Sylvie Rodrigue

1993, Quebec
2008, Ontario

of the trial lawyer honorary society, Litigation Counsel of America, and to be invited to join the International Association of Defense Counsel, whose elite membership consists of prominent in-house and outside counsel from over 35 countries.

Ms. Rodrigue practises in both our Montréal and Toronto offices and is recognized as a leading lawyer in class action litigation in Canada. She appears regularly before the superior courts and courts of appeal across the country. She has been involved in a wide range of litigation, representing corporate clients in disputes involving damages for breach of commercial contracts, latent defects, product liability, including drugs and medical devices, price fixing, consumer cases, civil liability, employment matters, mass tort and negligence as well as litigation involving gaming and lotteries. She has represented clients in the tobacco, retail, technology, manufacturing, communication, railway, aviation and pharmaceutical industries.

Ms. Rodrigue currently acts as defence counsel in major multijurisdictional class actions on a variety of topics. She is a regular guest speaker and has published numerous articles on class action litigation.

Selected client work

Ms. Rodrigue has represented or is currently representing:

· Multinational pharmaceutical companies, such as Eli Lilly, Abbott, Bayer, Merck and others, in proposed drug-related class actions in various Canadian jurisdictions

· Multinational companies in a wide range of industries, such as Sharp Corporation, Daewoo, Lan Airlines, Archers Daniel Midland, Nanya Technologies, Lonza and others, in proposed anti-trust class actions in various Canadian jurisdictions

· Canadian National in a national proposed class action relating to unpaid overtime

· Gildan Activewear Inc. and its officers in defending proposed Quebec and Ontario securities class actions

· Imperial Tobacco Limited in multiple proposed product liability class actions

· Mattel Canada, Mattel USA and Fisher-Price in multiple proposed product liability class actions across Canada

· A wide range of corporate clients such as UBS, Bombardier and others in commercial and contractual disputes

· Loto-Quebec for over 10 years in a number of cases related to gaming, dealing with fraud, expropriation, validity of video poker machines and taxation of video poker machines by municipalities

Speaking engagements

Ms. Rodrigue has recently spoken on the following matters. A comprehensive list of her speaking engagements is available on request.

· "Recent Class Action Developments from Across Canada," (panel moderator) 9th National Symposium on Class Actions, Osgoode Professional Development Centre, Toronto, April 26, 2012.

· "Opposing Certification: Strategies to Avoid or Mitigate Class Action Exposure Risk," Class Actions Litigation Bootcamp, The Canadian Institute, Toronto, April 19, 2012.

· "Making an impact as a leader," Women in Law Conference, Montréal, April 11, 2012.

· "The Canadian Perspective and Beyond," class actions seminar, Norton Rose South Africa, Johannesburg, March 29-30, 2012.

· "Cross-Border Class Actions: From the CBA and ABA Judicial Protocols to Legislative Amendments," (panel moderator), Ontario - New York Legal Summit 2012, Ontario Bar Association, Toronto, March 28, 2012.

· "Recent Developments in Quebec, in Canada, in the United States," Multijurisdictional Class Actions and National Groups Seminar, Quebec Bar, Montréal, Quebec, March 15-16, 2012.

· "Update of recent developments in Canada and recent developments in the U.S.," Cross-Border Litigation Forum, Langdon Hall, Cambridge, Ontario, March 4-6, 2012.

· "The National, Cross-border and Multi-jurisdictional Class Action Issues: From the CBA, ABA and IBA Judicial Protocols to Legislative Amendments," 2011 OBA Class Action Colloquium, Toronto, December 1, 2011.

· "Forum Selection and Forum Shopping - The Challenges and Opportunities," 2010 Annual Conference, International Bar Association, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, November 1, 2011.

· "The National Class Action Issues and Quebec Updates," 12th Annual Canadian Institute Forum on Class Action Litigation, Toronto, September 21, 2011.

Rankings and recognitions

· Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business, 2012: Dispute Resolution: Class Action

· 2011 Lexpert® Guide to the Leading US/Canada Cross-border Litigation Lawyers in Canada (US Litigation Guide), Litigation - Class actions

· Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America, trial lawyer honorary society

· Best Lawyers in Canada - Class Action Litigation, Product Liability (in both Ontario and Quebec)

· Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, 2011-2012 - "Repeatedly Recommended Counsel," Class Action Litigation (in both Ontario and Quebec)

· Lexpert's Guide to the Leading US/Canada Cross-Border Litigation Lawyers in Canada, 2007 - "Litigation Lawyer to Watch"

· Lexpert/American Lawyer's Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada, 2006 - "25 Litigators to Watch"

· Lexpert/Thomson's Guide to the 100 Most Creative Lawyers in Canada, 2006 - "25 Litigators to Watch"

· Lexpert magazine, September 2002 - "Top 40 Lawyers Under 40"

· Canada's Top 40 Under 40 Awards Program - Nominee

Memberships and activities

· American Bar Association
- Co-Chair, International Class Action Subcommittee

· DRI - The Voice of the Defense Bar

· International Association of Defense Counsel

· International Bar Association
- Litigation Committee
- Co-Chair, Multijurisdictional Class Actions/Collective Redress Working Group

· Canadian Bar Association
- Chair, Task Force on National Class Actions
- Executive Member, National Civil Litigation section
- Elected member CBA/OBA Council, Toronto region

· Ontario Bar Association
- Past Chair, Class Action Section Executive

· Lawyers International Food Enterprises (LIFE)
- Chair, Executive Committee

· The Advocates' Society

· Women's Executive Network (WXN)

· Lecturer, advocacy before the civil courts, Quebec Bar Admission Course

· Judge, Harvey T. Strosberg Prize (a national contest for the best essay on class actions, open to students at universities across Canada)

Related Publications

Ontario Court of Appeal denies certification in the first contested overtime misclassification class action in CanadaOn June 26, 2012, the Ontario Court of Appeal released its decision in McCracken v Canadian National Railway Company.
03/07/2012

Related News

National Post - Class action battles to shift to trial court from motions hearings
Sylvie Rodrigue, co-chair of Norton Rose's global class actions team, is quoted in the National Post's special section on class actions
28/11/2012

International suits becoming a growth area
Sylvie Rodrigue is featured in the National Post's special section on class actions, commenting on the growing trend of class actions going global-and what it means for business and for law in Canada and around the world.
30/05/2012

No harm done
There's a concern the bar has been lowered for class action certification. Sylvie Rodrigue, appearing on the cover, comments in National magazine.
23/06/2011

CBA council to debate class action management
Sylvie Rodrigue comments in The Lawyers Weekly on the work of the Canadian Bar Association's (CBA) National Task Force on Class Actions at the upcoming CBA annual...
12/08/2011

Class-action speed bump
Sylvie Rodrigue is quoted in a Lexpert article on rulings issued by the British Columbia Court of Appeal that could put a serious limit to competition class actio...
01/12/2011

Class actions are getting more action
Sylvie Rodrigue talks to the National Post about the potential for a jump in the number of class action matters going to trial.
01/06/2011

Sylvie Rodrigue named Co-Chair of International Bar Association Class Action Working Group
Ogilvy Renault is pleased to announce that Sylvie Rodrigue, partner and co-chair of the firm's class actions team, will be co-chairing the Multi-Jurisdictional Cl...
28/09/2010

Sylvie Rodrigue named chair of CBA's National Class Actions Task Force
Ogilvy Renault is pleased to announce that Sylvie Rodrigue, partner and co-chair of the firm's class actions team, has been named chair of the newly-created Natio...
26/02/2010

Group To Tackle Issue of Multiple Lawsuits
In the U.S., it's been a mystery as to why in Canada you can be faced with several actions as a defendant, which can't be consolidated into one jurisdiction, says...
21/04/2010

CBA Task Force Will Tackle Class Action Problems
The Lawyers Weekly reports on the new national class actions task force, chaired by Ogilvy Renault's Sylvie Rodrigue.
26/02/2010

CBA Tackles National Class Actions
Sylvie Rodrigue talks to Law Times about the recently launched national class actions task force, which she chairs.
22/02/2010

Sylvie Rodrigue Named Fellow of Litigation Counsel of America
Sylvie Rodrigue, a partner in the Litigation Group at Ogilvy Renault LLP, has been named a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America (LCA).
08/10/2009

Nouvelle Fellow du Litigation Counsel of America
Sylvie Rodrigue becomes the third Canadian woman to receive the title of Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, after a highly selective process based on ex...
13/10/2009

A piece of the action
The number of class actions in Canada has exploded over the past few years and the fallout has had a big impact on the business community. Sylvie Rodrigue comment...
15/07/2009

Strategic thinking
Robert Armstrong and Sylvie Rodrigue are quoted in Lexpert talking about strategic insight in the context of business litigation.
15/07/2009

Trouver l'inspiration
Sylvie Rodrigue explains in National magazine that Ogilvy Renault looks for versatility among young lawyers and considers their academic results as well as their. ..
01/05/2009

Hors des sentier battus
In National magazine, Sylvie Rodrigue explains the benefits of being creative in litigation matters.
01/05/2009

The Renaissance of Competition Class Actions
Sylvie Rodrigue and Michael Brown, partners in the Litigation Group, comment in Lexpert on the rise of competition class actions in Canada.
31/07/2008