NORMAN MIZOBUCHI

Partner

Norman Mizobuchi is a trial and appellate lawyer in Ottawa, Ontario.  He has a diverse practice in the areas of class actions (for both plaintiffs and defendants), commercial litigation, real estate disputes, privacy law, employment disputes, and tort litigation.  Norman has represented clients before all levels of court in Ontario and several administrative tribunals.

Norman is a partner at Spiteri & Ursulak LLP, where he has built the firm’s class action practice.  Since joining the firm in 2015, he has acted as lead or co-lead counsel in almost ten class proceedings, while maintaining his commercial and civil litigation practice.   He is currently acting for clients in a number of privacy breaches class actions, including proposed class actions against hospitals for violations of patient privacy (Hopkins v. Kay and Broutzas v. Rouge Valley Health System). In addition to privacy class actions, he has acted for the plaintiffs and defendants in other class actions, including condominium, consumer protection, securities, insurance, pharmaceuticals, and product liability matters.

Norman completed his articles and practiced civil and commercial litigation at a full-service downtown Toronto law firm and later worked as an associate at a class action boutique in Toronto where his practice focused on prosecuting class actions on behalf of plaintiffs.  He received his LL.B. from Queen's University in 2006 and was called to the Ontario bar in 2007.

Norman was a panellist at an Ontario Bar Association conference on privacy class actions in the data breach context.  He has also appeared as a guest lecturer at Western Law on class action issues; coached and judged moots, including the Warren K. Winkler Class Actions Moot; and participated in the Pro Bono Students Canada program.   He regularly writes on a variety of topics, including data breach litigation, forensic reports, real estate disputes, workplace privacy, pre-certification motions, class actions and insolvency, and settlement and fee approval. 

Notable Mandates

Acting as lead counsel for the defendants in a class action against a condominium developer for breach of contract and misrepresentations claims.

Acting as co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs in a proposed class action against Rouge Valley Health System and others defendants for breaches of patient privacy that occurred between 2009 and 2015.  From approximately 2009 to 2015, former employees at Rouge Valley inappropriately accessed hospital computers to collect the personal information of more than 14,000 patients, many of whom were new mothers who had just given birth, and their families. The former employees were either employed or paid, by companies who sold registered education saving plan (RESP) investments, to access hospital computers for personal patient information.

Acting as lead counsel for the plaintiff in a proposed class action against a financing company and others defendants for breaches of customer privacy used for identity theft purposes.

Acting as lead or co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs in a number of proposed class action against hospitals for breaches of patient privacy.

Acted for the plaintiffs in a class action against a large insurance company for the marketing and administration of over 100,000 universal life policies.

Acted for the plaintiffs in a $500 million securities class action against a silicon metals company for statutory and common law misrepresentations.

Acted for students in resisting a discoveries motion in a class action against an educational institution for misrepresentations with respect to obtaining industry designations through a business program.

Acted for a bus division of an international automobile manufacturer in resisting a Mareva injunction motion in which a former supplier sought to freeze more than $1.4 million of assets.

Acted for a public sector plaintiff in a document-intensive, multi-million dollar action involving numerous fraudulent real estate transactions and bid rigging.

Acted for a former Prime Minister of Canada defending a breach of contract claim.

Reported Cases

Heyde v. Theberge Developments Limited, 2017 ONSC 3462 (CanLII)

Heyde v. Theberge Developments Limited, 2017 ONSC 1574 (CanLII)

Hopkins v. Kay, 2015 ONCA 112 (CanLII)

Kang v. Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, 2013 ONCA 387 (CanLII)

Kang v. Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, 2013 ONCA 118 (CanLII)

Martin v. Astrazeneca Pharmaceuticals Plc, 2012 ONSC 4666 (CanLII)

Ramdath v. George Brown College of Applied Arts and Technology, 2012 ONSC 2747 (CanLII)

Timminco Limited (Re), 2012 ONSC 2515 (CanLII)

Smith v. Sino-Forest Corporation, 2012 ONSC 24 (CanLII)

Sharma v. Timminco Limited, 2011 ONSC 8024 (CanLII)