Through its offices in Toronto and Montréal, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg maintains a dominant position in the eastern half of Canada, with a litigation bench distributed evenly among both offices that is composed of a healthy generational spread of seasoned partners and up-and-comers, all imbued with a hard-charging approach to litigation. Peers regularly reference the firm as being one of the strongest and most balanced in terms of litigation horsepower at a firm that is not exclusively dedicated to litigation. “Davies remains one of the most consistently strong group of litigators. They’re always at the very front of the pack.” Clients meanwhile turn out in force to voice their appreciation for the firm. One cheers the Davies team as “incredibly responsive, with a very quick and thorough grasp of the issues to resolve” and specifically addresses the “excellent and rigorous legal analysis and attention to detail.” Another client notes, “The representations prepared [for us] addressed the issues in depth, and they were delivered within the agreed deadline and mostly on budget.” Still another offers in summation, “I have worked with almost all of the leading Canadian dispute resolution firms. Davies is in the highest grouping.”
In the Toronto office, all-purpose trial lawyer Kent Thomson is a towering figure. Respected as a tireless, dogged worker and a dynamic courtroom presence, Thomson has the support from both peers and clients. Thomson, along with Derek Ricci, is acting for TransAlta Corporation in defending an oppression action brought by a minority shareholder. This $750 million dispute was commenced after a Davies team successfully defended TransAlta in connection with “public interest” proceedings initiated against TransAlta by Mangrove Partners before the Ontario Securities Commission and Alberta Securities Commission. Michael Lubetsky is also part of this team and is a debut future star who is generating a notable groundswell of peer and client review on his own. “Michael Lubetsky was spectacularly diligent and thorough, particularly given the
pro bono nature of the mandate [he led for us],” testifies one client. “He and the Davies team left no stone unturned and presented well-researched and creative arguments to the court.” Lubetsky is also working with Andrea Burke and Sandra Forbes in acting for McKesson in a proposed class action brought by the Province of British Columbia on behalf of all Canadian provincial governments, as well as the Federal government, against manufacturers and distributors of opioids seeking to recover health care costs related to the opioid crisis. Ricci meanwhile is also acting for Giant Tiger in the defense of numerous class proceedings commenced in jurisdictions across Canada relating to alleged price-fixing of commercial bread products in Canada at the wholesale and retail levels. Acting with Ricci is Chantelle Cseh, a swiftly risen former future star who is making her impactful presence felt in the market. “Chantelle Cseh is the pride of Barrie [Ontario],” enthuses one peer. “She is someone I’ve done a boatload of work with and she’s an absolute pleasure to do business with, an extraordinary lawyer.” Cseh is acting as counsel for the appellants, the Estate Trustees of Barry and Honey Sherman, in the high-profile appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada against the Toronto Star and its Chief Investigative Reporter in a matter concerning a sealing order obtained by the Estate Trustees which restricts public access to materials filed in connection with the administration of the Shermans’ estates. Cseh and Matthew Milne-Smith acted for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce as an intervener before the Supreme Court of Canada in an appeal concerning the applicability of arbitration clauses to class actions on Ontario. The plaintiff is an Uber driver who asserts that he is an employee entitled to the protections of the Employment Standards Act. However, at the time that he signed up to be an Uber driver, he entered into an agreement that stated that he was an independent contractor and not an employee, and that any disputes relating to the agreement were to be resolved by way of arbitration. The Supreme Court found that Uber’s Canadian arbitration clauses were unconscionable and invalid. The client intervened in the appeal to assert the importance of holding parties to their commercial bargains.
The Montréal team has been equally busy with its own unique mix of cases across several disciplines. The insolvency group has seen a particularly pronounced level of activity this year. “Davies has had a huge run lately in acting for debtor companies,” attests a peer. “Just taking a look at the numbers for this year it has been them [leading these matters] very often. Particularly out of Montréal because a ton of the retail filings this year have been there.” Denis Ferland is acting as counsel for The Pallinghurst Group, a global metals and mining industry investor, in its proposed equity investment of up to $600 million in Nemaska Lithium to help fund Nemaska’s Whabouchi project in Québec. The transactions involve the first reverse vesting order approved by a Canadian court in the face of active opposition from certain creditors. Leon Moubayed, a “young but very experienced” partner with a white-collar crime specialty, successfully acted for a franchisee in his defense to a prosecution regarding tax-related charges. This prosecution was a test case in a major investigation of computer products franchisees led by the Québec Revenue Agency and the Sûreté du Québec,the provincial police. Moubayed successfully challenged the disclosure of the evidence by the public prosecutors, obtaining a precedent-setting decision in December 2019, and also successfully argued and obtained a judgment from the Court of Québec concluding that the prosecution infringed the client’s right to be tried within a reasonable time and, as a result, ordered a stay of proceedings and charges. Nick Rodrigo, a class-action authority, is acting for US-based Epic Games and its Canadian subsidiary in relation to a proposed class action by users of the popular video game Fortnite. In a class action that is the first of its kind in Canada, the plaintiffs allege that Epic Games intentionally designed Fortnite to be psychologically addictive, leading to uncontrollable and compulsive behavior in players of the game. In addition, the plaintiff complains that the system of in-game purchases is designed to exploit this addiction and represents a form of illegal advertising to children prohibited under the Québec Consumer Protection Act. Guy du Pont, a seasoned trial lawyer and universally revered figure in the Montréal legal community, continues to pursue his agenda of pursuing cases with a tax element.
