Vincent Cérat Lagana is a partner in our Litigation & Dispute Resolution group. He is a driven and versatile litigator who takes great pride in protecting his clients’ interests in diverse matters across a variety of areas.
Vincent practises primarily in commercial and business litigation and regularly advises and acts for clients in matters involving shareholder disputes, transactional litigation and corporate governance litigation. He represents either corporations and their boards of directors or minority shareholders in oppression proceedings. Vincent often publishes and lectures on these topics.
Clients seek Vincent’s support in complex matters, including contractual and commercial disputes, securities litigation, public and constitutional law and class actions. He regularly leads teams in time-sensitive matters, such as injunction proceedings. Vincent has been recognized for his litigation excellence or as a rising star by leading industry publications, such as Chambers, Lexpert, Legal 500, Best Lawyers and Benchmark Litigation.
- Acted for the sellers of a Québec-based SME in a post-closing dispute with the European buyers.
- Acted for Québec’s judicial council (Conseil de la magistrature du Québec) and the Chief Justice and Associate Chief Justice of the Court of Québec in proceedings brought against the Attorney General of Québec in reference cases, applications for stays, and judicial reviews concerning English language proficiency requirements for certain judicial positions and the assignment of judges in the Criminal Division of the Court of Québec.
- Acted for Intact before the Superior Court of Québec and the Court of Appeal of Québec in an application for authorization to institute a class action related to business interruption insurance coverage for losses arising from COVID-19-related closures.
- Acted for a major European group, the majority shareholder, in a complex shareholder dispute.
- Led the defence of a leading auto parts manufacturer in a multimillion-dollar commercial arbitration arising out of a business acquisition.
- Acted for Canadian Pacific Railway in the high-profile rail blockade in February 2020.
- Acted for Transat in its victory against Groupe Mach before the Financial Markets Administrative Tribunal.
- Acted for Thales in disputes with Bombardier arising out of various aircraft programs.
- Represented the Québec judicial council (Conseil de la magistrature du Québec) before the Supreme Court of Canada and before a special panel of seven judges of the Court of Appeal in the reference question concerning the Court of Québec’s jurisdiction in civil matters and to hear appeals.
- Successfully defended the members of the Special Committee of the former Boralex Income Fund in a multimillion-dollar claim for damages brought by a unitholder following a take-over bid for Boralex.
- Acted for Québecor in legal actions against the Just for Laughs Group arising from the sale of Just for Laughs in 2017-2018, as well as in related claims for damages.
- Successfully acted for Rogers Communications before the Supreme Court of Canada on the issue of the power of municipalities to determine the location of radiocommunication antennae.
- Successfully acted for Trackcom in the landmark decision rendered by the Québec Court of Appeal concerning interim orders, investigations and provisions for costs in oppression proceedings.
- Acted for Fibrek Inc. and Goldcorp in complex litigation files arising from unsolicited take-over bids.
Vincent has worked on the following notable cases:
