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

IMK has grown into a vibrant team of 30 lawyers, including several former law clerks who completed their clerkships at the Court of Appeal of Quebec and at the Supreme Court of Canada. Our lawyers are licensed to practice in Québec, Ontario and the State of New York, and every member of our team is fluent in both of Canada’s official languages. Collectively, we speak 11 additional languages, allowing us to serve a broad and diverse client base.

Our strength comes from the diversity of our people. With a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, we collaborate to deliver thoughtful, effective solutions to our clients. At IMK, gender parity is a reality at every level of the firm, reflecting our commitment to equity and inclusion.

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
Jean-Michel Boudreau — Class Action Litigation, Corporate and Commercial Litigation and Product Liability Law
David B. Éthier — Construction Law and Corporate and Commercial Litigation
David Grossman — Administrative and Public Law, Class Action Litigation and Corporate and Commercial Litigation
Raphaël Lescop — Administrative and Public Law, Class Action Litigation, Corporate and Commercial Litigation and Municipal Law
Julien Lussier — Construction Law and Corporate and Commercial Litigation
Doug Mitchell — Alternative Dispute Resolution, Appellate Practice, Bet-the-Company Litigation, Class Action Litigation and Corporate and Commercial Litigation
Sophie Perron — Construction Law

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