Andrew Morganti, Toronto Litigation Lawyer

Andrew’s practice is focused on representing clients in business overcharges, investment frauds, financial frauds, and investment securities claims in courts across Canada and the United States. He is one of the only actively practicing dual-licensed (Canada-USA) plaintiff lawyers across Canada who has over two decades of experience representing small business owners in Competition Act claims and investors in Securities Act claims.

Andrew understands how to recover losses for small business owners and investors in cross border business and investment laws, as reflected by tangible results in more than a dozen court decisions and settlements-recoveries received by his clients. His class action appearances and recoveries have been so successful that he has been appointed as the trustee over class action claim administrations that include payments to investors in the United States and Europe.

Andrew has extensive European and Middle Eastern business, family, and legal experiences; he can provide an overall comfort level to international clients.

Andrew founded and managed his own boutique litigation firm for over a decade and has also worked at law firms based in New York, NY, Philadelphia, PA, and Washington, DC. He founded a Toronto-based law firm that earned its way to become ranked within ISS SCAS Top 50 securities class action firms for several years.

Education

• Harvard Law School, Certification in Negotiations
• Boston University, School of Law, LL.M. International Banking and Financial Laws
• Michigan State University School of Law, J.D.
• University of Michigan, B.A.

Recent Cases

• Stajic v. Ward, 2026 ONSC 1707, after a $8 million settlement, I earned my clients a $53 million default judgment against a former CEO of a Cannabis Company alleging common law fraud and breaches of the Ontario Securities Act.
• Stajic v. Wayland Group Corp., 2025 ONSC 6393, I obtained a Mareva Injunction and other relief, including the necessity of an individual defendant’s former lawyers to disclose where the funds to finance his defense came from.
• Landry v Aurora Cannabis Inc, 2025 ABKB 387, with appeal denied at 2026 ABCA 131, my clients’ defense against the defendant’s motion affirmed that investors have the right to chose the cause of action being advanced and the type of remedy they seek. This motion is the first of its kind in Canada within the context of a Securities Act class proceeding.
• McDonald v. Guyana Goldfields Inc., 2025 ONSC 2431, with the appeal denied at 2025 ONSC 5051, under my origination and direction, my clients’ motion to amend the claim to This motion is the first of its kind in Canada.
• Gowanlock v. Auxly Cannabis Group Inc., 2021 ONSC 4205, the court granted leave to proceed under the Ontario Securities Act without the necessity of expert evidence that subsequently certified a class of investors that purchased Auxly’s securities on domestic and foreign stock exchanges. This class action settled.
• Miller v. FSD Pharma, Inc., 2020 ONSC 4054, the court granted leave to proceed under the Ontario Securities Act without the necessity of expert evidence that subsequently certified a class of investors that purchased FSD’s securities on domestic and foreign stock exchanges. This class action settled.
• In re Valeant Pharmaceuticals Int’l Inc., 500-06-000011-157 (Quebec). As co-lead class counsel, my client originated this Canadian action that evolved into one of the largest securities class actions in Canada settling for over CAD $120 million. My firm was responsible for discovery projects.
• Kauf v. Colt Resources, Inc., 145 OR (3d) 100, the court granted leave to proceed under the Ontario Securities Act without the necessity of expert evidence that subsequently certified a class of investors that purchased Colt’s securities on domestic and foreign stock exchanges. Other than settling and putting money back in the pocket of investors of this micro-cap company, this decision may be the first court decision to recognize the term “storm warnings” and that companies should presume to disclose the material facts as to why a C-level executive abruptly resigns.
• Stevens v Ithaca Energy Inc, 2019 ABQB 474, the court granted leave to proceed and certified a class that included shares traded on the Toronto, London, and U.S. over-the-counter markets. This was the first contested application to be granted leave to proceed with a secondary market cause of action under the Alberta Securities Act.
• LBP Holdings Ltd. v. Hycroft Gold Corporation, 2020 ONSC 59 (Div. Ct.), the Divisional Court certificated the common law cause of action, and appeal to the Ontario Court of Appeal was denied; LBP Holdings v Allied Nevada Gold Corp., 130 OR (3d) 401, adding parties as defendants in a contested motion because they were added after this defendant’s claim against the issuer’s D&O insurance claim period expired.
• Paniccia v. MDC Partners Inc., 2017 ONSC 7298, the court upheld the proposition that the civil liability of the Ontario Securities Act applies to foreign stock exchanges and that an investor can be a member in a Canadian and US class action until choosing to opt-out is required.
• Wong v. Pretium Resources Inc., 2017 ONSC 3361, court granted leave to proceed under the Ontario Securities Act.
• Kaynes v. BP, PLC, 133 OR (3d) 29,Court of Appeal affirmed jurisdiction and agreed to reverse its decision concerning forum non conveniens based upon new facts; Kaynes v. BP PLC, 117 OR (3d) 685, the court agreed that the scope of the provincial Securities Act applies to securities of a responsible issuer purchased outside of Canada and denied BP plc’s motion for forum non conveniens.
• In re Initial Public Offering Securities Litigation, 21 MC 92 (S.D.N.Y.). I represented several of the “lead plaintiffs” in this consolidation of hundreds of primary market securities act class actions. My specific capacity within the larger group of class action was serving as a lead lawyer managing discovery of several investment banks. This action settled for over USD $580 million.
• Arsfinatica Investment Club v. Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc., NASD No. 04-07867 (Arbitration and opt-outs from In re Initial Public Offering Securities Litigation, 21 MC 92 (S.D.N.Y.). My client recovered 33% of the alleged losses.
• Myers and Koehmsted v. Move, Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co., et al., No. BC 312115 (L.A. Sup. Crt.). My clients opted out of a pending securities class action and I litigated all of the motions concerning tainted research reports; I obtained over 50% of the alleged damages. I understand that I was one of only lawyers to defeat the defendants’ motions to dismiss relating to tainted research reports.
• Purcell v. Homestore.com, No. BC 67919 (L.A. Sup. Crt.). I represented a client that sold his software company to a publicly traded company in exchange for restricted stock. Prior to the restrictions expiring, the company restated its financial statements resulting in a material drop in the value of the restricted shares and questioning the acquisition share-ratios. My client recovered a material amount of money.
• Bollinger Trust Ltd. v. Merrill Lynch Pierced Fenner & Smith, NASD No. 03-08947 (Arbitration: London, UK, and New York, NY). I originated and recovered 50% of the alleged losses despite written approvals because of hard-core reliance in speaking with the author of the impugned research reports.

Publications and Media

• Guest Speaker, Practicing International Litigation, Michigan State University College of Law, Lansing, Michigan, November 2009 and March 2022
• Guest Speaker, Annual Shareholder Litigation Synopsis, Professors Adam Pritchard, University of Michigan Law, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 2007 through 2021, excluding 2020
•  Guest Speaker, Offshore Alert: London, UK 2019 and Miami, USA 2018
• Andrew Morganti appeared on AM640, The Wolf of Bay Street, to discuss shareholder class actions, February 2, 2018
• Guest Speaker, Law and Legal Education in the Americas: Comparative Perspectives, Unlocking the Doors of Justice: Consumers in Canada and Mexico have been given the keys but need lawyers to use them, University of Detroit Mercy School of Law with University of Windsor Law, June 2013
• Guest Speaker, American Bar Association, Litigation Section Annual Conference, Who’s Liable Now? The Ever Changing Face of Secondary Liability for Securities Fraud and the Definition of Materiality, Washington, D.C., April 2012
• Guest Speaker, American Bar Association, Litigation Section Annual Conference, The Globalization of Securities Class Actions, Atlanta, Georgia, May 2009