Corporate and Securities Litigation

Alain Bilodeau et als. v. Liminal Biosciences Inc. et als.
Acting for Consonance Capital Management LP, one of the defendants, in a $950M proceeding where the Plaintiffs, as shareholders, are jointly seeking damages from the Defendants to obtain compensation for significant financial losses they allege to have suffered as a result of a restructuring plan that diluted the market value of the shares held by the Shareholder-Plaintiffs.

Mouvement d’éducation et de défense des actionnaires v. Banque Laurentienne du Canada et al., no. 500-06-001076-203
Represented an executive of Laurentian Bank in a class action alleging failure to disclose under securities laws. The plaintiffs acquired securities between May 18, 2017 and September 3, 2018 and allegedly suffered losses in value.

Fattal v. Scotia Capital Inc., 2021 QCCS 1471
Acted successfully for our client seeking liability of their bank and one of its brokers for breaches of contractual and regulatory obligations. The bank was found liable for investment advice services in spite of challenging circumstances: the parties’ professional relationship began 20 years ago, and indemnity was sought for profit loss, rather than a loss sustained.

Laliberté v. Fiducie familiale Pierre Laliberté, 2021 QCCS 2564
Acted for an established restaurant business and its majority owners who were being held hostage by a minority shareholder, blocking any succession of the family business and attempts to streamline its operations. Our clients were ultimately exonerated of all allegations and obtained over $2M for the counterclaim.

CO-Operators General Insurance Co. v. Sollio Groupe Coopératif (formerly known as La Coop Fédérée), 2020 SCC 41
Obtained a landmark decision before the Supreme Court on the nature of the bank transfer in favour of our client, the National Bank of Canada

Delaire v. SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. et al., 500-06-000650-131
Represented one of SNC-Lavalin’s former officers in a class action, brought under the secondary market provisions of the Quebec Securities Act, against SNC-Lavalin and several of its current and former directors and officers.

California State Teachers’ Retirement System v. Bausch Health Compagnies inc., 500-06-000783-163
Represented California State Teachers’ Retirement System in a class action brought by several investors who purchased common stock and notes of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. now known as Bausch Health Companies Inc.

Catucci and California State Teachers’ Retirement System v. Bausch Health Compagnies Inc, 500-06-000783-163, 500-11-055722-181 and 500-17-106044-186
Represented an insurer in a class action and an individual action following exclusion from the class action, brought by several investors who purchased common shares and notes of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc, now known as Bausch Health Companies Inc.

Mouvement d’éducation et de défense des actionnaires et Marc Lamoureux v. Société Financière Manuvie, 2017 QCCS 2300
Defended Manulife Financial in this class action launched by the MÉDAC in relation to Manulife’s duties of continuous disclosure. The class action was settled before trial.

AbitibiBowater Inc. v. Fibrek Inc., 2012 QCBDR 17 and 2012 QCCA 569
Represented Fairfax Financial in the proceedings before the Quebec securities commission concerning the hostile takeover of Fibrek Inc.

Re: Canwest Global Communications Corp., 2010 ONSC 4209
Acted for Goldman Sachs in connection with its approx. $700M claim in litigation relating to the restructuring of CanWest Global Communications Corp. and its $2B acquisition by Shaw Communications Inc.

Hooper v. MDS (Canada) Inc., 2009 QCCA 907
Defended with success MDS in a former officer’s contractual claim for a $8,5M financial interest in the corporation.

BCE inc. v. 1976 Debentureholders, [2008] 3 S.C.R. 560
Acted for the purchasers Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, Providence Equity Partners and Madison Dearborn Capital Partners in the landmark case where the Supreme Court of Canada approved the transaction in which our clients purchased BCE Inc. for $52B and dismissed a challenge to the transaction by certain holders of Bell Canada debentures. One of the central issues was the interpretation of the contracts under which the Bell Canada debentures were issued.

Metcalfe & Mansfield Alternative Investments II Corp., (Re), 2008 ONCA 587
Acted in the matter of the restructuring of the Canadian market of asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP), worth some $32B. We also challenged the restructuring plan for a $1B group of noteholders, namely Air Transat, Pharmacies Jean-Coutu, Aéroports de Montréal and the Société générale de financement du Québec.

Represented several executives of public issuers in the context of investigations conducted by the financial market authorities in Quebec and Ontario into suspicious transactions, the adequacy of continuous disclosure, insider trading, etc.

Steinberg Inc. v. Caisse-Socanav Inc.
Represented with success virtually all the preferred shareholders of Steinberg Inc. whose shares had not been acquired during the forced take-over by the Caisse-Socanav group. We obtained on their behalf a settlement of approx. $90M.