Woods LLP

Management Committee: Marie-Louise Delisle, Sylvain Rigaud, Richard Vachon (Chair)

Of Counsel: The Honourable Clément Gascon, former Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, The Honourable Joseph R Nuss C.M. KC, Ad E, FCIArb

Number of partners: 12

Number of lawyers: 41 (including partners)

Languages: Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish

Firm Overview:  

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 Areas of Practice:  

Contractual Disputes:  

■ BCE Inc. v. 1976 Debentureholders:Obtained approval, from the Supreme Court of Canada, of a $52B bid by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, Providence Equity Partners and Madison Dearborn Capital Partners to acquire BCE, over the objections of BCE bondholders

■ BCE Inc. v. Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board: Represented the purchasers in a dispute regarding a $1.2B break-up fee clause following the termination of the agreement to acquire BCE

■ Bayer Cropscience AG v Dow Agrosciences LLC: Obtained an arbitral award over $450M USD as co-counsel to Bayer in an ICC arbitration (conf. US Fed. Circuit) for breach of a patent licensing agreement

Corporate & Securities Litigation:  

■ Vidéotron v. Bell ExpressVu: Obtained an $82M for loss of revenue due to Bell’s failure to control piracy of its own satellite signals

■ Canwest Global Communications Corp. (Re):Represented Goldman Sachs regarding its $700M claim in the restructuring of CanWest and its $2B acquisition by Shaw Communications

■ Metcalfe & Mansfield Alternative Investments II Corp. (Re): Challenged the restructuring plan of the Canadian market of asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP), worth some $32B, for a group holding $1B in notes

Professional Liability:  

■ Brunette v. Legault Joly Thiffault: Successfully defended before the Supreme Court of Canada the dismissal of a $55M claim against an accounting firm by a trust for damages following the bankruptcy of a holding company of which the trust was the sole shareholder

■ Groupe Jean-Coutu v. Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton: Successfully defended RCGT in disqualification proceedings aiming to prevent its partners and employees from acting as experts in a litigation file

■ Represented FCA Canada (Fiat-Chrysler) in claims against Coopers & Lybrand, its former partners, insurers and other related parties, relating to Castor Holdings, both in Quebec and in Ontario

Class Actions: 

■ Vast experience representing defendant and plaintiff sides. Currently defending claims against BMW, Ticketmaster, Canada Dry Mott's, Keurig Dr Pepper, Cogeco, Videotron, Boiron and CI Investments. Current plaintiff files include claims against Uber, Mazda, Marriott and Intrawest

■ Sopropharm and al v. Le Groupe JeanCoutu: Obtained the authorisation of the first-ever franchisee-franchisor class action in Quebec, over $400M in undue royalties and the annulment of various clauses of the franchise agreements

International Arbitration: 

■ Represents a global mining company in a construction dispute (ICC)

■ Represents a State in a NAFTA dispute

■ Represents an Australian distributor of nutraceutical products in a $275M dispute with a foreign supplier (UNCITRAL)

Administrative & Regulatory Litigation: 

■ Québec (Attorney General) v. Air Canada: Represented the Attorney General of Manitoba regarding the shutting down of an aircraft maintenance center

■ Domtar v. Hydro-Québec: Opposed the rejection of Domtar’s tender for sale

■ Québec (Attorney General) v. Imperial Tobacco et al: Represents Philip Morris in defense of a $60B claim brought pursuant to the Tobacco-related Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act

Insolvency & Creditors’ Rights: 

■ Montreal Maine & Atlantic Canada: Represented the Monitor in cross-border insolvency proceedings of a railway, after an oil-laden train derailment

■ J. Dunn v. Elliott C. Wightman: Acted for Fiat-Chrysler in a $447M audit negligence claim against Coopers & Lybrand and in its restructuring proceedings in Ontario

■ 9354-9186 Québec Inc (formerly known as Bluberi Gaming) v. Callidus Capital Corp.: Successfully represented Omni Bridgeway before the Supreme Court of Canada. Canada's Supreme Court endorses CCAA interim financing in the form of thirdparty litigation.