David W. Kent

Partner


Toronto

Tel : 416.865.7143
Fax : 416.865.7048

Email : david.kent@mcmillan.ca
VCard : vcard

Professional Experience David is a partner in the firm's Litigation, Competition, and Intellectual Property and Technology Law Groups. He is the National Coordinator of the firm's Advocacy Division (litigation, labour and competition), Chair of the Class Action Group and a past Section Leader of the firm's Litigation Group.

David's practice emphasizes complex litigation involving competition, intellectual property, commercial, regulatory and securities and governance disputes in a wide variety of industries. He has extensive experience in domestic, international and Canada/US cross-border cartels, conspiracies and class actions. David has been defence counsel in two of the largest Canadian criminal cartel prosecutions (Vitamins and Graphite Electrodes) and in most of the major Canadian civil cartel cases (including Vitamins, DRAM, Linerboard, Copper and Travel Agents). His class action experience includes precedent setting decisions on a wide range of issues including securities law, cartel jurisdiction, cross-border discovery and class action certification and settlement. David has also advised Canadian and US broadcasters and cable networks on copyright issues for over 20 years, including issues arising from the use of music on the Internet. David regularly appears before federal and provincial trial and appellate courts and administrative tribunals across the country. He also participates in arbitrations, mediation and other alternate dispute resolution techniques.

David served as Law Clerk to the Chief Justice of Ontario before rejoining the firm in 1984.

LEXPERT and American Lawyer include David in their Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada for Class Actions, Competition Law, and Corporate Commercial Litigation; LEXPERT rates him as "Consistently Recommended" for Class Actions; The Best Lawyers in Canada selected him for Antitrust/Competition law and Class Actions; Chambers Global recommends him for Competition/Antitrust Litigation, Class Actions and Dispute Resolution; PLC rates him as "Recommended" for each of Competition/Antitrust and Media and Communications; and Euromoney includes him in its Guide to the World's Leading Competition and Antitrust Lawyers. David also enjoys an AV rating from Martindale and Hubbell.

publications and presentations

David has spoken and written on a range of issues, including class actions, securities, cartels, the intersection of competition and intellectual property law, and cross-border antitrust and litigation issues. He taught Alternative Dispute Resolution at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto (2005-07) and Queen's University Law School in Kingston (1999-2004).

Presentations

  • Does the Certification of the Price-Fixing Cases Signal a New World? (Osgoode Hall 7th Annual Symposium on Class Actions – April 2010)
  • Beware of What You Wish For – It May Come True: Some Thoughts on the Possible Consequences Of Pleading Waiver Of Tort (Osgoode Hall 7th Annual Symposium on Class Actions – April 2010)
  • Civil Class Actions (2010 Competition Law and Policy Forum)
  • 20th Anniversary of the Copyright Board (Copyright Board 20th Anniversary Dinner - 2009)
  • Can You Force Arbitration When Your Opponent Terminates the Arbitration Agreement? (Law Society of Upper Canada – 2009)
  • Copyright Board Biennial Review (Law Society of Upper Canada - Toronto 2009)
  • Antitrust Class Actions (Osgoode Hall - Toronto 2009)
  • Leading Your Case - Examinations-in-Chief (Advocates' Society - Toronto 2009)
  • Private Enforcement and Class Actions (Canadian Bar Association - Gatineau 2008)
  • Expert Witnesses (Advocates Society – Toronto 2007)
  • Copyright Update (Canadian Association of Broadcasters Annual Convention – Ottawa 2007)
  •  "Settlements - How Class Actions Really Work In Practice", speaker at Class Actions at a Crossroads: Europe's Choice Between Its Own and the American Model (IBA/ABA Conference - Rome, 2007)
  • "Class Action Settlements - Practical Issues and Predictable Problems", paper, Class Actions at a Crossroads: Europe's Choice Between Its Own and The American Model (IBA/ABA Conference - Rome, 2007)
  • "Class Action Settlements", speaker, Annual Class Action Symposium (Canadian Institute), 2005
  • "Private Enforcement of Civil Remedies", speaker at Canadian Bar Association: 2005 Fall Conference on Competition Law, November 2005
  • "Cross-Boarder Quarry: Pursuing Canadian Litigation In American Courts", paper, Canadian Bar Association: 2005 Fall Conference on Competition Law, November 2005
  • "Digital Rights Management and The Future of Collecting Societies", speaker, International Bar Association - Antitrust and IP Sections, Prague, September 2005
  • "Legal Update on Ongoing Copyright Cases", speaker, Copyright Reform in Canada, Insight, September 2005

October 2011
Canada Chapter in Getting The Deal Through - Private Litigation 2012
Global Competition Review
June 2011
the Canadian approach to 'passing on' and indirect purchaser claims
competition bulletin
June 01, 2011
Gatekeepers or Ticket Takers: Canadian and US Courts Diverge on the Role of Evidence in Antitrust Class Action Certification
The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2011 
January 2011
Gatekeepers or Ticket Takers: Canadian and US Courts Diverge on the Role of Evidence in Antitrust Class Action Certification
The 2011 Lexpert®/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada


  • competition/antitrust
  • corporate governance
  • health
  • intellectual property and technology law
  • international arbitration and litigation
  • litigation and dispute resolution
  • securities and public markets

  • Canadian Bar Association (Chair, Private Actions Committee, Competition Law Section)
  • Intellectual Property Institute of Canada
  • American Bar Association (Section on Antitrust)
Called to the Ontario bar - 1983

University of Toronto, LLB (Hons, Dean's Key) - 1981

Carleton University, BA (with distinction) - 1976