Clay Hunter became a partner at PMLaw in 2010.  He started at the firm in May of 2005 after taking a hiatus from the practice of law in order to pursue a career first as an actor, then as an owner, creator and operator of various Toronto restaurants, bars and nightclubs.  Clay was a member of the University of Oregon (Go Ducks!) and Canadian Junior National Track and Field Teams. 

Clay’s practice specializes in the fields of aviation, tour operator, transportation law and product liability. Clay is a trial and appellate lawyer providing advice on civil and administrative litigation arising from aviation accidents; to carriers in passenger injury, baggage and cargo claims; to tour operators in ruined vacation and personal injury claims; to insurers on exposure and subrogation recovery; in the assessment of damages; and has represented clients before the Supreme Court of Canada, the Courts of Ontario, the Federal Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Supreme Court of British Columbia, the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench, the Canadian Transportation Agency, the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada and the Canadian Human Rights Commission and Tribunal.  

Clay is recognized by Best Lawyers in the area of aviation law, selected as a leading practitioner in Lexpert’s annual surveys and listed in Who’s Who Legal-Aviation. He is a frequent speaker at aviation law conferences in Canada and internationally. Clay is a member of the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (FDCC), the Canadian and Ontario Bar Associations, the Canadian Defence Lawyers Association, the Advocates’ Society, and the American Bar Association: Forum on Air and Space Law, Litigation Section.  

Clay has voluminous reported decisions and successfully argued (pre-Thibodeau) the strong exclusivity approach to the applicability of the Montreal and Warsaw Conventions in O’Mara v. Air Canada (Ont. Sup. Court); the proper interpretation of the Montreal Convention’s notice and checked baggage provisions in Holden v. ACE Aviation (Ont. Div. Court); the proper application of the Montreal Convention’s Art. 35 two-year prescription in Titulescu v. United Airlines (Ont. Sup. Court) and, the tort liability of tour operators for third party acts or omissions being limited to the reasonable selection of competent suppliers in Garofoli v. Air Canada (Ont. Div. Court). 

Member: 

Canadian Bar Association; Canadian Defence Lawyers Association; the Advocates’ Society; the American Bar Association: Forum on Air and Space Law, Litigation Section; and the Federation of Defence & Corporate Counsel.