Babin Bessner Spry LLP
Automatically compiled listing. Details may contain errors.16 lawyers · City of Toronto
One of 2,276 law firms listed in Toronto, and one of 435 handling Civil Litigation & Dispute Resolution.
Virtual appointments
Virtual appointmentsAbout Babin Bessner Spry LLP
Babin Bessner Spry is a Toronto litigation firm that takes on complex, high-stakes disputes. Its core work is securities litigation, shareholder oppression and derivative claims, corporate governance cases (director and officer liability among them) and insolvency, and it also handles employment, competition, fraud and class action matters. The firm's lawyers run securities and commercial cases at trial and on appeal in every level of court, and they also appear before administrative tribunals and in arbitration and other forms of dispute resolution.
Ed Babin started the firm in 2009, after many years as a senior partner in the litigation groups at Torys LLP and Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, and has practised complex litigation for more than 30 years. Cynthia Spry, who'd practised litigation at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP and Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, became a partner in 2010. Ellen Bessner arrived in 2014 after 25 years on Bay Street at Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP and Gowling WLG, and that's when the three names came together as Babin Bessner Spry LLP. Michael Bookman, Brendan Monahan and Brittiny Rabinovitch have since become partners too.
The Globe and Mail ranks Babin Bessner Spry among Canada's Best Law Firms, and Canadian Lawyer names it one of Canada's Top 10 Boutique Litigation Law Firms. It's also ranked by Chambers, Lexpert, Benchmark and Best Lawyers. Alongside its commercial work, the firm takes on public interest and pro bono work, from refugee claims to cases of wrongful death by law enforcement. Its office is at 101-185 Frederick Street in downtown Toronto.
Practice areas
Securities and commercial litigation
Securities litigation includes matters before the OSC and CIRO, the body that took over from the MFDA and IIROC. Cynthia Spry appears on the Commercial List of the Superior Court of Justice and before the Competition Tribunal, and Brendan Monahan has appeared before the Ontario Capital Markets Tribunal and the British Columbia Securities Commission.
Our guide: Litigation and Dispute Resolution in Toronto
Shareholder and governance disputes
Oppression remedy claims, derivative actions and corporate governance disputes are a core part of the practice. Ed Babin has represented key shareholders in a dispute over widespread fraud allegations aimed at a fellow shareholder and a key employee, work that included getting and defending a Mareva injunction and a Norwich order, and Brendan Monahan has represented the directors of a closely held company in an oppression claim under the Canada Business Corporations Act.
Competition and class actions
Ed Babin has acted for the Commissioner of Competition in proceedings over the proposed Air Canada and United Airlines alliance. Ed Babin has also represented a major Canadian retailer in international class actions about the interchange fees Visa, MasterCard and others charge on credit cards.
Employment disputes
Ellen Bessner has acted on both sides of wrongful dismissal cases, for employers and for employees, and for dealers, advisors and traders with dismissal claims. Ed Babin has represented executives claiming damages for wrongful or constructive dismissal and for human rights violations.
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Insolvency litigation
Brendan Monahan's practice takes in bankruptcy and insolvency matters, including acting for creditors in Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act proceedings. Ed Babin has acted for a national steel company under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, and Brittiny Rabinovitch for the administrator of the Sears Canada Inc. Registered Retirement Plan in the CCAA liquidation of Sears Canada.
Environmental, municipal and Federal Court matters
Brittiny Rabinovitch adds environmental and municipal disputes and advisory work to the firm's mix, along with administrative, regulatory and Federal Court matters and an Aboriginal law practice.
Good to know
Wheelchair accessible
Virtual appointments
In-person servicesHow Babin Bessner Spry LLP works
Babin Bessner Spry works to four values: excellence in advocacy and advice, creativity in finding legal solutions, responsiveness, with client service treated as the first priority, and integrity. The firm's commitment is to shape the answer to the problem, whether a client needs a firm advocate or just some help getting to a negotiated deal, and to look for the most cost-effective way through, however simple or complicated the matter.
Its lawyers also keep in mind that a lawsuit rarely stands alone. Choices made in litigation often spill into other parts of a client's life or business, and the firm works through those choices together with the client.
Milestones & recognition
- In 2026 Benchmark Litigation gave founder Ed Babin its Hall of Fame award.
- Ed Babin has appeared in all levels of court in Ontario, in the superior courts and appeal courts of several other provinces and the Yukon, and in the Federal Court and the Supreme Court of Canada.
- In 2016 Ellen Bessner was appointed to the Ontario Securities Commission's Seniors Expert Advisory Committee.
- Ellen Bessner wrote Advisor at Risk (2008) and its follow-up, Communication Risk (2018), risk management books for people working in financial services.
- Michael Bookman clerked for Justice Andromache Karakatsanis at the Supreme Court of Canada from 2012 to 2013.
In the community
- Ed Babin helped found the Tyson Bailey Fund, a Toronto charity that gives support and financial help to disadvantaged and at-risk young people in the city, and is still involved with it.
- For many years Ed Babin chaired the board of the Pollution Probe Foundation, and spent 14 years coaching with the North Toronto Hockey Association, where Babin also sat on the board.
- Cynthia Spry volunteers as duty counsel at Law Society Discipline Committee hearings.
- Ellen Bessner hosts the Financial Prosperity Podcast, which looks at the gaps between investors and the financial service providers who serve them.
Affiliations & connections
- The Advocates' Society: Ed Babin, Ellen Bessner and Cynthia Spry are members of The Advocates' Society, and in June 2026 Cynthia Spry was named secretary of its new executive committee.
- International Academy of Trial Lawyers: Ed Babin is a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.
- Toronto Lawyers Association: Ed Babin and Cynthia Spry are members of the Toronto Lawyers Association.
Lawyers 16
Aaron Gold
Associate
Civil Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Aidan Testa
Associate
Allison Spiegel
Associate
Civil Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Brendan Monahan
Partner
Civil Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Brittiny Rabinovitch
Partner
Civil Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Cynthia Spry
Partner
Civil Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Dan Blumenkrans
Associate
Daniel Babin
Associate
Civil Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Edward Babin
Partner
Civil Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Ellen Bessner
Partner
Civil Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Emily Thompson
Associate
Gush Minhas
Associate
Kyra Balogh
Associate
Michael Bookman
Partner
Sorena Zahiri
Associate
Zachary Pringle
Associate
This firm’s lawyers at a glance
- Called to the bar
- 1987–2025 · median 7 years in practice 14 of 16 lawyers
- Law schools
- Osgoode Hall Law School (4), University of Windsor (3), Queen's University (2), McGill University, Toronto Metropolitan University, University of Ottawa Faculty of Law and 3 more 15 of 16 lawyers
- Languages on the roster
- French, Spanish
Who handles what
The neighbourhood
185 Frederick Street is also known as 204-214 King Street East, a brick, concrete block and wood-framed complex built in 1945 and renovated in 1997. It's a few minutes east of Toronto's financial core, with the King streetcar stopping right at the door and 24-hour TTC streetcar service, and George Brown's campus is close by.
St. Lawrence Market is only steps away. A Saturday farmers' market began at Front and Jarvis in 1803, and a new, larger North Market building opened on its original site in May 2025. Toronto's first city hall went up in 1834 at the southwest corner of King Street East and Jarvis Street.
Frequently asked questions
- Can Babin Bessner Spry represent me in a CIRO or Ontario Securities Commission proceeding?
- Babin Bessner Spry's securities litigation practice covers OSC and CIRO matters. Partner Ellen Bessner has acted as counsel in regulatory proceedings before the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario, CIRO (which replaced the MFDA and IIROC) and the OSC, and in arbitrations and every level of the Ontario courts.
- I'm a financial advisor going through a career transition. Can Babin Bessner Spry advise me before a dispute starts?
- Babin Bessner Spry partner Ellen Bessner has a particular focus on the financial services industry, advising registered advisors and chief compliance officers as well as unregistered C-suite executives, at key points of transition. Bessner advises clients on their rights, duties and obligations before a dispute comes up, and represents them from negotiation through litigation if one does.
- Does Babin Bessner Spry handle Aboriginal law consultation and land claim matters?
- Babin Bessner Spry partner Brittiny Rabinovitch's Aboriginal law practice concentrates on consultation and accommodation, land claims and disputes of every kind, and Aboriginal rights issues. Rabinovitch's experience includes acting for a First Nation in a large action against the governments of Canada and Ontario over historical wrongs.
- Does Babin Bessner Spry have French-speaking partners called to the Quebec bar?
- Babin Bessner Spry partners Michael Bookman and Brittiny Rabinovitch both speak French. Bookman was called to the bars of both Ontario and Quebec in 2013.
- Has Babin Bessner Spry worked on sports-related cases, such as hockey disputes?
- Babin Bessner Spry founder Ed Babin has handled many sports matters, acting for several National Hockey League clubs, the Canadian Football League and, in the Ben Johnson case, the IAAF. Partner Brendan Monahan has represented a class of past and present Canadian major-junior players in a proposed class action that alleges a conspiracy contrary to the Competition Act.
- How does Babin Bessner Spry's non-rotational articling and summer program work?
- Babin Bessner Spry usually hires one to three summer students who've finished two years of law school, and one to three articling students each term. The program doesn't rotate students between groups; it's shaped around each student's needs, and every student gets a mentor from the first day for guidance and feedback.
Where to find them
101-185 Frederick Street, Toronto, Ontario M5A 4L4 · 416-637-3244
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