John A. Terry

About John

John A. Terry is a partner at Torys whose practice covers public, business, and international trade and investment law. He regularly advises both companies and governments on trade law questions and maintains a strong practice representing claimants and respondents in investment arbitrations, as well as set-aside and enforcement proceedings arising under various bilateral and multilateral treaties. John also handles Indigenous law matters, with experience on the duty to consult with Indigenous communities and in representing and negotiating on behalf of parties in Indigenous-related disputes, often in sensitive or high-stakes situations. He regularly advises natural resource and energy companies on corporate social responsibility questions. John has appeared as counsel at every level of Ontario court, before the Federal Court and its Court of Appeal, at the Supreme Court of Canada, and in commercial and investment arbitrations and administrative tribunal proceedings. Before joining Torys, he worked as a constitutional lawyer for the Ontario government and as a senior policy adviser in the Ontario Cabinet Office, and he also spent two years in New Zealand, teaching courses covering international trade, commercial arbitration, and human rights law at Otago University. He clerked for Mr. Justice Cory at the Supreme Court of Canada and for judges of the Ontario Court of Appeal. John's teaching includes courses on International Commercial and Investor-State Arbitration, as well as Public International Law, taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto's law school; he also teaches advocacy through the Foundation for International Arbitration in Geneva.

Education & credentials

Law school

University of Toronto