Description
Chantal Chatelain practises primarily in the fields of civil & commercial litigation and public, administrative & constitutional law. Her rigorous approach and experience have made her practice multi-disciplinary and given her such complementary skills as sound case management, strategy, negotiation and trial advocacy. Chantal Chatelain is a member of the Executive Committee and the partner in charge of the Montréal office.

Chantal has chosen to practise in a variety of fields, where she is often involved in complex and lengthy litigation files with major political, economic and social ramifications. Her mandates have included civil and commercial litigation, class actions, federal-provincial fiscal disputes, judicial independence, professional liability and access-to-information issues. She also has expertise in this area involving legal ethics, such as solicitor-client privilege and conflicts of interest.

This highly diversified practice allows her to draw on many sources for devising effective and innovative solutions to the challenges faced by her clients.

Well-versed in the intricacies of court proceedings, Chantal has represented clients before all levels of Quebec’s civil court system, the Federal Courts, and the Supreme Court of Canada.

Her impressive roster of clients includes the Quebec Association of Provincial Court Judges, Canada’s military judges, other law firms and various entities in the banking, rail transport and telecommunications fields.

In 2008, she has been recognized as one of Canada's Leading Lawyers Under 40 by LEXPERT.

Associations & Achievements
2011-2013 : Governor of the Fondation du Barreau du Québec

2011 - Member of the organizing committee of the Seventh Annual Canadian Bar Association Law Firm Leadership Conference

2010 -  Member of the Legal Fee Arbitration Committee of the Quebec Bar

Since 2009 - Member of the Quebec Bar's Committee on Class Actions

2008-2011 - Member of the Montréal Bar Liaison Committee with the Superior Court on civil matters

Since 2007 - Member of the organizing committee of the Journées Strasbourgeoises organized by The Canadian Institute for Advanced Legal Studies

2007- 2010 - Member of the admissions/suspensions committee of the Quebec Bar (Comité des requêtes du Barreau du Québec)


2007-2008 - Member of the Quebec Bar’s Working Group on Reasonable Accommodation

Since 2005 - Member of the Quebec Bar’s Committee on Women in the Legal Profession

2005-2007 - Corporate Secretary of the Fondation de la Maison du Père, a charitable foundation for homeless men

2004-2005 - Member of a Quebec Bar committee on solicitor-client privilege

2003-2005 - Member of a Canadian Bar Association committee on pro bono practice

2001-2002 - Member of the Executive Committee and General Council of the Quebec Bar

2001-2002 - Member of the board of directors of the Montreal Bar

2000-2001 - Member of the admissions/suspensions committee of the Quebec Bar

2000-2002 - Member of the board of directors and/or of the executive committee of Canadian Bar Association - Quebec Division

2000-2001 - President of the Young Bar Association of Montreal

1999-2001 - Member of the board of the Montreal Bar Foundation

1998-2002 - Member of various committees of the Montreal Bar

1997-2002 - Member of the board of directors and executive committee of the Young Bar Association of Montreal (and president for the year 2000-2001)

Participant and moderator at the 17th Université d'été de la Communication de Hourtin (Bordeaux, France)

Presentations & Conferences
Various conference presentations on issues facing the legal profession, while member and president of the Young Bar Association of Montréal.

2012 - " Femmes d'action dans les postes de haute direction", Diner-conference joint Bar of Montreal and CBA-QC, January 2012.

2010 -  " Les 4.2 critères pour autoriser l’exercice d’un recours collectif  ", Quebec Bar Symposium on Class Actions: Recent Developments in Quebec, Canada and in the United States.

2009 - " Survol de la jurisprudence marquante de la dernière année en matière de recours collectif : de l’avis aux membres à la rémunération du représentant "; Quebec Bar Symposium on Class Actions: Recent Developments in Quebec, Canada, United States and in Europe

2009 - "Pleading: an exercise in reasoning and convincing... and not just in court", Langlois Kronström Desjardins 

2009 - "The Dunsmuir decision: In depth changes?", 2009 Quebec Bar Convention 

2008 - "La révolution Dunsmuir - to Binnie or not to Binnie?", National Judicial Institute

2008 - "Legal balance-sheet regarding the debate on reasonable accommodation", 2008 Quebec Bar Convention.

2007 - "The standard of appellate review of a decision denying authorization to institute a class action – the principles of the Housen case are finally acknowledged"; Quebec Bar Symposium on Class Actions: Recent Developments in Quebec, Canada and the United States.

2007 - "Parity or Quotas to Ensure the Fair Representation of Women: Where Are We?", 2007 Quebec Bar Convention.

2007 - Symposium of the Conférence des associations de cadres et de professionnels des universités québécoises ( conference of associations of executives and professionals from Quebec universities (CAC PUQ) (moderator).

2006 - Femmes de carrière en interaction (Career Women’s Dialogue), symposium on "Women in the legal profession: is a successful career incompatible with a satisfying personal life … or vice versa?"

2006 - "Sufficiency of the allegations required for authorization of a class action":  part of a symposium on class actions organized by the Canadian Bar Association – Quebec Division.

Publications
2011- « L’injonction collective : le recours collectif et l’injonction, un mariage heureux ? », co-authored with Vincent de l’Étoile, La Revue du Barreau du Québec, Tome 70, p. 63
 
2011 – « Du conflit d’intérêt aux intérêts en conflit : pistes de réflexion à l’aube d’une nouvelle profession » dans Éthique, profession juridique et société - Collection de droit 2011-2012, volume hors série, École du Barreau, Éditions Yvon Blais, Cowansville, 2011

2010 - « Les 4.2 critères pour autoriser l’exercice d’un recours collectif », co-authored with Vincent de l’Étoile, Développements récents en recours collectifs, Service de la formation continue, Barreau du Québec, Volume 327, 2010, p. 207

2009 -  “The Dunsmuir Revolution, a New Analysis for the Standard of Review – To Binnie or Not to Binnie?” (La révolution Dunsmuir, la nouvelle analyse relative à la norme de contrôle - To Binnie or not to Binnie), co-authored with David Drouin-Lê, for the Quebec Bar’s 2009 annual convention, 44 pages.

2009 - Survol de la jurisprudence marquante de la dernière année en matière de recours collectif : de l’avis aux membres à la rémunération du représentant  (Overview of significant case law during the past year in class actions: from the notices to members to the compensation of the representative) , Développements récents en recours collectifs, Service de la formation continue du Barreau du Québec, Volume 312, Éditions Yvon Blais, Cowansville

2007 - La norme de révision en appel d’une décision refusant l’autorisation d’exercer un recours collectif - Les principes de l’arrêt Housen enfin reconnus (Standard of appellate review of a decision denying authorization to institute a class action – principles of the Housen case finally acknowledged]) Développements récents en recours collectifs, Service de la formation continue du Barreau du Québec, Volume 278, Éditions Yvon Blais, Cowansville. This article was cited with approval by the Quebec Court of Appeal in Option Consommateurs c. Bell Mobilité, 2008 QCCA 2201 and in Harmegnies v. Toyota Canada Inc., 2008 QCCA 380.

2007 - The Lawyer's Duty of Loyalty Revisited, Langlois Kronström Desjardins Legal Bulletin

2006 - La suffisance des allégations requises pour faire autoriser un recours collectif : le balancier s'est-il stabilisé? (Sufficiency of the allegations required for authorization of a class action), in Colloque sur les recours collectifs, Association du Barreau Canadien - Division Québec, Montréal 

2006 - The Court of Appeal starts to redress the balance: is this the death-knell for actions against an entire industry?,  Langlois Kronström Desjardins Legal Bulletin

2006 - What every American lawyer should know about Quebec class actions, The 2006 LEXPERT Guide

2006 - Anton Piller Orders: A poorly executed order leads to disqualification of law firm, Langlois Kronström Desjardins Legal Bulletin

2006 - Major victory for Langlois Kronström Desjardins : Quebec Superior Court dismisses $3.8 billion class action suit, Langlois Kronström Desjardins Legal Bulletin

2005 - Update on Quebec, Recent Developments of Importance - Class Actions, The 2006 LEXPERT American Lawyer

2005 - The Piro case: The Court of Appeal expresses its views on the role of the authorization judge, Langlois Kronström Desjardins Legal Bulletin

2005 - Guide 2005 de déontologie en milieu multidisciplinaire (2005 Guide to Professional Conduct in a Multidisciplinary Environment), Le Guide 2005, Quebec Bar (co-author)

Publications in La Presse Juridique

Le personnel non-avocat n'est pas à l'abri des conflits d'intérêts (Non-lawyer staff are not exempt from conflict-of-interest rules), La Presse Juridique

Freedom of Expression vs. the Right to Privacy and One's Reputation: Sometimes the Truth is Better Left Unsaid, LG legal bulletin

Representative mandates
Arbitration - Contractual Dispute – Information technology
Represented a client in a major commercial arbitration against an information-technology services provider concerning performance of an outsourcing contract and the setting of the prices for the services, including by the use of benchmarking.

Financial institution – Regulated activities – Consumer Law – Competition Law
Represents a major financial institution in various class actions instituted by credit card holders in relation to the establishment of fees relating to the services provided and the legality of provisions of revolving credit agreements, as well as in class a action instituted in British Columbia by merchants alleging infringements to competition. In addition to the technical and regulatory issues specific to this industry, these proceedings involve the application of the Consumer Protection Act as well as the Competition Act.

 Commission of Inquiry into the process of appointing judges in Quebec
Chantal Chatelain has been called to represent the Québec Association of Provincial Court Judges as a participant in the Commission of Inquiry into the process of appointing judges in Quebec. The Association accounts for nearly 300 judges of the Court of Québec and the municipal courts of Montreal, Laval and Quebec.

Arboriginal rights in Quebec
Successfully pleaded her first case before the Supreme Court of Canada in 1995, after only two years of practice, when she delivered part of the argument in Adams v. The Queen [1996] 3 S.C.R. 101, a matter that involved recognition of aboriginal rights in Quebec.

Committee on the remuneration of judges      
As counsel since 1997 for the Conférence des juges du Québec (Quebec Association of Provincial Court Judges), appeared and made submissions to the Judicial Compensation Committee (in 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2008) and to various levels of courts hearing the many ensuing proceedings relating to the compensation of Quebec’s provincial court judges. Successfully pleaded in this regard numerous times before the Quebec Superior Court, the Quebec Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada, notably in the matters of Provincial Court Judges' Assn. of New Brunswick v. New Brunswick (Minister of Justice); Ontario Judges' Assn. v. Ontario (Management Board); Bodner v. Alberta; Conférence des juges du Québec v. Quebec (Attorney General); Minc v. Quebec (Attorney General), [2005] 2 S.C.R. 286, 2005 SCC 44.

Solicitor client privilege    
In a precedent-setting case establishing the distinction between solicitor-client privilege and litigation privilege, contributed to the development of the law in Canada in this regard as one of the attorneys for the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada in the matter of Blank v. Canada (Minister of Justice), [2006] 2 S.C.R. 319, 2006 SCC 39.

Commission of Inquiry into the Deployment of Canadian Forces in Somalia   
As one of the counsel to the Commission, gained extensive knowledge and experience of commissions of inquiry and judicial review, both during the inquiry itself and in the many ensuing review proceedings.

Major class action against generic drug manufacturers   
Successfully contested a motion for authorization of a major class action ($3.8 billion) against generic drug manufacturers, for which she was acknowledged in the April 2008 edition of LEXPERT. Option Consommateurs v. Novopharm Ltd., 2006 QCCS 118, maintained in appeal.