Here are the leading banking and finance lawyers in Québec based on the results of Lexpert’s comprehensive annual peer survey. The complete lineup of the province’s most recommended lawyers and law firms in the field can be viewed via our practice area rankings list.
In our survey, banking law encompasses the practice of representing domestic and international providers and consumers of debt financing, while financial law focuses on the regulatory matters affecting banks, insurance providers, and trust and loan companies.
Most frequently recommended banking and finance lawyers
Michel Deschamps
Law firm: McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1970
City: Montréal
Michel Deschamps serves as counsel at McCarthy Tétrault LLP. He practises banking and commercial law at the firm’s Montréal office. Deschamps boasts broad experience in domestic and cross-border loan syndications, secured transactions, project finance, international banking transactions and the regulation of financial institutions. He participates as a Canadian delegate in law reform projects in the area of secured transactions sponsored by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law and the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law, and also takes part in the works of the Uniform Law Conference of Canada. Deschamps has authored numerous articles and is an associate professor on banking law at the Law Faculty of Université de Montréal. He is also a frequent speaker at conferences in Canada and abroad on topics related to his areas of practice.
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Sterling H. Dietze
Law firm: Stikeman Elliott LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1991 (QC); 1996 (ON)
City: Montréal
Sterling H. Dietze is a partner at Stikeman Elliott LLP’s banking and finance group. His practice involves all aspects of institutional finance and banking. Dietze has acted for borrowers and lenders in various financing transactions, including gold loans, securitizations, syndicated loans and participation agreements, asset-based financing, infrastructure financing, international financial transactions, project financing and financial derivative products. He has acted as counsel to foreign financial institutions concerning the financial regulatory environment in Canada and the province of Québec, and as special international counsel to a presidential commission in Haiti for the reform of secured transaction laws. Dietze was directly involved in the drafting of standard form security documentation for one of the major Canadian chartered banks in light of the reform of Québec civil law.
Read more about Stikeman Elliott LLP on recognizing Canada’s stake in leading the energy transition
David Lemieux
Law firm: Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1993
City: Montréal
David Lemieux is a partner Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP. He practises mainly in corporate finance and restructuring. Lemieux frequently organizes and leads teams of lawyers to represent lending syndicates, borrowers and investors. His practice covers the full spectrum of Canadian, cross-border and foreign matters related to project financing, public and private takeover bids, asset acquisitions, monetization, securitization, asset financing and debt restructuring. Lemieux is also involved in the negotiation, preparation and finalization of all aspects of these transactions, including the corporate structuring, credit documentation, agreements between creditors, security documents and the restructuring of debt.
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Richard O’Doherty
Law firm: McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Year called to the Bar: 2000
City: Montréal
Richard O’Doherty serves as partner at McCarthy Tétrault LLP. He devotes his practice to projects, project financing and corporate lending. His recent experience includes acting for various lenders and developers in the power, mining, transportation and logistics, manufacturing, retail, telecommunication and agribusiness sectors. O’Doherty has acted in more than 20 wind farm financings, and financings pertaining to hydroelectric, mining and solar projects. He also regularly advises on multicurrency cross-border and private equity transactions and other acquisition financings.
Consistently recommended banking and finance lawyers
Marc Dorion
Law firm: McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1979
City: Québec City
Marc Dorion is a partner at the business law group at McCarthy Tétrault LLP. He is also a co-leader of the firm’s national energy and infrastructure law groups. Dorion supervises the natural resources group in Québec and is responsible for the activities of the firm relating to the development of Northern Québec. He devotes his practice to the development and financing of major projects, and other financing operations and privatizations. Dorion advises companies, lending institutions and other interveners in relation to the steps of development, financing, construction and operation of projects in the energy, infrastructure, natural resources and industrial sectors. He also acts as strategic counsel for numerous companies in connection with the development of Northern Québec and has considerable experience in commercial negotiation and public affairs. Dorion was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1992 and was awarded the title Advocatus Emeritus by the Québec Bar in 2007.
Mathieu Dubord
Law firm: McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Year called to the Bar: 2003
City: Montréal
Mathieu Dubord is a partner at McCarthy Tétrault LLP’s business law group in Montréal. He specializes in local and cross-border financings, with a focus on project and infrastructure finance, public-private partnerships, acquisition financings, equipment finance and regulation of financial institutions. His recent finance transactions include advising the lenders to the successful bidder for the Sorel-Tracy Detention Center project, advising the promoters of a $725-million financing of a 270MW wind farm project and advising the lenders to the successful bidder for the Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal. Dubord is recognized as one of the top banking and finance lawyers in the country. He also sits on the board of the Infrastructure Council.
Marie-France Gagnon
Law firm: McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1996
City: Montréal
Marie-France Gagnon serves as partner at McCarthy Tétrault LLP’s Montréal office. She also leads the firm’s business law group for the Québec region. Gagnon devotes her practice to corporate finance, asset financing, project financing and banking. She represents banks, financial institutions and other lenders and borrowers in transactions involving the implementation of various types of credits, including cross-border financing. Gagnon has clients in the energy, pulp and paper, infrastructure and aviation industries.
Neil Katz
Law firm: Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1996
City: Montréal
Neil Katz is a partner at Blakes, Cassels & Graydon LLP. He practises in the areas of bank financing, real estate, private equity and venture capital, and commercial and business law. Katz has extensive expertise in advising leading public and private companies, institutional investors, private equity sponsors, chartered banks and other financial institutions on a wide variety of transactions. He acts for borrowers and lenders in a variety of domestic and cross-border loans and for vendors and purchasers of private companies, business units and real estate assets. Prior to his career in law, Katz worked as an analyst and appraiser for a major real estate developer, the investment banking arm of a Canadian chartered bank and a leading real estate appraisal firm. He writes and speaks on financing, real estate, and corporate and commercial matters. Katz is fluent in French and English.
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Marc Novello
Law firm: Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1989
City: Montréal
Marc Novello is a partner at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP. He specializes in corporate finance. Novello represents and advises lending syndicates and investors in project financing, public and private takeover bids, asset acquisitions and debt restructuring. He also represents borrowers in connection with their borrowings and derivative instruments. Novello is actively involved in the implementation, negotiation, preparation and finalization of all aspects of cross-border financing, including credit and intercreditor agreements, investment contracts and security documents and bank debt restructuring documentation. He is also a conference lecturer on best legal practices in bank financing and the creation of effective security documentation in syndicated loan transactions.
Mary Jeanne F. Phelan
Law firm: McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Year called to the Bar: 2000 (QC); 2000 (New York)
City: Montréal
Mary Jeanne F. Phelan is a partner at McCarthy Tétrault LLP’s Montréal office. She is a banking and finance law expert, focusing on commercial lending, asset securitization, structured finance and derivatives. Phelan advises on cross-border loan syndications, factoring and securitization of receivables, derivatives, debt restructuring and secured transactions. In the area of commercial lending, she has broad experience acting for lenders and borrowers in corporate and acquisition financings, asset-based lending, receivables finance, mining, wind farm, health facility and other project financings, equipment financing and leasing, Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act restructurings and debtor-in-possession financing. On structured finance and asset securitization matters, her experience includes acting for originators, purchasers, conduits and underwriters in transactions involving many classes of receivables. She also has extensive experience in covered bond transactions and commodity and inventory finance structures.
Martin Racicot
Law firm: Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
Year called to the Bar: 2000
City: Montréal
Martin Racicot is a partner at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP. He specializes in finance law. Racicot represents syndicates of financial institutions and investors in corporate finance. He also represents borrowers and private equity sponsors in their financial transactions. Racicot often participates in establishing financing for projects and acquisitions both domestically and cross-border. He is responsible for negotiating, preparing and setting up all aspects of these financing transactions, including credit agreements, agreements between lenders, securities and investment contracts and documentation for the restructuring and refinancing of debt. Racicot has also actively participated in several significant deals, including CGI’s multi-billion-dollar acquisition of Logica and WSP’s acquisition of Parsons Brinckerhoffin. He serves as the vice-chair of the Syndications and Lender Relations Subcommittee of the American Bar Association's Commercial Finance Section. He is also a sought-after conference lecturer covering various corporate finance topics such as acquisition financings and syndicated loan transactions.
Howard Rosenoff
Law firm: Stikeman Elliott LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1994
City: Montréal
Howard Rosenoff is a partner and head of the banking and real estate groups at Stikeman Elliott LLP. He also is a member of the firm’s mergers and acquisitions group. As regards banking law, Rosenoff has represented both lenders and borrowers in a variety of financing transactions, including syndicated loans, project financings and asset-based financings. In project financing, he has a particular expertise in the financing of films and television programs. His corporate and commercial law practice is focused on private mergers and acquisitions, equity financings and corporate restructurings. He also boasts extensive experience in production and distribution matters related to audio-visual works.
Olivier Tardif
Law firm: Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG)
Year called to the Bar: 2003
City: Montréal
Olivier Tardif is a partner at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP’s financial services group in Montréal. He specializes in corporate finance, secured transactions, restructuring and the regulation of financial institutions. Tardif represents financial institutions, including banks and borrowers in connection with private and public financing, project financing, syndicated and cross-border loans and alternative financing through asset-based lending, leasing and structured finance. He also provides advice on various issues relating to the regulation of financial institutions and consumer credit. Tardif is a frequent speaker and writer on issues of financing, secured transactions and restructuring.