Joseph Groia

JOSEPH GROIA is a principal of Groia & Company. He practices securities litigation, acting as counsel in a wide range of civil, quasi-criminal, criminal, and administrative cases. During his career as a securities litigator Joseph has acted as counsel in Canada’s most important securities cases including: Asbestos, Bre-X, Canadian Tire, Cinar, Hollinger, Torstar/Southam, Phillip Services, and YBM.

Mr. Groia received his B.A. and J.D. from the University of Toronto and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1981. In 1985 he joined the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) as the associate general counsel responsible for litigation matters; subsequently, from October 1987 – March 1990, he was the OSC’s Director of Enforcement. He joined Heenan Blaikie’s Toronto office in 1990, where he practiced corporate and securities litigation as a partner until he left to start Groia & Company on January 1, 2000.

Mr. Groia is a frequent speaker and presenter of law papers at various educational programmes, including the McGill University Meredith Lectures, the Peat Marwick Memorial Lectures, the Law Society of Upper Canada Special Lectures, the Langdon Hall Securities Law Practitioners’ Programme, and the Oxford Conference on International Securities Fraud. In 2007, Mr. Groia and Ms. Pamela Hardie published Canada’s first and only textbook on securities litigation, “Securities Litigation and Enforcement”. A second edition followed in 2012.

Mr. Groia has been ranked as one of Canada’s 500 Leading Lawyers (Lexpert) since 2000 and is consistently rated as one of Canada’s top securities litigators by the same publication. In January 2008, Mr. Groia was featured as a premier Canadian securities lawyer in Canadian Lawyer Magazine. Mr. Groia’s most noteworthy professional accomplishment was his leadership of the team that successfully defended Mr. John Felderhof in the 10 year OSC prosecution of charges arising out of the collapse of Bre-X Minerals Ltd.

In May 2015, Mr. Groia was elected by the Bar to serve as Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada.

Education

University of Toronto Faculty of Law
Juris Doctor
Bachelor of Arts