Peter A. Simm Performs Incisive Ontario Legal Research and Writes Convincing Factums

Justice Laskin has sagely observed that “the factum is often far more important than the oral argument.”

For more than a quarter century, Peter A. Simm has identified salient issues, thoroughly researched and rigorously analyzed them, and then crafted arguments that have prevailed in court (or improved settlements). He has written a multitude of winning factums. His arguments not only engage the court’s sense of fairness, but also give the bench confidence that the legal analysis is robust and solidly grounded in precedent.

Unlike most experienced litigators, Simm genuinely loves doing legal research.

However, unlike most research lawyers, Simm has extensive experience making successful oral argument inside the courtroom, especially in civil appeals, complex or high-stakes motions, and applications for judicial review. This has honed his ability to create winning arguments. It has also given him valuable insight into how the factums he researches and writes are actually used in court amidst the interplay between written argument, oral submissions, and questions from the bench.

Having won cases in 18 areas of law, Simm’s breadth of legal knowledge has often enabled him to suggest fruitful lines of research, and to propose ultimately victorious lines of argument beyond those initially raised by the instructing counsel.

Simm is highly proficient in formulating Boolean searches on CanLII, WestlawNext Canada, and Lexis Advance QuickLaw. This enables him to efficiently and thoroughly ferret out pertinent jurisprudence and statutory provisions. In the rare situation where there is no solid Canadian jurisprudence on point, Simm is adept at multi-jurisdictional research, able to find persuasive caselaw from courts in the U.S., UK, and elsewhere.

Given that Simm has been extensively published in the area of public policy, it is not surprising that he can formulate public-policy arguments if needed to augment his legal analysis.

Simm is pleased to collaborate with counsel of record in drafting the Factum. Often, an efficient division of labour is for the instructing counsel to do the first draft of the "Facts" portion, while Simm concentrates on the "Law" portion. Of course, counsel of record has the final word on everything that goes into the Factum.