David Debenham Partner Ottawa Tel : 613.232.7171 Ext. 103 Fax : 613.231.3191 Email : david.debenham@mcmillan.ca VCard :

Professional Activities

• Partner since 2008
• Ontario Branch Section Chair of National Construction Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association
• Immediate Past Chair of the of the OBA Construction Law Section
• 2010-2011 Chair of the OBA Law Practice Management Section
• Secretary, 2008-2009 OBA Construction Law Section
• Former Registered Federal Lobbyist - Construction Legislation
• Ontario Bar Association's Ottawa representative on Construction Law Task Force making submissions to Attorney General of Ontario on new Limitations Act
• Co-Chair of Canadian Bar Association's Construction Law Task Force making submissions to the House of Commons on new federal lien and trust legislation
• Past Director at Large, the Association of Certified Forensic Investigators of Canada
• Member of the Disciplinary Committee of the Society of Certified Management Accountants of Ontario
• Former member of the Complaints Committee of the Society of Certified Management Accountants of Ontario
• Formerly part of the Steering Committee of the Carleton County Law Association to establish a Commercial Court for Ottawa
• Former member of Ottawa-Carleton Landlord - Tenant Bench and Bar Committee
• Past Queen's University Law School Moot Court Judge
• Co-Chair of the Fall 2005 Convention of the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association
• Construction Law Executive Liaison to the Ontario Bar Association Advocacy, Government Relations & Communications Committee
• Member of the Ontario Bar Association Law Office Management Group
• Chairman of the Law Practice Management section of the Ontario Bar Association
• Executive Member, Canadian Bar Association National Construction Law Section
• Board of Directors of the Church Extension Committee of the Ottawa Presbytery of the United Church of Canada

David Debenham's practice explores all areas of commercial litigation including construction law, environmental litigation, tender bids, fraud and trust claims. As part of his practice David uses his training as an accountant to trace funds and assert personal claims against directors and senior managers of corporate debtors.

Teaching Engagements

• Adjunct Professor at University of Ottawa (commercial law 1997 - 2000)
• Ottawa and Kingston Instructor, LSUC Bar Admission Course (civil litigation and business law, Phase  III,  Advocacy,  Phase I)
• Shared Lecturing of Civil Procedure, University of Ottawa Law School (1992)
• Queens University Law School Moot Court Judge

Memberships

• Canadian Bar Association (CBA) - Secretary-Treasurer, National Law Practice Management and Technology Section 2010-2012
• Ontario Bar Association (OBA) - Immediate Past Chair, Construction Law Section Executive 2010-2011
• Canadian Bar Association (CBA) - Executive Member, National Construction Law Section
• Ontario Trial Lawyers Association (OTLA)
• American Bar Association (ABA)
• American Trial  Lawyers Association (AAJ)
• Society of Management Accountants of Canada (SMAC) - Disciplinary Committee
• Advocates Society
• Association of Certified Fraud Examiners
• Association of Certified Forensic Investigators
• Associate of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ACIS)

Media Mentions

David Debenham has been asked to provide his expertise in numerous publications.  David has been quoted or featured in articles including:

• "Judge tells CRA to back off in tax case" By Donalee Moulton, The Bottom Line, Vol. 28, No. 6, Mid-May 2012
• "Court prevents Plenty of Fish scammer from wriggling off the hook in $100k judgment"
   By Andrew Duffy, The Ottawa Citizen, April 18, 2012
• McMillan congratulates David Debenham on his service as Chair of Ontario Bar Association's Construction Law Section 
• "Double Trouble for Thieves", Focus on Forensic Accounting, donalee Moulton, page 34, 2011
• Carlson, "Private Investigators integral in intellectual property investigations", Law Times, page 12, July 25, 2011
• Carlson, "Protecting PIs from court challenges", Law Times, page 13, July 25, 2011
• Joint and Several Liability Under the Ontario Business Corporations Act report by Law Commission of Ontario (February 2011)
• Ontario Bar Association Submission-Joint & Several Liability Consultation (26 July, 2010)
• Ontario Trial Lawyers Association Submission to the Law Reform Commission of Ontario Consultation Paper on Joint & Several under the OBCA. (April, 2010)
• "Church and state", Canadian Lawyer Magazine, Kelly Harris, February 2010
• donalee Moulton, "when economy is down, work for employment lawyers is up", The Lawyers Weekly 5, January 22, 2010
• "Buzzwords," The Lawyers Weekly, Elaine Wiltshire, November 27, 2009
• "Judge says suit can't include complaints from other clients," The Bottom Line, donalee Moulton, Vol. 25 No. 12, October 2009
• "Feds Offering Break to eBay vendors in arrears," The Bottom Line , donalee Moulton, Vol. 25 No. 12, October 2009
• "Records Going, Going, Gone to CRA," The Bottom Line, donalee Moulton, Vol. 25 No.1, January 2009
• "Advocates Demand Inquiry Into Ontario's Costly Handling Of Royal Crest Nursing-Home Failure," CBC.ca, David McKie, March 23, 2009 
• "Offshore Data Accessible by Canada Revenue Agency: FCA," Lawyers Weekly, donalee Moulton, December 5, 2008
• "Handling Lawyer Exits," Lawyers Weekly, Jane Mundy, November 14, 2008
• "Chasing Clients to Get Paid," Lawyers Weekly, Christopher Guly, September 26, 2008
• "Tax Collector To Get Records from Ebay," The Bottom Line, donalee Moulton, Vol. 24 No. 11, September 2008
• "PwC pays out $225 million US to settle case," The Bottom Line 1, donalee Moulton, May 2008
• "Forensic Accountants Will Be More Involved," by Helen Burnett, Law Times, Volume 19. No. 3, Monday, January 28, 2008
• "E-Discovery Rule Changes Inevitable," by Helen Burnett, Law Times , January 28, 2008
• "U.S. Investors Seeking Legal Remedy From Third Parties," by Paul Webster, Investment Executive, November 2007 
• "The Google Effect," by donalee Moulton, Canadian Lawyer Associates, Fall 2007
• "Experts in Detecting Financial Misbehaviour Match Wits with Fraud Artists in a Rapidly Growing Field," by Randy Ray, The Globe and Mail, Section B10, October 10, 2007
• "Tax Collector Cast Hungry Eye at Ebay," The Bottom Line, Vol. 23, No. 15, November 2007
• "PWC Pays Out $225 Million U.S. to Settle Case," by donalee Moulton, The Bottom Line, Vol. 23, No. 10, September 2007
• "Lawyer Predicts 10 Years for Lord Black," by donalee Moulton, The Bottom Line, Vol. 23, No. 9, August 2007
• "Legal Tyco Sword Still Hangs Over PWC," by donalee Moulton, The Bottom Line, Vol. 23, No. 8, July 2007
• "Former Client to Face KPMG in Legal Battle," by donalee Moulton, The Bottom Line, Vol, 23, No. 7, June 2007
• "Getting Paid: The Industry's Challenges," by Mark Buckshon, Ottawa Construction News, May 2007
• "Should the Holdback be Reduced to 5 Per Cent?," Ottawa Construction News, May 2007
• "Investigating Prudence and Probity in Ottawa," by Judy van Rhijn, Law Times, January 22, 2007
• "Lawyer Found in Contempt for Misleading Sheriff into Releasing Funds," by Kirsten Craven, The Lawyers Weekly, Vol. 19, No. 26, April 14, 2000
• "Ontario C.A. Clarifies Directors' Liability," by Monique Conrod, The Lawyers Weekly, Vol. 18, No. 25, January 29, 1999
• "Appeal Court Allows Suit Against Individuals in Recruitment Dispute," by Karyn Styden, The Ottawa Citizen, Section D1, January 26, 1999

David Debenham has practiced commercial litigation for the past twenty years and has acted as lead counsel on many lien and statutory trust claims under the Construction Lien Act. David's work in this area extends to the area of environmental law, where he has litigated several complicated claims involving a variety of contaminants involving several properties and millions of dollars of claims. His background as a management accountant has assisted his clients in formulating and litigating these claims.

David was the valedictorian of the University of Toronto's graduate class of 2006 in Forensic Accounting, and he continues to work closely with forensic accountants in litigating directors' liability, shareholders' disputes, and other forms of commercial litigation where calculating damages are an important issue. His experience in these fields has led him to author two leading texts in the area: Executive Liability and the Law (Carswell, 2006) and The Law of Fraud and the Forensic Investigator (Carswell, 2006). 

David's work also includes spearheading the appeal of the high profile case of ADGA v. Valcom, leading a successful reversal of a unanimous decision of the Divisional Court by the Court of Appeal and establishing the leading Canadian precedent on the subject of Directors' Liability in Tort. David is a past Director of the Association of Certified Forensic Investigators of Canada, a not-for-profit organization of anti-fraud professionals who provide their expertise and services in the areas of fraud prevention, detection, investigation and recovery.

Selected Reported Cases

• Canada v. Proulx, 2011 FC 1231 (CanLII); [2011] F.C.J. No. 1513 (Q.L.)
• Tannis Trading Inc. (c.o.b. Tannis Food Distributors) v. Coldmatic Refrigeration of Canada Ltd. and Zafir [2010] O.J. No. 5109 (Div'l Ct)
• IKEA Properties Ltd. v. 6038212 Canada Inc. et al. 2010 CarswellOnt 5555
• Kingston2000 Developments Ltd. v. Kingston (City), 2010 CarswellOnt 329
• Muneeruddin v. Kanata 1075 March Road Project Inc.  2010 CarswellOnt 3523 (Ont. Sup Ct.)
• Kingston Developments Ltd. v. Kingston (City)2009 CarswellOnt 3750
• Russell (Township) v. Dalcon Enterprises Inc., 2009 CanLII 31597 (ON S.C.)
• Kingston 2000 Developments Ltd. v. City of Kingston [2009] CarswellOnt 631
• Good Life Corporation v. Hazeldean Properties Inc., 2008 ONCA 742 varying [2007] CanLII 55365 (ON S.C.)
• Good Life Corporation v. Hazeldean Properties Inc. et al., 2007 CanLII 55365 (ON S.C.)
• C Kingston 2000 Developments Ltd. v. Kingston (City), 2007 CanLII 15801 (ON S.C.)
• C Tompkins Mews Inc. v. 1332334 Ontario Inc., 2006 CanLII 42589 (ON S.C.)
• C Leeds Transit Sales Ltd. v. Ottawa (City), 2004 CanLII 31377 (ON S.C.)
• C Litemore Distributors (Ottawa) Ltd. v. W.C. Somers Electric Ltd., (2004), 73 O.R. (3rd) 228
• C Viner v. Poplar (2003) 38 B.L.R. (3d) 134 (ON S.C.)
• C  Leeds Transit Sales v. City of Ottawa [2003] O.J. 1650
• C  Falcone v. Bullock [2003] O.J. 1129
• C  Glenview Management v. Axyn Canada Corp. [2003] OJ 124
• C  KOM v. CIBC [2002] OJ 4192
• C  Adga Systems Int'l v. Valcom, ( 2000) 51 O.R.xvii.denying leave to appeal from (1999).43 O.R. (3d) 101; 168 D.L.R. (4th) 351 (Ont. C.A.), following leave to appeal [1998] O.J. 98,99 (C.A.) and rev'g 33 C.C.E.L. (2d) 135 (Div'l Ct)
• C  Aghaipour v. National Bank of Canada [2001] S.CC.A. 7 dismissing leave for [2000] O.J. 4213 (C.A.) aff'g [2000] OJ 20 (H.C.)
• C  Grant v. Kerr [2001] O.J. 5162,5180
• C  Musca v. LCBO [2000] OJ 1654 (Div'l Ct)
• C  Tru-lite v. Minto  Const. Lien Case Finder 37.62 (Div'l Ct)
• C  Berezins  9 O.R. (3d) 181 (H.C.)
• C  Marinaki v. Canada [2001] 215 F.T.R. 1920
• C  Diotte v. Dequetteville and the Queen 54 F.T.R. 276  pursuant to Diotte v. Queen 134 N.R. 71 (F.C.A.) rev'g Diotte v. Canada 31 F.T.R. 185
• C  Evenchick 3 O.R. (3d) 441; 5 C.B.R. (3d) 191 (H.C.)
• C  Framelance Properties v. Dehan's Fashion Optical [2000] OJ 1746 (H.C.)
• C  Minto v. Nuttall 107 D.L.R.(4th) 239;35 R.P.R. (2d) 11 (Ont. H.C.)
• C  Musca Winery v. Ontario [2000] O.J. 1654 (Div'l Ct.)
• C  O.K.W. Limited v. Filzmaier [2000] S.C.C.A. 20 refusing leave for [1999] OJ 4340 (C.A.)
• C  Ottawa Air Design 40 C.L.R. 159 (Ont. H.C.)
• C  Soloway, Wright v. Falconcrest 47 C.L.R. 307 (Ont. H.C.)
• C  National Bank v. Royal Bank of Canada 36 O.R. (3d) 162
• C  National Bank v. Royal Bank of Canada 44 O.R. (3d) 533 (C.A.)
• C  National Bank v. Royal Bank of Canada [2000] O.J. 5118 (C.A)
• C  National Bank v. Royal Bank of Canada [2000] O.J.4213 (C.A)
• C  National Bank v. Royal Bank of Canada [2000] O.J. 2866 (C.A)
• C  National Bank v. Royal Bank of Canada [1998] O.J. 143 (C.A)
• C  National Bank v. Royal Bank of Canada [2000] O.J. 567 (H.C.)
• C  National Bank of Canada v. Royal Bank of Canada ,[1998] O.J. 143 (C.A.)
• C  595997 Ontario Inc. v. Macdonald Homes, 75 A.C.W.S. (3d) 1007 (Div'l Ct.)
• C  519757 Ontario Inc. v. Nu-Globe Dev. [1996] O.T.C. 178 (H.C.)
• C  Foster v. Chubb Insurance Co. , [1998] O.J. 2283 (Div'l Ct.)
• C  Hamann v. Ottawa Car Sales-Rentals [1998] O.J. 2767 (C. A.)
• Anron Mechanical v. Valentori Construction 43 C.L.R. 220 (Ont HC)
• 884772 Ontario Ltd v. Systemshouse 1993CarswellOnt 4054 (Ont HC)

• The Law of Fraud and the Forensic Investigator, 2nd Edition (Carswell, December 2010)
• "A Lawyer's Perspective on an Accountant's Professional Obligations" in BUSINESS & PROFESSIONAL ETHICS FOR DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVES & ACCOUNTANTS by Leonard Brooks and Paul Dunn (6th ed,2011)
• Cases & Materials on Criminal Law and Procedure (University of Ottawa textbook prepared and edited with Prof. Elizabeth Sheehy) (1987) University of Ottawa

• Regular presenter at B.O.M.A. conference in commercial tenancy matters at Ottawa Congress Centre

April 2012 "Legal Issues and Remedies for Credit and Collections Professionals" 4th Annual Conference on Credit and Collections for Utilities-Canada (Ottawa, National Arts Centre, EUCI)

March 2012 Understanding Environmental Regulations Ontario Society of Professional Engineers, Ottawa, ON

March 09, 2012 Construction Tendering and Contracts Presentation, Ottawa Construction Association, 196 Bronson Avenue, Ottawa, ON

February 2012 Fraud and Regulatory Enforcement: Forum – The regulatory fight against corporate wrongdoing Financier Worldwide Special Report