Sophie Melchers
Sophie Melchers
Biography
Sophie Melchers practises mainly in the areas of corporate and securities litigation as well as class actions. She has represented clients before the Quebec courts and the Supreme Court of Canada in connection with disputed take-over bids, oppression remedies, dissent rights appraisals, plans of arrangement, insider trading and market manipulation.
Her broad experience in securities litigation also encompasses representation of reporting issuers and their officers and/or directors in connection with investigations conducted by the AMF, Quebec's securities regulator, into insider trading, market manipulation and continuous disclosure and their representation in defence before the Tribunal administratif des marchés financiers and the penal courts in proceedings instituted by the AMF. She has also conducted internal investigations into potential securities law breaches.
Professional experience
Representative experience
Representative experience
Sophie is currently acting or has acted in the following matters:
Corporate and Securities Litigation
- Reporting issuers and their officers and/or directors in the context of internal or regulatory investigations in connection with alleged tipping, insider trading and market manipulation
- Transat in an order cease trading the partial takeover by Groupe Mach
- Fibrek Inc. respecting the determination of the fair value of its shares following the exercise of dissent rights
Commercial litigation
- Bombardier Inc., before the Supreme Court of Canada, in connection with international letters of guarantee and counter-guarantee
- Ressources Robex in connection with oppression claims by minority shareholders
- Hydro-Québec, in connection with the long-term power supply agreement with Churchill Falls (Labrador) Corporation Limited
Class Actions
- Fédération des Caisses Desjardins, Desjardins Trust and Desjardins Investments in connection with allegations of closet indexing – authorization denied
- Bombardier Inc. and executives in connection with the prorating of restricted share units at the closing of the sale of a transaction – authorized for only two of the seven causes of action
- BMO Nesbitt Burns and BMO InvestorLine in connection with allegations of inadequate disclosure of currency conversion fees – authorization denied
- Ernst & Young in connection with allegations of false or misleading disclosure relating to the Laurentian Bank of Canada securitization portfolio
- Fédération des Caisses Desjardins, in connection with allegations of refusal to do business with participants of the cannabis industry – authorization denied
Rankings and recognitions
Rankings and recognitions
- Chambers Canada, Quebec: Litigation: Securities (Band 1), Chambers and Partners, 2020-2025
- Chambers Canada, Quebec: Litigation: General Commercial (Band 4), Chambers and Partners, 2018-2025
- Legal 500 Canada: Dispute Resolution - Quebec (Leading Partners), 2019-2025
- Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada: Litigation – Corporate Commercial; Litigation - Securities, 2020-2025
- Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, 2018-2025: Most Frequently Recommended in Litigation - Corporate Commercial and Litigation - Securities; Consistently Recommended in Class Actions
- Thomson Reuters Stand-out Lawyers, 2025
- Best Lawyers in Canada: Corporate and Commercial Litigation, 2010-2025; Montreal Lawyer of the year, 2023; Corporate and Commercial Litigation "Lawyer of the Year," 2024; Bet-the-Company Litigation, 2017-2025; Class Action Litigation, 2023-2025
- Benchmark Litigation Canada: 2023-2024: Nationwide Trial Lawyer of the Year, Canada's Top 100 Women in Litigation, Canada's Top 50 Trial Lawyers, local litigation star in Quebec and in Canada; 2022: Québec Litigator of the Year and recognized with a Benchmark Hall of Fame award, Canada's Top 100 Women in Litigation, Canada's Top 50 Trial Lawyers, local litigation star in Quebec and in Canada; Prior: recognized as a local litigation star in Quebec and in Canada
- Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America (2017)
- Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers (2015)
Education
Education
LL.B., Université de Montréal, 1993
Canadian Securities Course
Introduction to Derivatives, Derivatives Institute
Admissions
Admissions
- Quebec 1994
Publications
Publications
- "Solicitor Client Privilege Claims over Seized Documents D.L. v. Autorité des marchés financiers, 2022 QCCS 2157," in Norton Rose Fulbright's Securities litigation and enforcement blog, 2022
- "What constitutes or not MNPI Kitmitto (Re), 2022 ONCMT12" (with L. Fuerst), in Norton Rose Fulbright's Securities litigation and enforcement blog, 2022
- "Jurisdiction of Quebec Court in Class Action against Ontario Reporting Issuer on account of Fault Committed in Quebec and Injury Suffered in Quebec," in Norton Rose Fulbright's Securities litigation and enforcement blog, 2022
- "Outils dont dispose l'Autorité des marchés financiers pour recueillir de la preuve dans le cadre de ses enquêtes" (with C. Larouche and S. Pousht-Mashhad), in Développements récents en enquêtes internes et réglementaires, 2019
- "The Power of Securities Commissions to Compel Testimony: A Comparative Perspective," (with J. Beaudoin and F.N. Nadima), in Annual Review of Civil Litigation 2017
Speaking engagements
Speaking engagements
- "Forum pour les avocats et avocates seniors," The Advocates’ Society seminar, January 2025
- "Maîtrisez l'interrogatoire au préalable," The Advocates’ Society seminar, October 2024
- "Maîtrisez la plaidoirie écrite," The Advocates’ Society seminar, April 2024
- "Examination and Cross-Examination of Experts," The Advocates’ Society seminar, October 2022 and 2023
- "Les décisions marquantes du Tribunal administratif des marchés financiers," Bar of Montreal, October 2021
- "Mergers and Acquisitions" (2018-2025) and "Directors' Liability and Governance" (with T. Dorval) (2010, 2011, 2013 to 2017) in the Directors Education Program at the McGill Executive Institute of Montreal
- "White Collar Investigation and Prosecution" (panelist, with D.J. Fetterman and S. Seida), New York Bar Association, October 2018
- "Éviter les écueils lorsqu'en possession d'information privilégiée" (panelist, with M. Bédard, AMF and J. Demers, Manac), Canadian Bar Association, November 2017
Memberships and activities
Memberships and activities
- Canadian Bar Association
- American College of Trial Lawyers
- Supreme Court Advocacy Institute
- Barreau de Montréal (Montreal bar)
- Chair of the Liaison Committee with the Tribunal administratif des marchés financiers (2014 – 2018)
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