Nicole Henderson (she, her, hers) Partner | Toronto

• Counsel to an investment firm in a class action relating to alleged privacy breaches, successfully opposing the plaintiffs' motion for certification (upheld by the Ontario Divisional Court)

• Counsel to a gaming facility and public-sector entity in a privacy class action arising out of a cyberattack, successfully opposing the plaintiffs' motion for certification

• Trial and appellate counsel to a leading energy services company in a C$2.3-billion enterprise value merger before the Competition Tribunal and the Federal Court of Appeal, including successfully opposing multiple applications to block closing of the transaction

• Trial counsel to an insurer in a national class action relating to business interruption claims in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic (named one of Lexpert's Top 10 Business Decisions of 2023)

• Member of the trial team in the first medical products class action to go to trial in Ontario (146 trial days), which obtained a trial ruling dismissing the action against one of the world's leading manufacturers of life-saving cardiac devices in a national class action claiming more than C$1-billion in damages, alleging negligent design, testing and warning

• Counsel to a defendant in a competition class action seeking approximately C$1.4-billion in damages, successfully obtaining summary judgment prior to certification on the basis of the regulated conduct defence (upheld by the Ontario Court of Appeal)

• Counsel to a leading engineering and technology firm in several consumer protection class actions relating to diesel emissions, successfully opposing motions for certification

• Counsel to an intervenor in the Supreme Court of Canada in an appeal concerning the scope of the duty of honest performance of contractual obligations

• Counsel to a public-sector procuring entity in a judicial review application challenging its debarment of a contractor, successfully opposing the application (named one of Lexpert's Top 10 Business Decisions of 2018)

• Lead counsel to a national railway company in a successful statutory appeal of a decision of the Canadian Transportation Agency

• Lead counsel to a leading manufacturer of heavy equipment, successfully obtaining early summary judgment in a product liability case seeking over C$7-million in damages

• Counsel on a judicial review application under the Ontario Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act addressing the scope of the third party information exemption

In 2023, Nicole was named a Lexpert Rising Star, one of Canada's leading lawyers aged 40 and under.  She has also been recognized in the following publications:

• Chambers Canada: Canada's Leading Lawyers for Business 2025 (Privacy & Data Protection)

• The Best Lawyers in Canada (2025: Administrative and Public Law; 2021–2025: Class Action Litigation, Competition/Antitrust Law, Product Liability Law)

• The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory – 2021–2024 (Class Actions, Data Protection & Privacy, Litigation – Product Liability)

• Thomson Reuters Stand-out Lawyers – 2019–2024 – Independently Rated Lawyers (As nominated by senior in-house counsel)

• Benchmark Canada's 40 & Under List – 2019–2023

• Lexpert Special Edition: Life Sciences 2023

• Benchmark Canada: The Definitive Guide to Canada's Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys – 2019–2023 (Future Star)

• Global Data Review 40 Under 40 2021 (Recognized as an individual who represents the best of the upcoming generation of data lawyers)

Nicole is a past chair of the Ontario Bar Association's Class Actions Section Executive, having served on the Executive from 2014 to 2022. She is a member of The Advocates' Society, the International Association of Privacy Professionals, the Defence Research Institute and the International Association of Defence Counsel.

Nicole sits on the Firm's Pro Bono Committee, and has acted pro bono on a variety of matters. She is also the director of the Wilson Moot, a national law school mooting competition which focuses on constitutional law issues affecting equity-deserving groups.

• Co-author : Supreme Court of Canada Weighs In on Concurrent Judicial Reviews and Statutory Appeals
  Blakes Bulletin on Litigation & Dispute Resolution, March 20, 2024.
• Co-author : Cybersecurity Trends 2023: Navigating the Canadian Litigation Landscape
  Lexpert Business of Law, August 16, 2023.
• Co-author : Court of Appeal for Ontario Limits Intrusion Upon Seclusion Claims in Cybersecurity Cases
  Blakes Bulletin on Class Actions / Cybersecurity, November 29, 2022.

• Speaker : Top Class Action Cases and Trends in Canada
  Blakes Business Class Seminar, December 12, 2023.
• Speaker : Proactive Litigation Management
  Blakes Business Class Seminar, September 24, 2023.
• Speaker : AI! AI? AI. Oh?!?: AI Is ‘Intelligent’ but Is It Fair? Unbiased? Non-Discriminatory? Legal and Business Resolutions to Implementing This Intelligent Tool
  2023 Annual Meeting, International Association of Defence Counsel, Waimea, Hawaii, July 12, 2023.
• Panellist : Privacy and Mandatory Reporting Compliance
  Compliance Transformation Conference, George Brown College, Toronto, Ontario, May 3, 2023.
• Speaker : Post-Data Breach – Evolving Best Practice
  Property and Casualty Insurance Compensation Corporation Webinar, March 22, 2023.
• Speaker : Cybersecurity Trends 2022
  Responsible Distribution Canada Semi Annual Meeting, Brampton, Ontario, November 2, 2022.
• Speaker : Cybersecurity Considerations for Pension and Benefit Plans
  Blakes Business Class Webinar, October 20, 2022.
• Panellist : Developments in Regulatory & Criminal Antitrust Enforcement
  Lex Mundi Litigation, Arbitration and Dispute Resolution North America Practice Group Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, September 30, 2022.
• Co-speaker : Cybercrimes Are Evolving: Are You?
  Episode 22, Blakes Sound Business Podcast, August 3, 2022.

• Quoted : Canadian businesses face rising compliance costs, litigation risk over privacy
  Interviewed by Karunjit Singh, Law360 Legal Wire, May 4, 2023.

Admitted to the Ontario Bar – 2009
JD (With Honours), University of Toronto – 2008
BA (Hon., With Distinction), Wilfrid Laurier University – 2005