Aaron Stephenson
Partner
Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP
Related services and key industries
Biography
Aaron Stephenson practises in the fields of insolvency and restructuring, commercial litigation and indigenous law.
He advises all types of participants in insolvency and restructuring proceedings, both domestic and cross-border, including debtors, creditors, investors and insolvency professionals. His experience spans restructuring proceedings under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, proposal proceedings under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, plans of arrangement under corporate legislation, receiverships, and bankruptcies.
Aaron has acted in a variety of matters in the area of indigenous law, representing government and industry in consultation disputes and land claims.
He has experience before all levels of courts in Alberta, the Federal Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada.
Professional experience
Collapse allLLB, Western University, 2007
MSc, McMaster University, 2004
BSc, Western University, 2002
Aaron has acted in the following matters:
Aboriginal
- Advised in relation to litigation involving a First Nation's statutory appeal of the National Energy Board's approval of a pipeline reversal and capacity expansion
- Resisted a judicial review application that challenged the satisfaction of approval conditions on a pipeline project
- Negotiated agreements with numerous aboriginal communities to provide capacity funding, formalize support, resolve disputes, and acquire on-reserve land interests
- Advised about the duty to consult and how to engage with aboriginal communities in the context of pipelines, electrical transmission and green energy developments
- Defended a claim against a railway by a First Nation about ownership of mine and mineral interests under reserve (or former reserve) lands
Bankruptcy and insolvency
- Represented the proposal trustee of a private equity investment brokerage about the validity and priority of creditor claims
- Represented the monitor of a residential property developer under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act
Energy
- Defended a claim against an oil and gas company by a purported owner of copyrighted seismic data
- Advised a professional trustee about the fees it charges to administer payments of oil and gas royalties
- Prosecuted a loss of production claim by an oil and gas producer against a supplier of defective equipment
- Best Lawyers Canada: Corporate and Commercial Litigation, 2024-2025; Insolvency and Financial Restructuring Law, 2025
- "Beware of Multiple Hats: Avoiding Conflicts of Interest" (co-author: A. Kirker), Law Matters, Canadian Bar Association (Alberta Branch), Vol. 37, No. 3, fall 2012.
- Canadian Bar Association
- Calgary Bar Association
- Law Society of Alberta
Insights
Supreme Court of Canada digs into the dirty business of exclusion clauses
Publication | June 5, 2024
Indigenous Law Year in Review: 2023
Publication | February 13, 2024
Safeguarding arbitral jurisdiction under s. 47 of Alberta’s Arbitration Act
Publication | February 5, 2024