Canadian Lawyer

www.canadianlawyermag.com 15 KEY CASES AT THE SCC Frater has worked in over 50 cases at the Supreme Court of Canada, including: Reference re Pan-Canadian Securities Act, 2018 SCC 48 Carter et al. v. Attorney General of Canada et al., 2015 SCC 5 Reference Re Securities Act, [2011] 3. S.C.R. 837 Canada (Prime Minister) v. Khadr, [2010] 1 S.C.R. 44 Reference Re Milgaard, [1991] 1 S.C.R. 866 Frater is also enthusiastic in mentioning the many training and mentoring opportunities he has helped bring about at the DOJ, including moots. All the lawyers on his team are required to do a moot with their colleagues, "where they're grilled much as they would be grilled on the appeal itself," says Frater. "It was a hard sell at the beginning, to make people argue before their colleagues. … It's quite nerve-racking to do those moots. And we are not kind to people because our theory is: if you get it from your colleagues hard beforehand, it might be a little easier to react appropriately when you're getting a grilling from a judge." In fact, Frater offers invaluable advice to young lawyers aspiring to be top litigators. "When you're young, you do as many cases as you possibly can to be on your feet as often as you can. And once you get a level of comfort at doing that, the way you get better is in two ways. Either you take hard cases, or you go against very good counsel. … By a hard case, I mean a case that someone is expecting you to lose. You're trying to put that case in its best possible light. So, I've done some very unpopular cases." While he hasn't shied away from losing cases, from any perspective, in leading the largest law firm in Canada, his track record has been an overall win. Brauti Thorning LLP is pleased to announce Sonya Pfeiffer and David Rudolf have joined the firm. Sonya and David are a passionate, experienced husband and wife team who have secured large verdicts and settlements in high-stakes civil litigation and represented business executives, professionals, athletes, and politicians in some of the most high-profile federal and state criminal investigations and prosecutions in the United States. Together, Sonya and David have dedicated their lives to thorough, fearless advocacy. In addition to their legal practice, Sonya and David co-host the Webby Award-winning podcast on Audible, Abuse of Power. Sonya has also directed and produced documentary films including the award-winning short "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Social Justice", and David has received world-wide acclaim for his representation of Michael Peterson in The Staircase on Netflix. At Brauti Thorning, Sonya and David will be assisting the firm on various matters including the defense of criminal cases, business and fraud litigation and high-conflict, complex family law matters. They will also teach Trial Advocacy at the University of Toronto. David can be reached at 416.306.5763 or by email at drudolf@btlegal.ca Sonya can be reached at 416-306-2965 or by email at spfeiffer@btlegal.ca BRAUTI THORNING LLP 161 BAY STREET, SUITE 2900, TORONTO, ON M5J 2S1 | T: 416.362.4567 F: 416.362.8410 | www.btlegal.ca David Rudolf and Sonya Pfeiffer

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