Davies

Return To Profile

• Acted successfully for BCE Inc. and Bell Canada in an appeal before the Supreme Court of Canada in the landmark case involving the proposed $51.7 billion privatization of BCE and the attempt by certain holders of debentures of Bell Canada (BCE's subsidiary) to prevent court approval of the transaction on the basis that the transaction failed to properly protect their interests. In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court of Canada reversed the previous decision from the Québec Court of Appeal, rejected the claims made by the debentureholders, and restored the trial judge's approval of the transaction.

• Acted on behalf of Cinar Corporation in significant litigation in Canada and elsewhere involving the recovery of in excess of $100 million in relation to certain unauthorized transactions effected by past directors and officers of the corporation. This litigation also involved multi-jurisdictional safeguard, enforcement and liquidation proceedings.

• Acted for Hollinger Inc. in its action against Conrad Black and other former executives of Hollinger in a multi-million dollar action for breach of fiduciary duty, etc.

• Acted successfully for The Globe and Mail in its appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada involving the boundaries of freedom of expression and more particularly, the extent of the protection of confidentiality of journalistic sources and the availability of publication bans to protect confidential communications.

• Acted for Barrick Gold Corporation in its action against Les Éditions Écosociété Inc. claiming compensatory, moral and punitive damages.

• Acted for directors of Steinberg Inc. in relation to creditors' claims resulting from a leveraged buyout of the supermarket chain.

• Acted for Vitran Corporation, a publicly-traded company, and its subsidiary Vitran Environment al Systems, in a successful claim in excess of $3 million for the alleged breach of a share purchase agreement.

• Acted for Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec in litigation relating to a successful takeover bid for a major Québec cable company and in relation to a rival's unsuccessful bid.

• Acted for Cominar Real Estate Investment Trust in connection with its unsolicited takeover bid for Canmarc Real Estate Investment Trust, valued at approximately $904 million.

• Acted for the Board of Directors of Zarlink Semiconductor Inc. in connection with the $635-million acquisition of Zarlink by Microsemi Corporation.

• Acting for Vidéotron Ltée against a claim in excess of $26 million for the alleged breach of a share purchase agreement.

• Acted for Cinar Corporation by successfully obtaining judgments on behalf of Cinar and its affiliates from the Superior Court and Court of Appeal ordering Paquette & Associés to pay the proceeds from the sale of the residences of Ronald Weinberg (which amounted to over $4 million) to the Weinbergs' creditors, including in particular, Cinar.

• Acted for BCE Inc. and Bell Canada in connection with a proposed $51.7-billion take-private acquisition of BCE by way of a plan of arrangement with an investor group led by Teachers' Private Capital. Successfully defended the transaction in related court proceedings brought by Bell Canada bondholders, and secured a precedent-setting decision from the Supreme Court of Canada.

• Acted successfully for the plaintiff Stephanie Bruker pro bono before the Supreme Court of Canada in the landmark case of Bruker v. Marcovitz where damages were awarded for the failure to respect a contractual promise to provide a Jewish divorce.