Christian Leblanc joined Fasken Martineau as a partner in 2003. He practices commercial and civil litigation, with a particular emphasis on intellectual property, high technology, media law, communications and defamation.
Christian is one of our senior litigators involved in various aspects of NOC cases. He is also involved in proceedings related to drugs approved on the basis of Notice of Compliance with Conditions ("NOC/C").
Christian is one of a handful of specialists in media and communication law in Montreal. His practice also encompasses intellectual property litigation, including copyrights, trademarks, high technology and patents. He appears on behalf of clients before all levels of courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Canada and all of the courts in Québec as well as the trial and appeal divisions of the Federal Court of Canada and various administrative tribunals such as the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
Christian acts for some of the larger media enterprises in Canada, and regularly intervenes on their behalf in issues relating to freedom of the press and freedom of speech. He appeared on many occasions before the Supreme Court of Canada in matters relating to freedom of speech. He also represents many clients operating in a wide number of industries seeking to protect and assert their rights as regards intellectual property and state-of-the-art technology.
He regularly gives pre-broadcast and pre-publication advice to the media, on whose behalf he deals with topics requiring fast and critical action that could be broadcast on the news or published in the newspapers. He also intervenes in extra-judicial proceedings with which the media are sometimes confronted, such as pre-publication injunctions and seizures of journalistic materials.
Christian Leblanc is rated as an expert in Media Law and Defamation in "The Best Lawyers in Canada" directory.
He has been recognized in 2007 as a "Leading Lawyers under 40" of the Canadian legal community by Lexpert. He has also been recognized by Lexpert as "consistently recommended" in Litigation-Defamation and Media. Furthermore, Christian was listed in the 2008 Lexpert US Guide for cross-border litigation as one of the "Canadian Litigation Lawyers to Watch".
Christian has been a lecturer at Concordia University, teaching the course "Media and the Law" for students enrolled in their journalism program. He is also a professor at the École du Barreau du Québec, where he teaches the art of representing, pleading, examination and cross-examination before the courts. He has been a panellist at the Oxford Round Table in March 2004 with respect to "Civil Rights and Liberties." He is also a member of the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE).
Honours and Awards
- Lexpert Directory - Leading lawyer under 40 (2007)
- Lexpert US Guide Directory (cross-border litigation) - Canadian Litigation Lawyers to Watch (2008)
- The Best Lawyers in Canada - Recognized as an expert in Media and Defamation Law (2009-2012)
- Lexpert Directory - Consistently recommended in Litigation-Defamation and Media
- Lawday Directory - Lawday heading lawyers: Defamation and Media (2009)
Membership/Affiliations
- Member, Québec Bar
- Member, Montreal Bar
- Member, Canadian Bar Association
- Member, Ad Idem - Advocates in Defence of Media
- Member, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE)
- Co-Chair du Groupe France