IMK s.e.n.c.r.l/LLP

The story of IMK has been unfolding since 1997. Today, our team of 25 lawyers includes 11 former law clerks, 8 of whom clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada. We have lawyers licensed to practice in Quebec, Ontario and New York. All IMK lawyers and staff are fluent in Canada’s 2 official languages, and amongst our team, we can cover 12 other languages.

The strength of our team lies in the diversity of its members. We come from a variety of different backgrounds and work together to respond to our clients’ needs. IMK is a firm on the cutting edge, and is a place where gender parity exists at all levels of the firm, including the partnership.

Our versatility combined with top-flight professional expertise helps our firm deliver outstanding value.

Our areas of expertise include administrative law, appellate advocacy, arbitration and mediation, civil and commercial litigation, class actions, constitutional law, construction litigation, employment law, estates and trusts law, insurance law litigation, municipal law, real estate litigation, securities and banking litigation and shareholder disputes.

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

IMK advises on questions of administrative law and represents clients in this area on a regular basis. Representative mandates include civil proceedings, judicial review, representing clients in administrative investigations, and disciplinary actions before various professional orders. We are in the rare position of having acted both for investigative bodies such as the Autorité des marchés financiers and for investigated parties such as pharmaceutical companies and pharmacies. We also represent lawyers, notaries, doctors, pharmacists, psychologists, accountants and real estate agents in the context of disciplinary proceedings.

APPELLATE ADVOCACY

Appeals require different skills than trials. Our team of experienced appellate lawyers knows how to put your best case forward on appeal. IMK has been involved in more than 20 appeals on the merits at the Supreme Court of Canada, either as a party or as an intervener. We regularly argue before the Quebec Court of Appeal and have also argued before the Federal Court of Appeal and the Courts of Appeal of Ontario and Newfoundland. Both the Supreme Court of Canada and the Quebec Court of Appeal have named IMK as amicus curiae in major appeals. Many of our partners and associates started their careers as clerks at the Supreme Court of Canada or other appellate level courts, giving them invaluable insight into appellate-level decision-making. Whether you are looking to change counsel or simply for a second strategic opinion, our team can help you win.

CIVIL AND COMMERCIAL LITIGATION

IMK has distinguished itself in the areas of civil and commercial litigation including real estate, construction, insurance litigation as well as contract and shareholder disputes. A large portion of our mandates directly or indirectly involves one of these fields. In addition, IMK acts regularly in extraordinary procedures such as seizures, injunctions and Mareva and Anton Piller orders.

CLASS ACTIONS

Class actions have been part of our stock in trade since the firm was founded in 1997. Our work touches on a number of different areas, including civil law, constitutional law and administrative law. Requiring significant collaborative effort, these files have been instrumental in the development of one of our firm’s hallmark qualities: teamwork. Class actions can arise in a range of industries and areas of law, and our team can handle them all. In particular, we have experience in class actions involving advertising practices, consumer protection, environmental law, financial products and services, price-fixing, product liability, public law, retiree benefits and securities law.

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW

Our firm has extensive experience in constitutional law. Clients have entrusted us with files involving governmental division of powers, violation of fundamental rights and the constitutionality of numerous laws and bills. Our representative files include a precedent-setting case before the Court of Appeal permitting the legalization of gay marriage in Quebec. In another case, our lawyers represented the Barreau du Québec in a matter where a number of media organizations were contesting the validity of regulations limiting the recording of images and sound by the media in Quebec courthouses. A number of our lawyers were also involved in the case of the estate of Iranian-Canadian photographer Zahra Kazemi, contesting the constitutionality of state immunity in civil proceedings for torture all the way to the Supreme Court. Many of our partners and associates started their careers as clerks at the Supreme Court of Canada or other appellate level courts, giving them invaluable insight into major constitutional cases.

SHAREHOLDER DISPUTES

IMK regularly represents clients in shareholder disputes and oppression remedies. Our lawyers have handled cases involving companies of all sizes, across a variety of industries, including start-ups as well as established companies. We represent both minority and majority shareholders and have experience dealing with a range of oppression remedies, including orders for the communication of documents, damages, and the repurchase of shares.

TRUSTS AND ESTATES

IMK advises clients in matters of estates and trusts whether or not the issues at hand are contentious. Our team handles complex and sensitive issues in circumstances such as the annulment and interpretation of wills as well as the replacement of liquidators and trustees.

Our non-contentious mandates include homologation of wills and mandates in case of incapacity and the replacement of trustees or liquidators.

We also regularly advise administrators of the property of others on the nature and scope of their obligations.

OUR FEATURED LITIGATORS

Pierre Bienvenu, Ad. E. — Administrative and Public Law, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Appellate Practice, Bet-the-Company Litigation, Corporate and Commercial Litigation, Director and Officer Liability Practice, International Arbitration and Securities Law
Audrey Boctor — Administrative and Public Law, Appellate Practice, Corporate and Commercial Litigation
Jean-Michel Boudreau — Class Action Litigation and Corporate and Commercial Litigation
David B. Éthier — Corporate and Commercial Litigation
David Grossman — Administrative and Public Law, Class Action Litigation and Corporate and Commercial Litigation
Kurt A. Johnson — Appellate Practice, Construction Law and Corporate and Commercial Litigation
Raphaël Lescop — Administrative and Public Law and Corporate and Commercial Litigation
Julien Lussier — Construction Law and Corporate and Commercial Litigation
Janet Michelin — Corporate and Commercial Litigation, Labour and Employment Law and Trusts and Estates
Doug Mitchell — Bet-the-Company Litigation, Class Action Litigation and Corporate and Commercial Litigation
Sophie Perron — Construction Law
Eleni Yiannakis — Administrative and Public Law, Class Action Litigation and Corporate and Commercial Litigation

WHEN IT REALLY MATTERS, GET US THINKING FOR YOU.