James Bunting

Partner, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg, LLP

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Jim Bunting is a partner in the litigation group of Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP. He has extensive experience in sports-related disputes. Jim has acted for athletes, coaches and agents in a variety of different matters, including contractual claims, doping infractions, carding disputes, gender equity complaints, team selection appeals and disciplinary appeals. He has appeared before International Court of Arbitration for Sport, the SDRCC (Canada's National Arbitral body for sports-related disputes) and National and International Sports Federations. Jim has also acted as an athlete agent and, in 2002, he clerked with the Court of Arbitration for Sport at the Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.

In addition to sports-related litigation, Jim has a diverse and complex commercial litigation practice. Jim has appeared as counsel before all levels of courts in Ontario, the Supreme Court of the Yukon Territory, the Court of Queen's Bench (Saskatchewan), the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, the Court of Queen's Bench (Winnipeg), the British Columbia Court of Appeal, the Federal Court Trial Division and the Federal Court of Appeal. He has also acted as counsel in a wide range of private arbitrations and mediations and appeared as counsel before the Ontario Securities Commission and the Environment Review Tribunal.

Jim is ranked in The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory as a repeatedly recommended practitioner in Corporate Commercial Litigation and Securities Litigation; recognized in the ROB/Lexpert special edition Canada's Leading Litigation Lawyers; and named in Benchmark Canada as a Litigation Star in Class Actions, Commercial Litigation and Securities. He was also named in the 2014 Lexpert Rising Stars: Leading Lawyers Under 40; and is recognized in Chambers Global and Chambers Canada as an up-and-coming lawyer in Dispute Resolution.

Representative Work

• Successfully represented Dutee Chand, an Indian-born sprinter, in a landmark international ruling by the CAS suspending the operation of the International Association Athletic Federation's Hyperandrogenism Regulation, which screens female athletes on the basis of their natural testosterone levels
• Successfully represented a Canadian cyclist in an appeal before the CAS having a doping infraction eliminated based on a finding of "no fault".
• Acted for a number of athletes before the CAS, SDRCC and National Federations in successfully having doping related suspensions substantially reduced.
• Acted for the members of the Canadian Women's National Soccer Team in a compensation dispute with the Canadian Soccer Association.
• Successfully represented wind power developers before the Environmental Review Tribunal and the Divisional Court responding to challenges to three of the largest wind energy projects undertaken in Ontario. These proceedings include an allegation that Ontario's wind energy regime violates section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
• Successfully defended Rogers Communications Inc. in a precedent-setting misleading advertising case brought by the Commissioner of Competition. This case resulted in a lengthy 3-month trial that involved the first constitutional challenge to certain provisions of the Competition Act.
• Represented Google Inc. in the appeal of a precedent setting decision granting a world-wide injunction requiring Google to block certain search results from its search engine.
• Acted for Rogers Sportsnet in an action for defamation brought by the former Commissioner of the Canadian Football League.
• Acted for Rogers Sportsnet in a defamation action brought by a player in the National Hockey League.
• Acted for a number of National level athletes in connection with Team Selection Appeals and carding appeals.