E. Patrick Shea, MStJ, KC, LSM, CS

About E. Patrick Shea, MStJ, KC, LSM, CS

Patrick Shea is a Toronto partner at Gowling WLG and a certified specialist in bankruptcy and insolvency law, which sits at the centre of a broader commercial practice. Over the years Shea has handled large restructurings and insolvencies for many kinds of clients, in industries running from retail and airlines to pharmaceuticals, and has acted for stakeholders in proceedings tied to Nortel, Air Canada, Livent and Eatons. Shea earned an LLB at the University of Ottawa and was called to the Ontario bar in 1997.

The Government of Canada and several Caribbean governments have turned to Shea for advice on reforming their insolvency laws, and the Caribbean work also covers adopting resolution regimes for financial institutions. In Ontario, Shea has chaired the province's Business Law Modernization and Burden Reduction Council and served as vice chair of its Business Law Modernization Council.

It's a career with plenty of teaching in it, too. Shea taught the business law and insolvency parts of the Bar Admission Course and an advanced restructuring course at Queen's University, and today coaches through the LSO's Coach and Advisory Network and tutors people writing the licensing exams. Shea's writing on insolvency has appeared in the United States, Germany and Japan, and the conference circuit has taken Shea as far as New Zealand and Malaysia. Past leadership roles include chairing the insolvency sections of both the OBA and the CBA.

Away from the office, Shea's a licensed pilot and a former officer in the Canadian Forces reserves. Shea launched an effort with the Law Society of Ontario to honour law students who died serving in the First World War, which led to honorary calls to the bar for those students on November 10, 2014. The Law Society of Saskatchewan later made Shea an honorary member for similar work on that province's students, and the commemoration of WWI and WWII veterans has earned two Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendations. Shea also received the Law Society Medal in 2015.