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

Patrick Shea is a partner in Gowling WLG's Toronto office, focusing in the area of commercial law with a particular focus on bankruptcy and insolvency. In 2015, Patrick was awarded the Law Society Medal. In 2023, he was made a King's Counsel, formally His Majesty's Counsel Learned in the Law.

A Certified Specialist in bankruptcy and insolvency law, Patrick has acted for a variety of clients in corporate restructuring and insolvency matters of all sizes in the entertainment, retail, automotive, airline, food and beverage, pharmaceutical and other industrial sectors. He has also advised the Government of Canada and governments in the Caribbean Region on the reform of their insolvency laws.

Patrick was appointed by the Government of Ontario to co-chair the Business Law Advisory Council and to chair its successor, the Business Law Modernization and Burden Reduction Council (BLMBRC). In those capacities, he led a dedicated group of senior business law practitioners who volunteered to review Ontario's business-related legislation and make recommendations to make Ontario a better place to do business. Those efforts resulted in significant changes to various pieces of legislation. The BLMBRC also assisted with changes to Ontario's corporate legislation in response to COVID.

Patrick was an instructor for the business law and insolvency portions of the Bar Admission Course run by the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) and taught an advanced restructuring course at Queen's University. He is a coach for the LSO's Coach and Advisory Network and tutored students taking the LSO Licensing Exams.

Patrick is a past chair of the Ontario Bar Association's Bankruptcy and Insolvency Section, the Canadian Bar Association's Insolvency Section, and the Inter-Pacific Bar Association's Insolvency Committee; and co-chaired the American Bankruptcy Institute's International Committee.

Patrick earned his glider and private pilot licenses as member of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets, and is a former officer in the Canadian Forces reserves. He is currently the secretary for the 48th Highlanders of Canada's Regimental Senate, the RCAF Foundation and the Rangers' Foundation, and served one term as a director of the Air Cadet League of Canada's Ontario Provincial Committee.

Patrick has been admitted as a Member of the Order of St. John. He is a past director of St. John Ambulance Ontario, where he chaired the Governance Committee, and the St John Ambulance's Toronto Branch and was the chair of the St. John Canada Foundation.

Patrick served as a director and officer of ACCESS Community Capital Fund, a Toronto-based micro-loan company that helps people overcome financial barriers to achieve a better life through small loans, education, and mentoring.

In 2012, Patrick was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal; in 2018, he received the Sovereign's Medal for Volunteers; in 2019, he received an Ontario Volunteer Service Award and was made an Honorary Member of the Law Society of Saskatchewan; and in 2022, he received the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal. Patrick has also been awarded two Minister of Veteran's Affairs Commendations for his work to commemorate veterans of WWI and WWII and a St John Ambulance Provincial Commendation.

Associations professionnelles

  • American Bankruptcy Institute
  • American Bar Association
  • Law Society of Ontario
  • Ontario Bar Association
  • Royal Canadian Military Institute
  • Turnaround Management Association

Articles written by Patrick have been published in the United States, Germany and Japan and he has presented papers on insolvency and insolvency-related topics at conferences in Canada, the United States, Japan, New Zealand and Malaysia. Patrick wrote the chapter on Canadian insolvency law for a major Japanese work on cross-border insolvency, edited a book on cross-border insolvency and is the author of a book on recent amendments to Canada's insolvency legislation.

In 2013, Patrick started a powerful initiative with the Law Society of Ontario to honour Canadian law students who sacrificed their lives in service of their country during World War 1. The initiative, The Great War Law Student Memorial Project, is intended to recognize the sacrifices these young men made by giving them what the fates denied them almost 100 years ago. On Nov. 10, 2014, the Law Society of Ontario gave the Ontario law students killed in the war Honorary Calls to the Bar. The book of biographies of the law students, prepared by Patrick for the event, is available as a PDF download: The Great War Law Student Memorial Project.

Mandats représentatifs

Patrick has acted for stakeholders in insolvency proceedings involving Skyservice, Nortel, Unique Broadband Systems, Anvil Range Mining, Livent, Quality Dino, AgriBioTech Canada, Eatons, Algoma, Teleglobe, PSINet, 360Networks, GT Group Telecom, Cotton Ginny, Air Canada, PanGeo Pharma, Noble China, SAAN Stores and Keata Pharma.