Alfonso Nocilla
Academic Degrees:
B.A. (Philosophy and History), Toronto, 2007; J.D., Queen’s, 2010; LL.M., Western, 2011; Ph.D. (Law), UCL, 2019; Called to the Bar of Ontario, 2012.
| Email: | anocilla@uwo.ca |
| Phone: | 519-661-2111, ext. 84002 |
| Office: | LB 116 |
Alfonso has broad interests in commercial law, with particular emphasis on bankruptcy, insolvency and restructuring. His research is methodologically diverse, incorporating comparative and empirical approaches, and has been cited favourably by courts at all levels across Canada, including the Supreme Court of Canada.
He is a co-editor, with Jassmine Girgis and Virginia Torrie, of Canadian Bankruptcy and Insolvency Law, 2nd Edition, 2024 CanLIIDocs 2210, the first open access casebook on Canadian bankruptcy law. He is also a member of the editorial advisory boards of the Canadian Business Law Journal and the Annual Review of Insolvency Law, a co-editor of the Journal of the Insolvency Institute of Canada, and an Affiliated Researcher with the Desautels Centre for Private Enterprise and the Law. He has consulted on commercial and/or insolvency law matters for the Canadian government, professional associations, and private parties. He has been interviewed by CTV News, CBC Radio One, The Globe and Mail, and The Lawyer’s Daily, among other media, regarding significant insolvency and restructuring cases.
Alfonso joined Western Law as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in 2018. Previously, he was a Visiting Professor and Catalyst Capital Fellow in Insolvency Law at Western. Prior to that, he was a Research Fellow at the University of Florence for the E.U.-funded project, “Contractualised Distress Resolution in the Shadow of the Law”. He completed his Ph.D. in corporate insolvency law at UCL in 2019, supported by a SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship.
Seeking graduate students in the following areas: Bankruptcy and Insolvency Law, Commercial Law
Research Highlights
Articles
“Canadian Cross-Border Insolvency Law and the Triumph of ‘Modified Universalism’: A Retrospective” (2024) 33:2 International Insolvency Review ____ (forthcoming).
“Deus Ex Machina, or Gargantua? Interim Financing Under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act” (2024) 57:1 UBC Law Review ____ (forthcoming).
“An Insolvency Proceeding By Any Other Name? CBCA S. 192 Arrangements in the Wake of Wilks Brothers” (2024) 40:3 Banking and Finance Law Review 487.
“Crossing the Event Horizon: Reverse Vesting Orders Under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act” (2024) 68:1 Canadian Business Law Journal 173.
Riz Mokal & Alfonso Nocilla, “Rehabilitating the UK Pre-Pack: A Critical Analysis and Proposals for Reform” (2024) 40:2 Banking and Finance Law Review 207.
“Pre-packaged Sales and the Destruction of Value: The View from the U.K.” (2021) 64:3 Canadian Business Law Journal 342.
Vern W. DaRe & Alfonso Nocilla, “Bestriding the Narrow World: Is it Time to Bifurcate the Role of the CCAA Monitor?” [2020] Annual Review of Insolvency Law 224.
“Reorganizations, Sales, and the Changing Face of Restructuring in Canada: Quantitative Outcomes of 2012 and 2013 CCAA Proceedings” (2019) 42:2 Dalhousie Law Journal 371.
Vern W. DaRe & Alfonso Nocilla, “The Trouble with Pre-Packs” [2018] Annual Review of Insolvency Law 621.
“Asset Sales and Secured Creditor Control in Restructuring: A Comparison of the UK, US and Canadian Models” (2017) 26:1 International Insolvency Review 60.
“The History of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act and the Future of Restructuring Law in Canada” (2014) 56:1 Canadian Business Law Journal 73.
“Is ‘Corporate Rescue’ Working in Canada?” (2013) 53:3 Canadian Business Law Journal 382.
“Asset Sales Under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act and the Failure of Section 36” (2012) 52:2 Canadian Business Law Journal 226.
Comments
“Comment on Shaver-Kudell Manufacturing Inc. v. Knight Manufacturing Inc., 2021 ONCA 925”, (2022) 45:2 Manitoba Law Journal 177.
“Freedom of Contract, Fairness, and the Anti-Deprivation Rule”, (2022) 65:3 Canadian Business Law Journal 374.
Vern W. DaRe & Alfonso Nocilla, “The Inconvenient Act: Letters of Credit and Landlord Rights in Bankruptcy” (2021) 36:2 Banking and Finance Law Review 303.
“Ipso Facto Clauses and the Limits of Freedom of Contract in Insolvency: Capital Steel v. Chandos Construction” (2019) 62:3 Canadian Business Law Journal 337.
Chapters in Edited Volumes
“Executory Contracts in Insolvency: The Canadian Perspective”, Chapter 29 in Jason Chuah & Eugenio Vaccari, eds., Executory Contracts in Insolvency Law: A Global Guide, 2nd Edition (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2023).
“National Report for Canada”, Chapter 31 in Jason Chuah & Eugenio Vaccari, eds., Executory Contracts in Insolvency Law: A Global Guide (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2019).
Pedagogical Texts
Jassmine Girgis, Alfonso Nocilla & Virginia Torrie, eds., Bankruptcy and Insolvency Law in Canada: Cases, Materials, and Problems, 2nd Edition (CanLII, 2024).
Chapter 1: “Introduction, Evolution, and Modern Objectives” (with Jassmine Girgis and Virginia Torrie).
Chapter 3: “Initiation of Bankruptcy Proceedings and Consequences”.
Chapter 4: “Property of the Estate”.
Chapter 9: “Ranking of Creditors and Distribution of Proceeds”.
Chapter 13: “Carrying on Business During CCAA Proceedings”.
Chapter 14: “Claims During CCAA Proceedings”.
Stephanie Ben-Ishai & Thomas G.W. Telfer, eds., Bankruptcy and Insolvency Law in Canada: Cases, Materials, and Problems (Irwin Law, 2019):
Chapter 3: “Bankruptcy: Commencement and Consequences”.
Chapter 4: “Property”.
Chapter 9: “Priorities and Distribution”.
Book Reviews
Louise Gullifer and Orkun Akseli, eds., Secured Transactions Law Reform: Principles, Policies and Practice (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2016), (2018) 33:3 Banking and Finance Law Review 422.
