Samuel Mosonyi B.A., M.Phil., J.D.

Bio

Before Samuel represented clients in court, he worked on the other side of the bench, helping the judges of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice research and write their decisions. Now, as a litigator, he reads a file the way a judge will, and can find its weak points early. Few litigators have that vantage point, and it changes how he prepares each case. Because he knows how these cases are weighed, he can set out what a client is realistically facing, and be ready for it.

Samuel acts for individuals and businesses in commercial and shareholder disputes, employment claims, and estates disputes, whether they are heading off a problem, responding to a claim, or going on the offensive. He is candid from the outset. A case is expensive and rarely clean, and part of his job is telling a client whether a fight is worth having before it starts. When it is, he is strategic about how to win and practical about keeping a case moving.

Samuel has built his practice around estates, commercial, and employment disputes. In one shareholder dispute, a client came to him after trial, facing an opponent litigating without restraint. In this dispute, he won the early release of $1.8 million while the appeal was pending, understood to be the largest order of its kind in Ontario. He was also successful in winning the appeal.

Samuel also handles the urgent motions that can impact a case early, from injunctions to certificates of pending litigation, as well as early motions that can effectively end a lawsuit.

A Gates Scholar at Cambridge, Samuel has written for peer-reviewed journals and the national press. His legal research has been cited by the Alberta Court of Appeal. That scholarly rigour serves his clients too: finding the argument others overlook and turning a dense record into a clear line a judge can follow.

Away from the courtroom, Samuel serves on the University of Cambridge’s Toronto alumni committee, plays a variety of racquet sports, and is fluent in Hungarian.