Here are Québec’s best insolvency and financial restructuring law firms based on the results of Lexpert’s comprehensive yearly peer review. The complete list of the province’s most recommended lawyers and law firms in the field can be viewed on our practice area rankings.
In our survey, the practice of restructuring and insolvency litigation encompasses acting for and advising lenders and other creditors, debtors, trustees, receivers and other participants in corporate insolvencies and debt enforcement, collection and recovery. The practice also involves bankruptcy, receivership or similar court-supervised insolvency proceedings or private enforcement remedies.
Most frequently recommended insolvency & financial restructuring law firms
McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Year established: 1855
Number of lawyers: 11 (Bankruptcy & Restructuring)
Number of ranked lawyers: 5
Partners: Hugo Babos-Marchand, Miguel Bourbonnais, Marjolaine Hémond Hotte, Jocelyn Perreault, Mason Poplaw, Louis-Philippe Samson, Alain N. Tardif
McCarthy Tétrault LLP is one of Canada’s leading full-service law firms, offering expert legal services to clients in Canada and around the world. The firm delivers integrated business, litigation, tax, real property, and labour and employment offerings through its offices in Canada’s major commercial centres, New York in the US and in London, UK. The firm boasts one of the largest bankruptcy and restructuring groups in the country, with extensive experience in all areas of the practice. The team represents debtors, major financial institutions and other capital providers, large corporate creditors and court-appointed monitors, receivers and trustees. It has served as counsel to leading corporations and institutions on matters involving diverse industries, including agricultural, automotive, health law, hospitality, manufacturing, professional services, retail, service, sports and recreation. The group also provides advice on structured finance and securitizations and helps executives acting as directors manage their personal risk, both statutory liability and risk of claims against them.
Read more about McCarthy Tétrault LLP in changes in Canada’s sales and income taxes
Stikeman Elliott LLP
Year established: 1952
Number of lawyers: 15 (Restructuring & Insolvency)
Number of ranked lawyers: 4
Partners: C. Jean Fontaine, Warren M. Katz, Kevin Kyte, Serge Levy, Guy P. Martel, Joseph Reynaud, Maxime Turcotte, Danny Duy Vu, Claire Zikovsky
Stikeman Elliott LLP specializes in business law and has clients in Canada and across the globe. The firm provides counsel and advise through its offices in Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal, Calgary and Vancouver, and international headquarters in New York, London and Sydney. Its primary practice areas include mergers and acquisitions, securities, litigation and dispute resolution, banking and finance, competition and foreign investment, tax, restructuring, energy, real estate, project development, pensions and labour and employment. The firm’s restructuring and insolvency group has built a reputation as a leader in the sector by guiding many of the most noteworthy commercial restructurings in Canadian history to a successful conclusion. The team boasts extensive experience in handling the most complex insolvencies and corporate restructurings and has represented clients in both public and private insolvency and restructuring matters.
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Consistently recommended insolvency & financial restructuring law firms
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG)
Year established: 1823
Number of lawyers: 6 (Insolvency & Restructuring)
Number of ranked lawyers: 1
Partners: Marc Duchesne, François D. Gagnon, Mathieu Lévesque, Kevin Mailloux, Claudine Millette
Full-service firm Borden Ladner Gervais LLP advises businesses and other institutions on all aspects of business law, including mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, major disputes, financing and trademark and patent registration. The firm has over 700 lawyers in its offices in Montréal, Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver. It excels under both the common and civil law systems. BLG is Canada’s oldest law firm and one of the first in North America to implement client service standards. The firm’s insolvency and restructuring team advises clients on financial or operational restructurings arising from formal restructuring or recognition proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) or the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, including asset and business sales, acquisitions and pre-packaged plans. The group also helps clients with out-of-court restructurings, including loan amendments and inter-creditor and forbearance arrangements. The team’s lawyers boast extensive experience in diverse areas, including mergers and acquisitions, securities, litigation, intellectual property, labour and employment, financial services, fintech, competition, pensions, tax, privacy law and real estate.
Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP
Year established: 1895
Number of lawyers: 4 (Financial Insolvency & Restructuring)
Number of ranked lawyers: 2
Partners: Denis Ferland, Christian Lachance, Gabriel Lavery Lepage
Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP is a full-service business law firm specializing in high-stakes and complex matters. Its clients include leading businesses and financial institutions in North America and abroad. Davies has offices in Toronto, Montréal and New York. The firm advises clients in a range of practice areas, including capital markets and securities, commercial real estate, competition and foreign investment, corporate governance, dispute resolution, finance, white-collar defence, mergers and acquisitions, pensions and executive compensation, private equity and tax. Davies’ financial insolvency and restructuring group helps creditors, debtors, shareholders, investors, monitors, trustees and receivers navigate all the challenges and complexities of a restructuring or insolvency. The team has a global perspective and a multi-jurisdictional reach, working regularly with insolvency practitioners and courts internationally, particularly in the US and the UK.
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Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
Year established: 2000
Number of lawyers: 10 (Insolvency & Restructuring)
Number of ranked lawyers: 4
Partners: Alexander Bayus, Luc Béliveau, Louis Carrière, Brandon Farber, Charles Mercier, Jean G. Morency, Marc-André Morin, Alain Reindeau
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP is a full-service law firm with more than 700 lawyers worldwide. In Canada, its offices are located in Vancouver, Surrey, Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal, Québec City and Calgary. The firm also has international headquarters in London in the UK, Johannesburg in South Africa and Beijing in China. Fasken specializes in complex business and litigation matters. The firm takes pride in having a diverse and inclusive workplace, and its community involvement, pro bono work and membership in respected legal organizations globally. Fasken’s insolvency and restructuring lawyers have been involved in all types of restructuring and insolvency proceedings in Canada and boasts extensive experience in cross-border restructurings, including under Chapter 11 and Chapter 15 of the US Bankruptcy Code. They also have comparable expertise throughout the UK and Africa. The team represents debtors, lenders and accounting and advisory firms acting as court-appointed monitors, receivers and information officers in insolvency proceedings. The group also regularly advise purchasers, investors, lenders and others in transactions with insolvent debtors. The team offers diverse solutions ranging from informal workouts and restructurings to more formal proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, Canada Business Corporations Act, Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act or Winding-Up and Restructuring Act.
Read more about Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP in the risks and rewards of cryptocurrencies
Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP
Year established: 2012 (Canada)
Number of lawyers: 15 (Bankruptcy, Financial Restructuring & Insolvency)
Number of ranked lawyers: 5
Partners: Maxime Cantin, Arnold Cohen, Claudia Déry, Julie Himo, Guillaume Michaud, Luc Morin, Christian B. Roy, Louis Roy
Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP is an international full-service business law firm with more than 3,700 lawyers and legal staff based in North and Latin America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Middle East and Africa. It has offices in more than 50 cities worldwide, including Toronto, London, Houston, New York, Mexico City, Hong Kong, Sydney and Johannesburg. The firm serves the world’s largest corporations and financial institutions. It boasts extensive experience in key industries, including finance, energy, infrastructure, and mining, transportation, technology, life sciences and healthcare. The firm’s bankruptcy, financial restructuring and insolvency practice boasts multidisciplinary experience and international reach. Its bankruptcy lawyers handle some of the most complex and sensitive domestic and cross-border assignments across the globe. They have an impressive record of achieving successful outcomes in bankruptcy proceedings throughout the world and are active in all areas of financial restructurings and insolvencies in matters ranging from the largest multinational cases to significant regional businesses.
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
Year established: 1862
Number of lawyers: 4 (Insolvency & Restructuring)
Number of ranked lawyers: 1
Partners: Sandra Abitan, Julien Morissette
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP one of Canada’s largest full-service firms with offices in Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal, Calgary, Vancouver and New York in the US. It boasts a stable of more than 400 lawyers providing expert legal services to Canadian and international clients. The firm is recognized for its extensive expertise in business law and is consistently ranked as among Canada’s top law firms. It is well-versed in a wide range of industries, including agribusiness, clean tech, energy, fintech, food products, gaming, health, hospitality and leisure, infrastructure, life sciences, mining, real estate investment trusts, REIT, retail and venture capital. The law firm’s insolvency and restructuring team represents directors, senior executives, in-house counsel, credit and investment officers and fund managers and other professional advisors, court-appointed officers and regulators. It provides advice and leadership in distress situations, including mergers and acquisitions, securitizations and derivatives, credit matters, supply chain management, financial reporting and governance in business-critical situations.