Founded in February 2015, Renno Vathilakis Inc. has quickly become one of Montreal’s premier corporate and commercial litigation boutiques. Practising in the fields of corporate litigation and shareholder disputes, class actions, franchise and distribution litigation, commercial arbitration, bankruptcy and insolvency, competition law, family law, constitutional law, privacy law, defamation and freedom of expression, employment law, construction law and securities law litigation, Renno Vathilakis Inc. provides its clients with top flight representation.
Both of the firm’s co-founders have a consistent and impressive track record litigating and resolving corporate and commercial disputes.
Karim Renno was previously a partner in the Montreal litigation department of renown Canadian firm Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, as well as a partner in the highly regarded Montreal litigation boutique of Irving Mitchell Kalichman LLP. Through his fifteen years of litigation experience, he has amassed a number of accolades. Since 2013, he has been ranked as a Litigation Star in Benchmark Litigation and was cited as an Up and Coming litigator in the 2014 and 2015 editions of Chambers Global. He has been recognized by Best Lawyers Canada as a leading practitioner for corporate/commercial litigation in Québec since 2015. In 2013, Karim was awarded by the Client Choice awards as the top litigator in the province of Québec for client service. Finally, Karim has been recognized by Benchmark Litigation as one of Canada’s top 50 trial lawyers since 2015. He is also the founder and editor in chief of the ‘’ À bon droit’’ blog and contributes hundreds of case commentaries every year. In fact, his blog was named best practitioner legal blog in Canada for 2012 by the Canadian Law Blog Awards and was a finalist for Best Canadian Law Blog at the same awards in 2013 and 2014. He is a regular contributor to well-known law blogs such as Canlii Connects, Droit Inc. and Edilex. Moreover, Karim has published numerous articles relating to corporate law, commercial law, evidence and civil procedure.
He has amassed a vast experience and enjoys an excellent reputation with regard to private international law matters and injunctions, having argued before the Supreme Court of Canada on multiple occasions in cases involving such issues. Moreover, Karim has represented some of the most important companies before all levels of Québec courts. Karim has acted as lead counsel in several high profile cases related to the telecommunications, credit card, pharmaceutical, construction, tobacco, software, real estate, airline and transportation industries.
Co-founder Michael Vathilakis has an equally impressive track record. After working for two national law firms, Michael was tapped to lead the in-house team of Future Electronics Inc., one of the world’s largest electronic components distributors. He soon rose to the position of General Counsel, Vice-President Legal Affairs of the company. From that position, he spearheaded and oversaw numerous high profile commercial court trials and arbitrations, as well as a number of significant business transactions. He returned to private practice to found Renno Vathilakis Inc. His practice focuses on dispute prevention, commercial litigation and family law. In fact, Michael is recognized by Best Lawyers Canada (2020) as leading practitioner in Family Law. Michael has acted before all levels of Québec courts as lead counsel in significant cases related to, amongst others, technology, electronic component distribution and real estate industries. A member of the Law Society of Upper Canada - as well as the QUÉBEC Bar - Michael has represented clients in international arbitrations both in Canada and abroad. He has also acted in various employment cases and is presently one of the lead counsel in a number of significant class actions.
Michael holds a master’s degree in law from Harvard University (LL.M.) and has been recognized by Benchmark Litigation as a Litigation Star from 2016.
Michael lectures to law students on a frequest basis - with respect to international commercial arbitration and class actions - at Harvard Law School, Stanford, McGill Law School and the University of Montreal.
The founding partners are supported by a highly skilled and growing team. The young firm currently consists of six lawyers, two articling students and several summer students - with a view of further growth in the coming years.
Renno Vathilakis Inc. is dedicated to providing its clients with top notch dispute resolution services and to finding creative solutions to complex problems.
Updated April 2023
Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP is a global law firm. The firm provides the world’s preeminent corporations and financial institutions with a full business law service. The firm has more than 3700 lawyers and other legal staff based in more than 50 cities across Europe, the United States, Canada, Latin America, Asia, Australia, the Middle East and Africa.
Litigation:
The firm’s global litigation and disputes lawyers advise many of the world’s largest corporations and financial institutions on complex, high-value and sensitive multi-jurisdictional disputes. With more than 50 offices across the globe, the firm has one of the largest disputes legal practices in the world, with significant experience resolving domestic and cross-border mandates, international arbitrations and investigations and enforcement for clients across all the key industry sectors, including financial institutions; energy, infrastructure and resources; transport; technology; life sciences and healthcare; and consumer markets.
The firm’s lawyers both prevent and resolve disputes by providing clients with practical, creative legal advice that focuses on their strategic and commercial objectives. The firm’s experience includes the full spectrum of dispute resolution and litigation mechanisms ranging from negotiation, mediation, conciliation and conflict resolution to vigorous courtroom strategy, multi-party and class action lawsuits and appellate proceedings. The firm have acted on some of the world’s highest profile domestic and multijurisdictional investigations, including high-profile regulatory inquiries, regulatory enforcement, criminal investigations and prosecutions, and related civil disputes and litigation. The firm is experienced in advising on risk and public relations issues in the context of legal disputes.
The firm have a unique offering of ‘on the ground’ strength, advising clients on disputes issues across emerging markets, including Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America, together with deep experience in the mature markets of the United States, Europe, Australia and Canada. Members of the team offer fluent capabilities in more than 20 languages across the globe.
As a key component of the firm’s disputes practice, its global practice support team provides clients consistent and proven methodology for complying with document preservation and production requirements throughout the course of disputes, assisting in developing case strategies and priorities while managing and reducing costs for clients.
Updated March 2023
At Langlois Lawyers, we offer a complete range of highly regarded legal services spanning civil and commercial litigation, employment and labour law, insurance law, and business law. Our seasoned teams provide counsel in several sectors, such as capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, cross-border transactions, construction and infrastructure, financial institutions and services, governance and ethics, insolvency and restructuring, taxation, maritime law, and intellectual property.
As a leading Québec law firm with close to 175 professionals, we distinguish ourselves not only by the excellence of our services and the leadership of our teams, but also by our continued dedication to organizational well-being, all of which contribute to our clients’ successes in and out of the courtrooms.
Our firm’s flexibility coupled with our team’s agility enables us to benefit from cross-practiceand-industry synergies, allowing us to develop tailored business solutions. Our client-centric approach ensures we are providing the accessibility and proximity of a small or medium-sized firm while combining the legal services of a large firm.
Langlois’ litigation team comprises over 125 professionals, making it one of the largest litigation groups in Québec. The team’s strengths cover the entire litigation spectrum and include an efficient case-management approach coupled with constant attention to its clients’ broader interests. The firm’s clients benefit from a team of litigators who are proficient in both of Canada’s official languages and trained in both civil and common law.
Langlois has acted in many major litigation cases that have shaped Québec’s and Canada’s legal landscape over the past 25 years by virtue of their public, political, economic, commercial and social implications. We have also acted successfully in a large number of class actions in a variety of industries, including air transportation, banking, telecommunications, automotive, pharmaceutical, and energy.
Areas of Practice:
Updated April 2023
Smart & Biggar is widely recognized as Canada's leading firm for intellectual property law. With offices across Canada, and over 100 lawyers, patent agents and trademark agents, we are the largest firm focused purely on IP and related specialty areas.
We specialize in asserting and defending our clients' IP assets to maximize their return on investments and preserve competitive advantage. Intellectual property rights - from patents, industrial designs and trademarks, to trade secrets, confidential information and copyrights - are critical business assets that need to be aggressively protected and enforced.
In high-stakes litigation, we know what it takes to win and we routinely handle Canada's most commercially important and technically complex intellectual property cases. Our lawyers possess a rare combination of successful trial and appellate experience combined with a deeply sophisticated understanding of technical subject matter and analytical expertise - resulting in victories at all levels. From start-up companies in emerging growth sectors to multinational corporations across a broad range of industries, we draw on our vast technical and legal experience to provide creative, effective and cost efficient enforcement and litigation strategies tailored to each client's unique situation and needs.
Smart & Biggar has received Benchmark's Award as Canadian IP Litigation Firm of the Year for six consecutive years. Our Practice Group has vast experience and success in all areas of IP litigation, including:
We know what it takes for our clients to win in high stakes IP litigation.
Some of our representative recent victories include:
Largest reported damages award in Canadian history for patent infringement at $645 million
The Dow Chemical Company et al v Nova Chemicals Corporation
Victory in the Federal Court providing relief and clarity for patent owners
Angelcare Development Inc. et al. v Munchkin, Inc.
Success in the Supreme Court of Canada - Abolishing the "Promise Doctrine" for patents
AstraZeneca Canada Inc v Apotex Inc.
Trial victory to protect Captain Morgan "trade dress" to block competitors and protect brand value
Diageo Canada Inc v Heaven Hill Distilleries Inc.
Unprecedented site-blocking order requiring Internet Service Providers to impede access to piracy services
Bell Media Inc. et al v Goldtv.biz et al.
Defended the Pampered Chef “PC Logo” in trademark infringement battle with Canada’s largest retailer
Loblaws Inc v Columbia Insurance Company
Longstanding successful representation for Bauer Hockey in various trademark and patent infringement actions for over 25 years
Bauer Hockey Ltd v Sport Maska Inc dba Reebok-CCM Hockey
For over 100 years, we have remained devoted to protecting our clients' intellectual property and technology assets. Whether we are advising an innovative company on patent strategy or infringement issues, providing counsel on brand protection and enforcement, or handling the IP aspects of a corporate transaction, we provide clients with solutions to protect, enforce and leverage their IP.
Smart & Biggar proudly operates as part of the IPH Limited group, under its own brand and independent from other IPH member firms.
Updated March 2023