Hall of Fame

The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.

Mason Poplaw

Mason Poplaw

Hall of fameMcCarthy Tétrault

Partner in the Montréal office and a member of the firm’s Board of Partners. Known for his business acumen and broad experience as a corporate commercial litigator, Mason’s practice focuses primarily on corporate disputes, governance, securities, internal investigations, crisis management, insolvency, and restructuring. Recognized for his ability to successfully manage litigation and investigations matters with a great deal at stake, Mason leverages his considerable corporate and financial industry knowledge to find practical solutions to complex disputes. Working with a range of clients including financial institutions, public and privately held corporations, members of board of directors and trustees, he takes a strategic approach to securities and banking class actions, financial product liabilities cases, financial frauds, corporate governance issues, plans of arrangement, liquidation, oppression remedies, complex contract disputes, and directors’ liabilities. Clients appreciate Mason’s ability to gain insight into the dispute and bring the right angles and arguments before the court to achieve swift and successful resolutions. He has appeared before all Québec judicial courts, before the Supreme Court of Canada, and in numerous commercial arbitration proceedings.

Robert Torralbo

Robert Torralbo

Hall of fameBlake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Robert practises corporate commercial litigation and arbitration with an emphasis on defending class actions, product liability, securities, banking, real estate and shareholder disputes. His clients include financial institutions, large multinational organizations, securities dealers, manufacturers and real estate developers. Robert regularly appears before all levels of Quebec courts and arbitration panels, and has appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada.

Guy Du Pont

Hall of fameDavies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP

Rising stars

Rising stars with regular involvement in their team's key work, and recognition from peers or clients as being ones to watch.

Marie-Ève Gingras

Marie-Ève Gingras

Torys

Marie-Ève’s practice involves a broad range of civil and commercial litigation, including in the context of class actions. Marie-Ève has been involved in a wide range of matters, including in matters relating to product liability, consumer complaints, securities, price-fixing allegations and public law matters. She has represented clients in the pharmaceutical, banking, construction, technology, communication, manufacturing, railway, aviation and mining industries. Marie-Ève has appeared as counsel before all levels of court in Québec and in the Federal Court. Marie-Ève also practices labour and employment law. She assists clients with employment matters, including compliance with Québec laws and regulations, employment contracts, employment termination, human rights, non-solicitation undertakings and non-compete undertakings. Marie-Ève also assists clients regarding labour and employment implications of corporate transactions. Marie-Ève regularly provides advice to Canadian and multinational corporations regarding consumer protection legislation, language requirements and other legal requirements for doing business in Québec. Marie-Ève is fluent in French and English.

Next Generation Partners

Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.

Ariane Bisaillon

Ariane Bisaillon

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Ariane's practice covers various aspects of civil and commercial law, with a particular focus on commercial litigation, class actions, product liability and consumer contracts. Her practice also covers shareholders' disputes, arbitration and extraordinary proceedings. She advises national and foreign clients, including pharmaceutical companies, manufacturers, banks, transportation companies, and local businesses. Ariane is fluent in French and English and has a practical knowledge of Spanish.

Matthew Liben

Matthew Liben

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

With over 20 years’ experience, Matthew practises commercial litigation with a focus on insurance and reinsurance, construction and real estate, restructuring and insolvency, and class actions. He has appeared before the Superior Court of Quebec, the Quebec Court of Appeal and the Federal Court of Canada. Matthew represents insurance companies and syndicates in North America and Europe, all well as major policyholders, on matters ranging from complex insurance coverage disputes to liability defenc and subrogated actions. In the construction and real estate sector, Matthew represents developers and property owners with respect to alleged latent defects, construction defects, servitudes and other property issues. Regarding restructuring and insolvency, Matthew acts for debtors and creditors in major reorganizations and bankruptcy proceedings under the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act and the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. Matthew has also acted in numerous international commercial arbitration matters, pursuant to the ICC, UNCITRAL and AAA arbitration rules. Matthew is fluent in English and in French.

Leading Individuals

The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.

Christopher Richter

Christopher Richter

Torys

Christopher is an experienced trial and appellate lawyer who practises in the fields of corporate, commercial and civil litigation and dispute resolution, including advising on litigious aspects of corporate transactions. His practice also includes class actions, securities litigation, professional liability, product liability and employment law. He has appeared before the Québec courts of first instance and of appeal, the superior courts of several other provinces, the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court of Canada, and numerous arbitration panels and administrative tribunals (including the Québec securities commission and energy board). Leading Canadian and international companies prize Christopher’s risk-analysis advice in litigious matters and conflict prevention regarding their interests and operations in Québec and across Canada. With recognized experience in transnational disputes and matters of private international law, Christopher has also acted as arbitrator in numerous disputes (sole arbitrator, or member or chair of a panel), both domestic and international (including ICC and ICDR arbitrations). Christopher is fluently bilingual in English and French.

Sylvie Rodrigue

Sylvie Rodrigue

Torys

Sylvie is one of Canada’s top litigators, recognized for her versatility representing clients across jurisdictions and industries, in all manner of disputes. She is known nationwide for her strong class action, product liability and commercial disputes experience, and she is one of the few counsel in Canada who defends cases in both Québec and common law provinces. With a broad litigation practice and extensive experience defending cases in all provinces across Canada, including class actions both pre-certification and at trial, Sylvie has a formidable track record supporting clients in their highest-profile disputes. Sylvie has been involved in a wide range of litigation matters, including multi-jurisdictional class actions, relating to product liability, drugs and medical devices, banking, privacy, constitutional law, competition law, consumer complaints, civil liability, employment matters, securities, large tort and negligence. She regularly represents clients in the banking, retail, technology, manufacturing, communication, real estate, railway, aviation and pharmaceutical industries in a variety of commercial disputes. Sylvie has appeared before all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada. In 2021, she successfully represented the Canadian Olympic Committee and Olympian Mandy Bujold against the International Olympic Committee before the Court of Arbitration for Sports in Switzerland on a pro bono basis. The legal challenge, which led to Ms. Bujold’s participation at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, raised human rights and discrimination issues on the basis of pregnancy and resulted in a landmark decision for the benefit of female athletes worldwide. Sylvie was awarded the designation of Advocatus Emeritus by the Québec Bar, a distinction awarded to a limited number of lawyers to honour an outstanding legal career, remarkable contribution to the profession and dedicated efforts to social or community services. She was also recognized by the WXN in 2016 and 2019 as one of Canada’s Top 100 Women and was named 2021 Litigator of the Year by Canadian Law Awards. She is consistently recognized by Benchmark as one of Canada’s top female litigators and by Chambers and other ranking publications for her work in product liability and class action matters. Sylvie leads our Montréal office, as well as Torys’ national Class Action practice.

Isabelle Vendette

Isabelle Vendette

McCarthy Tétrault

Isabelle Vendette is a partner in the firms’ Litigation Group in Montréal. Her practice focuses on corporate commercial litigation and civil litigation, as well as on internal investigations and cybersecurity. She regularly pleads before the Superior Court and the Court of Appeal. Her principal areas of expertise are injunctions, financial services litigation, securities, franchise litigation, privacy, ESG and contract disputes. Isabelle advises and represents some of the firm’s most important clients including financial institutions, telecommunication companies and other public and privately held corporations in complex and high-profile cases. She has led litigation files in various fields, including unfair competition, banking law, product liability, securities, consumer law, false or misleading advertising and in special remedies such as injunctions. Isabelle is a regular speaker at conferences, where she presents on trends in ESG-related securities litigation, commercial law, class actions, consumer law and cybersecurity. She is also a contributing author to the fifth edition of Defending Class Actions in Canada and to articles on injunction and data protection.