Founded in February 2015, Renno Vathilakis Inc. has quickly become one of Montreal’s premier corporate and commercial litigation boutiques. Practising in the fields of corporate litigation and shareholder disputes, class actions, franchise and distribution litigation, commercial arbitration, bankruptcy and insolvency, competition law, family law, constitutional law, privacy law, defamation and freedom of expression, employment law, construction law and securities law litigation, Renno Vathilakis Inc. provides its clients with top flight representation.
Both of the firm’s co-founders have a consistent and impressive track record litigating and resolving corporate and commercial disputes.
Karim Renno was previously a partner in the Montreal litigation department of renown Canadian firm Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, as well as a partner in the highly regarded Montreal litigation boutique of Irving Mitchell Kalichman LLP. Through his fifteen years of litigation experience, he has amassed a number of accolades. Since 2013, he has been ranked as a Litigation Star in Benchmark Litigation and was cited as an Up and Coming litigator in the 2014 and 2015 editions of Chambers Global. He has been recognized by Best Lawyers Canada as a leading practitioner for corporate/commercial litigation in Québec since 2015. In 2013, Karim was awarded by the Client Choice awards as the top litigator in the province of Québec for client service. Finally, Karim has been recognized by Benchmark Litigation as one of Canada’s top 50 trial lawyers since 2015. He is also the founder and editor in chief of the ‘’ À bon droit’’ blog and contributes hundreds of case commentaries every year. In fact, his blog was named best practitioner legal blog in Canada for 2012 by the Canadian Law Blog Awards and was a finalist for Best Canadian Law Blog at the same awards in 2013 and 2014. He is a regular contributor to well-known law blogs such as Canlii Connects, Droit Inc. and Edilex. Moreover, Karim has published numerous articles relating to corporate law, commercial law, evidence and civil procedure.
He has amassed a vast experience and enjoys an excellent reputation with regard to private international law matters and injunctions, having argued before the Supreme Court of Canada on multiple occasions in cases involving such issues. Moreover, Karim has represented some of the most important companies before all levels of Québec courts. Karim has acted as lead counsel in several high profile cases related to the telecommunications, credit card, pharmaceutical, construction, tobacco, software, real estate, airline and transportation industries.
Co-founder Michael Vathilakis has an equally impressive track record. After working for two national law firms, Michael was tapped to lead the in-house team of Future Electronics Inc., one of the world’s largest electronic components distributors. He soon rose to the position of General Counsel, Vice-President Legal Affairs of the company. From that position, he spearheaded and oversaw numerous high profile commercial court trials and arbitrations, as well as a number of significant business transactions. He returned to private practice to found Renno Vathilakis Inc. His practice focuses on dispute prevention, commercial litigation and family law. In fact, Michael is recognized by Best Lawyers Canada (2020) as leading practitioner in Family Law. Michael has acted before all levels of Québec courts as lead counsel in significant cases related to, amongst others, technology, electronic component distribution and real estate industries. A member of the Law Society of Upper Canada - as well as the QUÉBEC Bar - Michael has represented clients in international arbitrations both in Canada and abroad. He has also acted in various employment cases and is presently one of the lead counsel in a number of significant class actions.
Michael holds a master’s degree in law from Harvard University (LL.M.) and has been recognized by Benchmark Litigation as a Litigation Star from 2016.
Michael lectures to law students on a frequest basis - with respect to international commercial arbitration and class actions - at Harvard Law School, Stanford, McGill Law School and the University of Montreal.
The founding partners are supported by a highly skilled and growing team. The young firm currently consists of six lawyers, two articling students and several summer students - with a view of further growth in the coming years.
Renno Vathilakis Inc. is dedicated to providing its clients with top notch dispute resolution services and to finding creative solutions to complex problems.
Updated April 2023
