Adam Rotstein, Law’26, has received this year’s John E. VanDuzer Scholarship Award for his paper titled “Hiding Behind the Corporation — Piercing the Veil in Family Law Proceedings.”  

The paper, which he wrote in third year as an Individual Supervised Project for Professor Nicholas Bala, was selected through a Canada-wide competition recognizing outstanding student scholarship that contributes to the development of family law.

“The award is especially meaningful because it reflects the value of legal research and scholarship in an area of law that has a direct impact on people’s lives,” says Rotstein. “I am very thankful to Professor Bala and the Queen’s Law community for fostering the kind of intellectual curiosity that made this project possible.”

In researching what happens after a separation when a spouse claims to have little income or few assets but controls a corporation that holds significant wealth, Rotstein examined when courts should “pierce the corporate veil” in family law disputes.  

“I found that courts increasingly use ‘veil-piercing’ to ensure that support and property decisions reflect a person’s true financial circumstances rather than the way assets are structured on paper,” he explains. “My main argument was that this power is often necessary to prevent spouses from using corporations to avoid their obligations to former spouses and children.”

In the paper, Rotstein recognizes the need to pierce the corporate veil in some family law cases to protect vulnerable spouses.  

At the same time, he argues in his paper that courts should be cautious when a corporation has innocent minority shareholders. “I recommended that those shareholders receive notice and an opportunity to participate in the proceeding, and that courts apply a more rigorous test before piercing the veil in those circumstances,” he says.

The issue has grown importance as many people today earn income, hold investments, and own property through corporations. If courts focus only on a person’s reported income or assets, they may miss the reality of that person’s financial situation. “The stakes can be significant,” he explains. “Child and spousal support are often essential for meeting day-to-day needs, and property division is a key part of ensuring fairness after a separation. My paper explores how courts can prevent abuse of the corporate form while still respecting legitimate business structures and the rights of third parties.”

Rotstein came to Queen’s Law with a strong interest in corporate law and business organizations after completing an undergraduate degree in business. “When I studied family law at Queen’s, I became fascinated by how it intersects with other areas of law, including corporate, tax, real estate, and trust law,” he says. “This topic provided an opportunity to combine my business background with my legal interests and explore how courts balance corporate law principles with family law's focus on fairness.”

Now articling with Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP in Toronto, Rotstein credits Queen’s Law for providing him with both a “strong academic foundation and valuable practical experience,” which included helping entrepreneurs and small business owners as a student caseworker with the Queen’s Business Law Clinic and competing in the Walsh Family Law Moot. “Just as importantly, Queen’s fostered a supportive and collaborative community,” he adds. “The relationships I built with classmates, professors, and mentors, along with the opportunities to pursue my interests in family and corporate law, played a significant role in preparing me for legal practice.”