Davies

Adam F. Fanaki

Adam Fanaki is a partner in the Competition & Foreign Investment Review and Litigation practices. He advises clients on all aspects of Canadian competition and foreign investment review law, including mergers, cartel investigations, advertising and marketing practices, abuse of dominance and other reviewable matters.

Prior to joining the firm, Adam acted as Senior Deputy Commissioner in charge of the Competition Bureau’s Mergers Branch and as Special Counsel to Canada’s Commissioner of Competition. In these roles, Adam held primary responsibility for the review of significant mergers, the development of merger policy in Canada, and the design and implementation of the recent reforms to the Competition Act. In addition, Adam represented the Commissioner of Competition in respect of enforcement matters, major litigated proceedings and the negotiation of remedies and orders, and was a member of the Senior Management Committee at the Competition Bureau.

Adam has represented parties in a number of Canada’s most significant merger transactions, criminal investigations, abuse of dominance and misleading advertising cases. He has acted as counsel in proceedings before the Competition Tribunal in contested merger and abuse of dominance proceedings. In addition, he has acted as counsel in class actions and other complex litigated proceedings before the Federal Court of Canada, Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Ontario Court of Appeal and Alberta Court of Queen's Bench. Adam has also represented parties in inquiries under the criminal provisions of the Competition Act, including immunity and leniency applicants.

Adam has served as the Chair of the Legislation and Competition Policy Committee and Vice-Chair of the Reviewable Matters and Unilateral Conduct Committee of the Canadian Bar Association. He has testified before Parliamentary and Senate Committees on issues of competition policy.

Representative Work

  • Acted for the Government of Canada, as vendor, in the disposition of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.'s Candu reactor division to SNC-Lavalin Group.  

  • Acted for Atlas Holdings LLC and Blue Wolf Capital Partners LLC in connection with the sale of Northern Resources Nova Scotia Corporation (the parent company of Northern Pulp, the Pictou County kraft pulp mill, and Northern Timber, which owns forest land) to Paper Excellence Canada Holdings Corporation.

  • Acting for the Commissioner of Competition before the Competition Tribunal in the case brought against Visa and MasterCard.

  • Acted for Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. on Canadian Competition Act matters in connection with the acquisition of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. by Avis Budget Group Inc. in a transaction valued at approximately $1.3 billion.

  • Acted for George Weston Limited in connection with the acquisition of ACE Bakery Limited in a deal valued at $110 million.

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Recognition

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  • Recognized as a leading lawyer in the area of Corporate & Commercial Litigation by The Best Lawyers in Canada.
  • Recognized as a most frequently recommended leading lawyer in the area of Competition by The Canadian Legal Lexpert® Directory.
  • Named a leading practitioner in the area of Competition Law by The Lexpert®/American Lawyer Guide to the 500 Leading Lawyers in Canada.
  • Recognized as a leading business law practitioner in the area of Competition by Who's Who Legal: Canada.
  • Consistently recognized as one of Canada’s leading competition lawyers in various publications, including Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business and PLCWhich Lawyer? 
  • Recognized as one of Canada’s top competition law litigators in the Lexpert® Guide to the Leading U.S./Canada Cross-border Litigation Lawyers in Canada.
  • Ranked by Lexpert® Rising Stars: Leading Lawyers Under 40 in 2006 and 2008.

Professional Affiliations

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Past Chair, Legislation and Competition Policy Committee, Canadian Bar Association

Vice-Chair, Reviewable Matters & Unilateral Conduct Committee, Canadian Bar Association - Competition Law Section

Board Memberships

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Community Involvement

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Teaching Engagements

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Adam has been an Adjunct Faculty Member at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University and a lecturer at the Faculties of Law at the University of Western Ontario, University of Toronto and Queen’s University.

Speaking Engagements

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Articles and Publications

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Adam has authored numerous papers on the subject of competition law.

  • "Love in the Time of Cholera: Merger Review in an Economic Downturn" presented at the Canadian Bar Association Annual Spring Conference (May 12, 2009).
  • "Innovation and Competition Enforcement in Canada" presented at the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy, Montréal, Québec (October 29, 2008).
  • "Cartels: Latest Developments in International Cartel Enforcement" presented at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the International Bar Association, Buenos Aires, Argentina (October 13, 2008).
  • "Contemplating the State of Merger Litigation in Canada" presented at the 2008 Canadian Bar Association Annual Conference on Competition Law, Gatineau, Québec (Fall 2008).
  • "Flush with Success or Down the Tubes: Abuse of Dominance After Canada Pipe" presented at 2008 Competition Law Invitational Forum, Langdon Hall, Cambridge (February 6, 2008).
  • "Civil Conspiracy and Other Economic Torts" in Fundamentals of Canadian Competition Law (Carswell, 2007).
  • "An Overview of the Conspiracy Provision of the Competition Act: Compliance in an Era of Reform" presented at the Canadian Institute's Competition Law Compliance conference (2007).
  • "Decriminalizing Canada's Price Discrimination Provision", American Bar Association Price Discrimination Committee Newsletter (Winter 2007).
  • "Public Interest Privilege in Administrative Proceedings: Necessary Safeguard or Unfair Advantage?" presented at the Second National Forum: New Directions in Administrative Law and Practice (Fall 2006).
  • "Disclosure of Confidential Information: The Competition Bureau's New Information Bulletin" in International Antitrust Bulletin (Winter 2006).
Adam Fanaki
Adam Fanaki
Partner
Office:
Toronto
Tel:
416.863.5564
Email:
afanaki@dwpv.com
Bar Admissions:

Ontario, 1996

Education:

King's College, University of London, Master's degree (European Competition Law), 2007

University of Western Ontario, LL.B. (with Distinction), 1994

University of Western Ontario, B.A. , 1991