At Wasel & Wasel, our distinguished team comprises elite lawyers and advisors, meticulously selected from premier law firms and prestigious Ivy League institutions. Their collective experience spans high-stakes, multi-billion dollar disputes and strategic positions within the echelons of government.
Aquilina
Affiliate Counsel
Cumulating close to 30 years of exceptionally rich experience garnered from the diverse roles he has held throughout his career, Martin Aquilina specializes in private international law, the law of contracts, financial services, privacy law and international commercial relations.
After having been called to the Barreau du Québec (Quebec Bar) in 1993, Martin had worked with the Federal Government and was head of the legal department of the financial services arm of the Canadian Medical Association.
Following his call to the Ontario Bar in 1999, Martin practiced in securities law at Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall LLP and subsequently as a partner one of Canada’s largest law firms, Gowlings Lafleur Henderson (now known as Gowlings WLG), handling complex transactional matters and advising on debt and equity financing, and private and public mergers and acquisitions.
Martin holds a Master’s in international and European law at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (The Netherlands), where his thesis on the Rights of Cultural Majorities earned him a nomination to the J.P.A. Francois Prize offered by the Royal Netherlands Society of International Law.
Martin has also practiced in Geneva, Switzerland, serving as a legal adviser to the Global Fund, an international financing organization funding the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.
Martin is proficient in six languages and supports clients dealing with international transactions and cross-border disputes, and matters related to financings, securities, and complex transactions.
Admission
- Barreau du Québec (Quebec Bar), 1993
- Law Society of Upper Canada (now Law Society of Ontario), 1999
- Member of the American Bar Association, International Contracts Committee, and Art & Heritage Committee since 2015
Education
- The Hague Academy of International Law Summer Programme, The Hague, Netherlands, 2019
- Master of Laws (International and European Law), Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Netherlands, 2011
- Bar Admission Course, Law Society of Ontario, 1999
- Certificate of Accreditation in Common Law, National Committee on Accreditation, Canada, 1998
- Bar Admission Course, École du Barreau du Québec, 1993
- License in Civil Law, University of Ottawa, 1992
- Bachelor of Commerce, University of Ottawa, 1989
- Settled seven-figure claim for breach of contract and intellectual property appropriation by a Brazilian party against a Canadian industrial design firm.
- Provided strategic advice on multi-jurisdictional estate dispute (Canada, Slovakia, Switzerland), including finding basis for bringing a claim in Canada against the disputing heir.
- Prepared an emergency injunction to block payment by a Canadian bank of a counter-guarantee securing a performance bond given to a Saudi Arabian counterparty.
- Represented a publicly traded Hong Kong-based distributor of consumer goods against its Canadian supplier for breach of contract.
- Successfully brought and mediated a seven-figure claim against the Dutch manufacturer of robotic farm equipment on behalf of a large Canadian dairy operation.
- Successfully brought a claim on behalf of a Canadian visual artist for breach of copyright against a foreign production company using artistic works without permission in a Netflix-distributed movie.
- Acted for a Canadian engineering company in its dispute with a Mozambique government entity on a World Bank-funded project.
- Counsel to MD Management Limited on the divestiture of its medical billing service as part of the $2.4B acquisition by Scotia Bank of the MD Group.
- Providing opinion on Islamic finance mechanisms for multi-million-dollar Saudi Arabian project.
- Advising Ontario manufacturer of industrial equipment and drafting memorandum of understanding with Korean firm in respect of a joint venture for installation of a waste-to-energy plant in Egypt.
- Advised on Engineering and Procurement Contract as instructed by German counsel for $150,000,000 plastic manufacturing plant.
- Structuring and taking public first mortgage investment corporation in Canada while dealing with OSC’s threat of prosecution of promoters.
- Filing appeal of Joint Pension Committee decision before United Nations Appeals Tribunal.