to Common Issues on Certification”, Class Action Defence Quarterly, June 2020
  • Featured, “The Inaugural Precedent Innovation Awards”, Precedent Magazine, December 2019
  • Author, “Why Do the Robing Rooms Matter, Anyway?”, Young Women In Law Blog, April 12, 2019
  • Author, “Generosity Meets the Law: Rules for Those Who Hold the Gold”, The Advocates’ Society Keeping Tabs, Spring 2019

Seminars

  • Speaker, Paths in Law: A Conversation with Three of Canada’s Top Young Lawyers, University of Saskatchewan College of Law: McKercher LLP Lecture Series, January 16, 2023
  • Authentic Lawyer Summit, Combining Lawyering and Living in the face of "Professionalism", November 10, 2022
  • Moderator and Program Co-Chair, “Attracting, Retaining and Championing Diverse Advocates”, The Advocates’ Society, May 19, 2022
  • Panelist, "Top Cases in Commercial Litigation," The Advocates' Society, February 3, 2022
  • Speaker, “Perfecting Your Tech Setup,” The Advocates’ Society Tech Hacks for Litigators, June 16, 2021‎
  • Speaker, “The Gender Pay Gap in the Legal & Technology Sectors,” Canadian Technology Law ‎Association (CAN-TECH) Spring Conference, June 3, 2021‎
  • Moderator and Program Chair, “Public Speaking and Social Media Strategy: An Intersectional Discussion on the Unique Issues that #WomenInLaw Face Both Online and In-Person”, Ontario Bar Association Women Lawyers Forum, November 30, 2020
  • ‎Speaker, “Litigating from Home: A Starter Kit”, The Advocates’ Society, March 27, 2020
  • Speaker, “Connecting to Achieve Change”, The Advocates’ Society Fall Convention, November 2019
  • Speaker, “Professionalism Issues”, Law Society of Ontario: 9th Business Law Summit, May 13, 2019
  • Speaker, “Exploring Diversity and Inclusion Through Studies and Statistics”, Canadian Bar Association: Competition Law Section Young Lawyers Conference, April 25, 2019
  • Speaker, “Women In Law”, Bechdel Tested, February 18, 2019
  • Speaker, “Summary Judgment in Pharmaceutical Class Actions”, Canadian Defence Lawyers: Defending Products Claims, February 22, 2017

Community Involvement

  • Team Advisor, University of Saskatchewan Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Team (2022-2024)
  • Volunteer Judge, Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot, qualifying and international rounds.‎
  • Executive Member (technology liaison), Ontario Bar Association Women Lawyers Forum (2019-2021).‎
  • Executive Member (technology liaison), Ontario Bar Association, Class Actions Section (2019-2021)‎
  • Executive Member (technology liaison), Ontario Bar Association, Civil Litigation Section (2021-2022)‎
  • Member-at-Large, The Advocates’ Society, Commercial Litigation Practice Group Leaders (2021-2022)‎

Memberships And Affiliations

  • Canadian Bar Association
  • The Advocates’ Society

My latest insights

Publication

The boundaries of bribery:‎ ‎Court of Appeal of Manitoba upholds decision in civil bribery...

9 August 2023 .5 minute read

Publication

Supreme Court of British Columbia grants Mareva injunction in aid of pending foreign civil...

5 April 2023 .7 minute read

Publication

Ephemeral messaging: Don’t assume the details are in the documents

20 December 2022 .8 minute read

View All

Connect

Phone

+1 416 369 5259
(Work, Toronto)
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