ONTARIO
Borden Ladner Gervais’ Ontario presence is fortified by offices in Toronto and Ottawa, both stocked with versatile litigators attending to various specialties. These locations are particularly revered for the diversity of practices, covering health and medical, insurance and public law – areas in which the firm has been particularly dominant – as well as both domestic and international arbitration, construction, commercial litigation and securities.
The Toronto office elevated its stature in the securities space with a high-profile win for Cormark Securities in a thorny matter in which the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) alleged that Cormark and various other individual and group defendants engaged in illegal distribution of securities, failed to act in good faith and conducted themselves contrary to the public interest regarding certain transactions initiated by the defendants facilitating the 2017 exchange listing of cannabis entity Canopy Growth Corporation. The OSC claimed this series of transactions constituted an illegal distribution of Canopy shares without the required prospectus. Led by securities star
David Di Paolo and future star Graham Splawski, the Borden Ladner team argued that the transactions did not constitute an illegal distribution, emphasizing that the restricted shares remained within the regulatory "closed system" and were distinct from the freely-trading shares sold on the market, demonstrating compliance with the law. This argument proved successful when, in November 2024, the Capital Markets Tribunal rejected the OSC’s claim. This landmark win further augmented the already celebrated status of the two lead partners. “Dave Di Paolo is an excellent lawyer, with excellent oral advocacy” declares a peer. “You see him a ton in the securities space, and I’m seeing a lot more of him lately. He’s very strategic. Graham Splawski is also a real up-and-comer, who’s generating a lot more notice.” The Toronto office is also home to one of the firm’s most championed arbitration practitioners,
Hugh Meighen. “Hugh has great international chops,” states a peer, who goes on to mention, “He got training at [Magic Circle UK firm] Freshfields in London, and he is a very well respected guy.”
Caitlin Sainsbury is another favorite of the Toronto legal community. “We are big fans of Caitlin,” claims one securities-focused peer. “She really knows her way around the competition and the securities spaces, which is rare, especially for someone of her vintage.” Nadia Effendi is also lauded for “fierce dedication to advocacy in the public law space.” Effendi “came up with [celebrated appellate star and Borden Ladner counsel] Guy Pratte and has since taken on her own cases with aplomb.”
QUÉBEC
Borden Ladner Gervais’ Montréal office is home to a team dedicated to work that has been recognized as some of the firm’s key calling cards, such as construction, insurance and labor and employment. The latter practice is particularly deep in Montréal. Justine Laurier is the regional manager for this practice and has been particularly visible as one of its top advocates. Laurier triumphed on behalf of Lightspeed Commerce in May 2024, when the Superior Court of Montréal ruled in the client’s favor in a dispute concerning compensation being sought be a senior executive of the company who allegedly suffered losses in options and equity during his termination period.
Karine Chênevert continues to garner acclaim for her practice that balances a diverse array of class-action matters.
The Montréal office lays claim to a particularly high-profile and multifaceted win in an investor-state arbitral award dispute for shareholders in private India-based entity Devas, who in November 2021, initiated recognition and enforcement proceedings of two such awards mandating the Republic of India to pay over US$110 million before the Superior Court of Quebec. Because of India’s failure to honor the obligations of this award, Devas successfully seized Montréal-based assets valued at US$37.5 million. The case wound its way through a serpentine path of several court proceedings and decisions, before three appeals were heard at the Quebec Court of Appeal in December 2023. A year later, this Court issued a landmark decision in favor of the Devas investors. The case was led by Montréal luminary Mathieu Piché Messier, who remained involved until his judicial appointment in September 2024, after which Montréal future star
Karine Fahmy and Toronto’s Ira Nishisato, a commercial litigator with a noted niche in injunctions, asset freezes and other extraordinary remedies, commandeered the proceedings. “If this isn’t the biggest case in Montréal at the moment, it’s certainly in the Top Three,” ventures one local peer, echoing the sentiment of others.
ALBERTA
Borden Ladner Gervais’ Calgary office is particularly noted for its construction practice, largely focused on the energy industry. “In construction, we see BLG a lot, particularly on the higher-end arbitrations,” notes a peer. The construction group is led by Patricia “Trish” Morrison, who took the baton from Calgary construction luminary Jeff Vallis, who has since retired. Peers also note, “In class actions,
Loni da Costasteps in and has done a fantastic job there.”
The firm acts for ITP, a pipe-in-pipe technology company based in France. The plaintiff, CNOOC Petroleum North America, filed a Statement of Claim against a number of parties including ITP alleging breach of contract and negligence related to a pipeline failure in Northern Alberta. The pipeline failure resulted in approximately five million liters of bitumen being released into the environment. The value of this matter is over C$700 million.
Andrew Pozzobon provides the trial lead, while Peter Banks leads in the appellate capacity.
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Borden Ladner Gervais’ Vancouver office is home to litigators in various capacities, but is particularly noted for those attending to arbitration, environmental and land-use, construction and class-action cases. “It’s especially remarkable how much international arbitration work they do,” observes one direct peer. “Robert Deane particularly – he’s all over the place. He’s such great counsel that so many clients want him involved, so he is actually doing more than just arbitration these days, getting pulled in all kinds of directions, but he seems to be able to handle it all.
Craig Chiasson is [BLG’s] primary arbitration counsel now. Craig is also sitting as an arbitrator – and getting more appointments than I am getting now, which is annoying!”
In one such example of Deane’s ever-broadening spectrum of work, he and
Michelle Maniago work on a constitutional rights-focused suit concerning the family of a Vancouver woman who was forced to transfer hospitals before she could receive medical assistance in dying, a case that also exemplifies Maniago’s versatility; Maniago is most often recognized for her class-action work. “[Seasoned Vancouver class-action counsel]
Brad Dixon is still there and still doing great, but Michelle is really stepping it up and appearing on a lot more lead roles,” notes a peer.
Sarah McEachern is also cheered for “really building up her [construction, commercial and arbitration] practice over there and doing quite nicely.”
