Get to know the best insolvency and financial restructuring lawyers in Québec based on Lexpert’s comprehensive yearly peer review. You can also check out the complete results of our survey, featuring the province’s most recommended lawyers and law firms in the practice on our practice area rankings list.
Our survey covers the practice of restructuring and insolvency litigation, which includes 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 and financial restructuring lawyers
Sandra Abitan
Law firm: Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1990
City: Montréal
Sandra Abitan is the managing partner at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP’s Montréal office. She is a recognized among the leading insolvency and financial restructuring lawyers in the country. Her clientele consists of global companies, financial institutions, equity participants and court officers who have sought her advice on working through reorganizations, recapitalizations, restructurings and strategic acquisitions. Abitan boasts expertise in cross-border and international matters, acting for major private and public corporations in various industries. Her firm is among the country’s largest full-service business law firms.
Philippe H. Bélanger
Law firm: McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1989
City: Montréal
Philippe H. Bélanger is a partner at McCarthy Tétrault LLP’s Montréal office. His practice focuses on bankruptcy and restructuring, and commercial litigation. Bélanger frequently represents secured lenders and borrowers in major restructurings and insolvencies. He has appeared before Senate and House of Commons committees on behalf of the Insolvency Institute of Canada. Bélanger has given numerous conferences and published texts in the field of insolvency and creditors’ rights on the topics of Crown rights and recourses, collective agreements, and bankruptcy and lender environmental liability. He is recognized as one of the best insolvency and financial restructuring lawyers in the country.
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Marc Duchesne
Law firm: Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG)
Year called to the Bar: 1981
City: Montréal
Marc Duchesne is a partner at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP and is considered as among the best insolvency litigation lawyers in Canada. He frequently acts as solicitor and litigator in banking, bankruptcy and insolvency matters and corporate restructurings. Duchesne advises financial institutions, creditors, venture capital funds, receivers, monitors and trustees and represents their interests before the courts. He also assists debtors and stakeholders in restructurings and insolvencies and acts in commercial litigation matters, in construction matters and commercial disputes. His experience includes national and cross-border insolvencies, complex liquidation and securities-related insolvency situations. His firm is one of the country’s largest full-service business law firms.
Denis Ferland
Law firm: Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1984
City: Montréal
Denis Ferland is a partner at full-service business law firm Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP. He specializes in bankruptcy, insolvency, financial restructuring, related litigation and commercial litigation. Ferland advises large multinationals, banks and financial institutions, creditors, debtors and court officers. He has acted in many of Québec’s most significant restructuring and insolvency matters, helping to pave the way for countless reorganizations and transactions. Ferland is a frequent speaker on bankruptcy and insolvency issues and has presided over several insolvency and bankruptcy conferences. He is recognized as one of the country’s top insolvency and financial restructuring lawyers.
Jean Fontaine
Law firm: Stikeman Elliott LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1989
City: Montréal
Jean Fontaine is a partner at Stikeman Elliott LLP, one of Canada’s largest full-service business law firms. He holds membership at the firm’s litigation and dispute resolution and restructuring and insolvency groups. His practice focuses on the areas of restructuring and insolvency and shareholders disputes. Fontaine has been involved in numerous cases where he has acted either for the defense or the plaintiff. He represents financial institutions, trustees and public companies. Fontaine is considered among the best insolvency litigation lawyers in the country.
Guy P. Martel
Law firm: Stikeman Elliott LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1998
City: Montréal
Guy P. Martel is a partner at Stikeman Elliott LLP’s litigation and dispute resolution group. He specializes in banking and restructuring. Martel is considered as among the top insolvency and financial restructuring lawyers in Canada. He has actively participated in the representation of lenders, borrowers and investors in Canadian, cross-border or foreign matters. Martel also often acts as legal advisor for lending institutions and companies that specialize in the restructuring and sale of financially troubled businesses.
Luc Morin
Law firm: Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP
Year called to the Bar: 2003
City: Montréal
Luc Morin is a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP. He is also a member of the firm’s commercial litigation group in Montréal. His practice focuses on bankruptcy, insolvency and corporate restructuring. Morin is recognized as among the best insolvency litigation lawyers in the country. He is the current president of the executive committee of the Québec Chapter of the Canadian Bar Association – Insolvency Section. His firm operates globally and specializes in business law.
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Alain Riendeau
Law firm: Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1986
City: Montréal
Alain Riendeau is a partner at the commercial litigation section at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP. The firm is a full-service business law firm and one of the Canada’s largest. Riendeau devotes his practice to civil and commercial litigation, with a focus on insolvency and corporate restructuring. He has been involved in many complex financial disputes and in most of the large restructurings that have taken place in Québec over the last three decades. Riendeau frequently pleads before both trial and appeal courts. He is recognized as one of the country’s top insolvency litigation lawyers.
Consistently recommended insolvency and financial restructuring lawyers
Luc Béliveau
Law firm: Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1991
City: Montréal
Luc Béliveau is a partner and the chairman of the board at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP. He specializes in the areas of restructuring and banking law. Béliveau regularly represents borrowers, lenders, investors, creditors, receivers and trustees. He defends the interests of clients in restructurings, liquidations, recapitalizations, realizations of security interests and asset recoveries. Béliveau sits on the boards of several private corporations and also serves on the Superior Court Liaison Committee, for both the civil and commercial divisions. Béliveau is consistently ranked as among the top insolvency and financial restructuring lawyers in Canada.
Sébastien Guy
Law firm: Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1998
City: Montréal
Sébastien Guy is a partner at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, a global full-service business law firm. He also serves as the regional practice group leader of the firm’s financial services group. Guy specializes in bank financing, project financing and asset-based financing. He has been involved in numerous bank and project financings in Canada, Europe, Africa and Asia. He also boasts expertise in energy and infrastructure projects. Guy acts for financial institutions, investment funds, development banks, sponsors and companies. He is recognized as among the leading insolvency and financial restructuring lawyers in the country.
Jocelyn Perreault
Law firm: McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Year called to the Bar: 2007
City: Montréal
Jocelyn Perreault is a partner at McCarthy Tétrault LLP and a member of its bankruptcy and restructuring group in Montréal. His practice involves advising clients on insolvency or potential insolvency matters. He also represents clients in informal workouts, formal restructurings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act or the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, receiverships, bankruptcies or litigation matters involving insolvency questions. Perreault has represented debtor companies, secured creditors, unsecured creditors, creditor groups, monitors, trustees, receivers, purchasers and investors. He also has appeared in front of first instance and appellate courts in Canada and in France as part of a French insolvency proceeding involving a Canadian client. Perreault is considered one of the best financial restructuring lawyers in Canada.
Christian B. Roy
Law firm: Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1992
City: Québec City
Christian B. Roy is a senior partner at Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP and the local chair of its litigation group in Québec City. He devotes his practice to corporate restructuring, bankruptcy, insolvency and realization of bank guarantees. Roy’s services are often retained by companies with restructuring needs and by court-appointed officers, financial institutions, secured and unsecured creditors and purchasers of assets from distressed companies. He has acted for several financial institutions and companies in connection with informal workouts and debtor-in-possession financings. Roy has also participated in numerous major restructurings and receiverships in a broad range of industries, including construction, manufacturing, sawmills, pulp and paper, technology, media, pharmaceutical, mining, retail and real estate. He also acts in cases involving liability of directors and officers. Roy is considered as among the country’s top insolvency and financial restructuring lawyers.
Joseph Reynaud
Law firm: Stikeman Elliott LLP
Year called to the Bar: 2008 (New York); 2008 (QC)
City: Montréal
Joseph Reynaud is a partner at Stikeman Elliott LLP’s litigation and dispute resolution group. He specializes in restructuring, insolvency and commercial litigation. Reynaud regularly advises and represents debtors, secured lenders, court-appointed officers and purchasers in proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangements Act and the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. He is also involved in Québec-based, national and cross-border proceedings and has appeared before all levels of courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada. Reynaud has participated in large-scale restructurings, liquidations, distressed asset sales and the litigation or arbitration of major commercial disputes in several industry areas. He is among the leading insolvency litigation lawyers in the country.
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Sylvain Rigaud
Law firm: Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1990
City: Montréal
Sylvain Rigaud is a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP. He is also the Canadian co-chair of the firm’s financial restructuring and insolvency team. Rigaud is an expert in commercial insolvency and restructuring matters and considered as among the leading insolvency litigation lawyers in the country. He advises insolvent companies in formal and informal restructurings, as well as financial institutions, lessors, bondholders, strategic purchasers, trustees, receivers and monitors. Rigaud also advises clients regularly on matters ranging from litigation to corporate reorganizations, asset sales and financing. He speaks regularly on insolvency topics and is a member of the Insolvency Institute of Canada.
Alain N. Tardif
Law firm: McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Year called to Bar: 1992
City: Montréal
Alain N. Tardif is a partner at McCarthy Tétrault LLP’s Montréal office. He devotes his practice to restructuring and insolvency matters. Tardif has acted in a significant number of restructurings and reorganizations and has advised various corporations, investors, financial advisors, lenders, trustees, monitors and receivers. He frequently assists the World Bank as an insolvency law expert and has participated recently in missions in various countries in the Caribbean and Africa. Tardif is considered as one of Canada’s best financial restructuring lawyers. He speaks frequently at various organizations about insolvency issues and about restructuring strategies tailored to the firm’s clients.