QUÉBEC
Stikeman Elliott saw its genesis in Montréal and continues its reign as one of the city’s premier players in the commercial litigation arena. The general consensus among those in the Montréal community is summed up by one peer’s assertion: “Stikeman is by far [at] the top out of all of the national firms in Montréal, especially in the corporate commercial litigation space.” A client testifies, “They prepared a very complex case, [and it was] against an aggressive and plaintiff that used selective information to distort the truth massively.” The Montréal litigation group, widely considered one of the strongest, deepest and most consistent, is helmed by
Éric Mongeau, who is universally beloved by peers and clients. One such client addresses Mongeau as “[someone who is] excellent at diving into the details of the case and leaving no rocks unturned. [He is a] Master at putting together the facts in a compelling and truthful story, and attacking (more like surgically discrediting) the opponent's logic and position.” Mongeau led a major commercial matter for a consortium of conservationist businessmen in a dispute concerning the purchase of a wilderness reserve. Mongeau triumphed on his clients’ behalf in August of 2023. Yves Martineau is another perennial favorite in the Montréal office. While Martineau has long been a leading figure in the class actions space, he has also earned his stripes as a trial lawyer, a status that was further cemented when he was welcomed as a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers within the past year. “Yes, he mostly does class actions, which rarely go to trial, but Yves cut his teeth doing trials and is still considered one of the top pleaders in Montréal,” summarizes one contemporary. Peers also advise, “Keep an eye on
Guillaume Beaudreault-Simard. He is the younger foil to Yves in class actions.” Another peer ventures, I worked with
Éric Azran on estate litigation work, and he was very involved, so although he is recognized for insurance and securities, he does more than that!” Another peer declares, “I had a very heated debate with
Joseph Reynauld in an insolvency dispute and he was very sharp, very strong.” Enthusiasm is also vibrant for
Pierre-Paul Daunais. “Oh, this guy is at the top of his game, without a doubt,” extols one peer. “He had a great result in a case for RBI Tim Hortons concerning an alleged privacy breach on their app.”
ONTARIO
Of all the national firms on Bay Steet, Stikeman Elliott is also considered one of the strongest for corporate commercial litigation. “[They do] excellent work in a number of areas, in particular with their dispute appeal services as well as their major commercial litigation leadership,” confirms a client. Speaking to the Toronto team’s bench strength, as well as its relative headroom, one peer states, “One of my favorite people is
Eliot Kolers, who is still on the young side but actually one of the more senior team members at this point! It’s a great group, and that includes
Dan Murdoch and Aaron Kreaden. I love having cases with these people, they are all very capable and decent counsel who don’t constantly throw up silly motions.” Kolers provided Toronto lead on a milestone win for Teck Resources in the $1 billion sale of its interest in an oil sands project in Calgary. The Toronto team is also noted for its command in the competition capacity. “Katherine Kay is a longtime leader who is still in this space all the time,” observes a peer, “but we also see Sinziana Hennig and Danielle Royal more often.” A team composed of Kay, Murdoch and Hennig represented SNC Lavalin in the successful dismissal of the plaintiff’s application for leave to commence and certification of a proposed secondary market securities class action alleging that SNC failed to make timely disclosure of a material change. In 2021 the Ontario Superior Court held that the claim had no prospect of success and certification of the proposed class action should consequently also be denied, and in 2023, the Ontario Court of Appeal released its decision dismissing the plaintiff’s appeal. The plaintiff did not seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.
ALBERTA
Stikeman’s Calgary office, while substantially smaller than the firm’s Eastern operations, consists of two partners,
Mike Mestinsek and Geoffrey Holub, who both have a dedicated client following. Mestinsek is called “a practical, aggressive, problem solver” by a client, who goes on to confirm, “Mike is exceptionally responsive and has presence. He is appropriately aggressive and mindful of strategy/tactics that will work for the given party and issue. He is great at identifying the right resource to assist.” Another client offers a particularly glowing and fulsome review:, “Mike is a gifted litigator who also excels at the customer service side of the business. Mike learned the complexity of the business and our underlying contracts. He managed each step of our litigation extremely well and communicated to us in a timely and detailed manner. Mike effectively managed a difficult counterparty extremely well - both their corporate representative and their lead counsel. He handled himself with professionalism all the time, even though it might have been challenging to do that at during many stressful times. Mike also did a great job supporting a parallel path of settlement discussions, at the right time, and giving honest views on pros/cons of all facets our case and the possible path of litigation.” Holub is not without his fans as well. “Geoff is very experienced and practical, plus he’s also very courteous, in a way that is not always the case with other litigators I’ve been involved with.” Holub provided Calgary counsel on the aforementioned matter for Teck. The Calgary office is also in growth mode; this year the firm lured Matti Lemmens, a versatile younger litigator with a swiftly rising profile, to its bench from another national firm.
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Like its Calgary office, Stikeman’s Vancouver shop is also smaller than the firm’s Eastern segment and is similarly in growth mode. It also receives healthy client review. “They managed all aspects of our litigation in a very detailed and thorough manner, maximizing our chancing for a positive outcome,” offers one client. Long recognized for the presence of
David Brown, an all-purpose commercial litigator with a local peer following, the Vancouver office benefited from the addition of younger stars
Jonathan Buysen and Angela Crimeni, both of whom boast their own respective commercial litigation portfolios and ascending community and client followings.
