Another Montréal litigation boutique, which saw its formation largely on the strength of an entrepreneurial group that decamped from the once-revered but since-imploded Heenan Blaikie, LCM is making its presence increasingly felt in the city’s litigation community. A peer asserts, “When you’re against someone from LCM, you feel it. They are aggressive! They are also aggressive in business development. They have shown some real initiative in this area and able to attract clients by offering real quality work for more flexible fee points.” Another confirms, “When it comes to referrals, they are always in the top two or three firms getting these, and these are for big files. But they are also getting called directly for class actions! That seems relatively new for them. Five years ago, that would not have been the case. And because their revenue structure is not based on large transactions, they can be more creative and – as someone who’s been across from them, I can tell you – more combative.” It is also noted that “LCM is really becoming the lawyers’ lawyers – they are getting some work defending big firms.”
Patrick Ferland, uniformly championed by peers, attends to a diverse practice including appellate work and judicial review. Ferland is also known for a lot of international law work, recognition of foreign judgments, and a lot of work for foreign states of foreign entities regarding issues of sovereign immunity. “Patrick is really the brains on a lot of their cases,” asserts one peer. “Even if he’s not the one standing up in court and arguing them, he puts a lot of his intellect into them and when you witness him in action you think, ‘My God, this guy is bright.’” Specifically, Ferland’s representation of the Republic of Iraq and other state entities is in the context of claims for the recognition of a foreign arbitration award. Ferland also leads the representation of an aircraft lessor in the context of the seizure of Airbus aircraft under construction in the context of proceedings seeking the recognition of an English judgment against the Tanzania and Air Tanzania Company. On a more local level, Ferland also leads the representation of Walmart Canada before the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of Canada in a major class action against Visa and Mastercard. Ferland has also developed an expertise in public or administrative law. He is also “getting a lot more work as an arbitrator,” according to peers, one of whom marvels, “For that to be the case for someone of his vintage is pretty impressive.”
David Joanisse is observed as being “crazy-busy in court,” with one peer testifying, “People look for his strong legal/business advice. He had five trials just this past winter, [he is] very strong on his feet.” Joanisse, along with
Julien Archambault, are the primary engines driving the firm’s momentum in construction litigation. “They represent a lot of condo boards,” confirms a peer, who goes on to elaborate, “I’m against them in about five different matters now, worth about $100 million each in construction deficiencies. They also represent a lot of big players on the sub-contractor side.” Archambault is heralded by a peer as “a name in the construction field that is so robust. I worked on matters with him, and I felt like a super-junior lawyer. I said, ‘I’m feeling stupid next to you!’ This case is one of the largest builders in Québec.”
Marc-André Landry is “getting lots of shareholder and construction work.” One peer confides, “I just spoke with him this morning and he had just gotten called for a government-related financial institution.”
Dominique Ménard is also mentioned in glowing terms. “She MUST be one of your top women litigators in Canada,” insists a peer. “She keeps getting these high-profile cases where she is retained as counsel for injunction matters, Anton Piller, Mareva, Norwich, just incredible.” Marie-Noel Rochon is another star quickly on the rise. One testifies, “I speak to my friends in the securities field and they love her. Securities is hard because it’s highly regulated, you have to have some economic background. She superbly has risen up to almost at the [highly acclaimed Norton Rose Fulbright star and Québec trial luminary] Sophie Melchers level! That is not something I would say lightly!” Nicholas Daudelin is noted as a “HUGE file guy, does a lot of everything but also administrative and defamation law work. [He is] Uber-smart and can crunch massive amounts of data.” A relatively new partner, Nicolas Roche’s “reputation is getting bigger and bigger in the market for his shareholder cases,” states a peer. “He’s uber-smart, he has a chess-player mind, very Cartesian. He is almost a HYBRID of litigation and corporate, in terms of his business sense.”
