Woods LLP > Montreal, Canada > Firm Profile

Woods LLP Offices

Woods LLP
2000 MCGILL COLLEGE AVE, SUITE 1700
MONTREAL, QUEBEC H3A 3H3
Canada
Visit website 1 514 982 4545 1 514 284 2046

Woods LLP > The Legal 500 Rankings

Canada > Dispute resolution: Quebec Tier 2

Montreal-based boutique litigation firm Woods LLP demonstrates strength in insolvency, class action and commercial agreement disputes, as well as in corporate liability and governance disputes. Sylvain Rigaud, who leads the insolvency and restructuring group, heads the team, along with Richard Vachon and Marie-Louise Delisle, who is highly active on class action defence and professional liability matters, with a focus on telecommunications law, competition affairs and civil liability. Louis Seveno handles litigation and arbitration relating to construction and PPP disputes. Other key members include international arbitration specialist Stephen Drymer and Eric Bédard. Patrick Ouellet was appointed as a Judge of the Superior Court of Quebec for the district of Montréal in April 2023. Managing partner Caroline Biron departed the firm in August 2023.

Practice head(s):

Sylvain Rigaud; Marie-Louise Delisle; Richard Vachon

Other key lawyers:

Stephen Drymer; Louis Seveno; Eric Bédard

Key clients

Vidéotron / Quebecor

Energir

AECOM

Énergie Valero

Boiron

Champion Iron Mines

Glencore

Health Montreal Collective CVJ

UBS Securities Canada

Consonance Capital Management

Work highlights

  • Acted as counsel for Air India against recognition and enforcement proceedings related to an approximately $111m arbitral award rendered against the Republic of India pursuant to a bilateral investment treaty between the latter and Devas.
  • Represented Health Montréal Collective, as builder of a public-private partnership hospital project, in a number of disputes against the facility manager and the owner of the project, and also against consultants and suppliers.
  • Appointed by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice as representative counsel to Quebec unitholders of funds managed by Bridging Finance in a priority dispute in the context of an eventual distribution to creditors by the receiver appointed under the Securities Act in Ontario.

Woods LLP > Firm Profile

WOODS LLP is the foremost litigation, arbitration and insolvency firm in Canada, recognised nationally and internationally for its expertise and success. Its team of attorneys — multilingual, trained in civil law and common law, dedicated to successful advocacy and understanding clients’ interests — is known for its winning strategies and concrete results in high stakes disputes. The firm is proud of its reputation for having the talent and drive to handle the largest and most complex disputes, while remaining highly flexible, responsive and efficient.

Woods LLP acts for public and private companies, individuals and governments in corporate, commercial and administrative litigation, before all levels of courts and tribunals in Canada. It has a highly successful track record in disputes regarding corporate liability and governance, directors’ and officers’ liability, shareholders’ disputes, securities litigation, class actions, complex commercial agreements, as well as in strategic matters requiring urgent, injunctive relief. The firm also boasts an important practice in insolvency, employment law and defamation, as well as one of Canada’s only full-time international arbitration practices, representing clients and serving as arbitrators in international commercial and investment disputes.

Main Contacts

Department Name Email Telephone
Complex commercial cases
Insolvency and creditors’ rights
Contractual disputes
Professional liability
Injunction proceedings
Administrative and regulatory litigation
Termination of employment
Class actions
Corporate and securities litigation
International arbitration
Defamation
Competition disputes
International law

Staff Figures

Number of Partners : 13
Number of Other Fee-Earners : 25

Languages

English
French
Spanish
Romanian
Portuguese
Arabic

Memberships

ABA
American Bar Association (ABA)
Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb)
Chambers & Partners
American Bankruptcy Institute
Association of Trial Lawyers of America
IBA (International Bar Association)
INSOL International
Law Society of England and Wales
London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA)