Robert practises civil litigation and administrative law. His areas of expertise include:
- expropriation, including complex agreements to mitigate the effects of expropriation
- real estate litigation involving breaches of lease, options, rights of first refusal, easements, boundary disputes, failure to close purchase agreements, nuisance, and title issues
- municipal law, including issues of municipal authority and governance, statutory interpretation and interjurisdictional conflicts
- private arbitration, including commercial rent resets and appeals
- railway law, including crossing agreements and applications to the Canadian Transportation Agency
He represents clients before the Ontario Land Tribunal, the Superior Court of Justice, the Committee of Adjustment and private arbitrators.
Prior to commencing his legal career, Robert served as a vice-president of New York State's primary economic development agency. He was responsible for many of the state's community development programs, including business recovery efforts following the destruction of the World Trade Center.
At BLG, Robert is a member of the firm’s Autonomous Vehicles and Smart Cities focus groups.
Experience
- Acted for a real estate developer in a lengthy dispute involving exercise of an option to purchase a commercial office building in the Yonge-Eglinton area.
- Acts regularly for landlords and tenants in lease disputes, including lease terminations, distress and sale of tenant goods, rent arbitrations, and option renewals.
- Was successful at trial for a business owner in a dispute over the terms of an oral agreement and self-help remedies exercised by the owner’s partner, and now acting in the appeal brought by the partner.
- Acting for City of Orillia in a complex expropriation to support waterfront redevelopment in the city, with related landlord-tenant issues.
- Orillia (City) v. Metro Ontario Real Estate Limited, 2019 ONSC 7467 (Superior Court) and 2021 ONCA 291 (Court of Appeal) Successful on all issues in a dispute under a shopping centre lease in which the opposing party argued for an additional ten years of possession and denied responsibility for replacing the roof of its premises.
- Acted for a real estate developer in a lengthy dispute involving exercise of an option to purchase a commercial office building in the Yonge-Eglinton area.
- Acts regularly for landlords and tenants in lease disputes, including lease terminations, distress and sale of tenant goods, rent arbitrations, and option renewals.
- Was successful at trial for a business owner in a dispute over the terms of an oral agreement and self-help remedies exercised by the owner’s partner, and now acting in the appeal brought by the partner.
- Acting for City of Orillia in a complex expropriation to support waterfront redevelopment in the city, with related landlord-tenant issues.
- Orillia (City) v. Metro Ontario Real Estate Limited, 2019 ONSC 7467 (Superior Court) and 2021 ONCA 291 (Court of Appeal) Successful on all issues in a dispute under a shopping centre lease in which the opposing party argued for an additional ten years of possession and denied responsibility for replacing the roof of its premises.
