Professional Profile

Mark Phillips is a litigator in our Montréal office. He is a graduate of McGill University in both civil law and common law. He is also a graduate of the University of Ottawa.

Mr. Phillips was admitted to the Québec Bar in 1995.

Mr. Phillips has appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada, the Quebec Court of Appeal, Superior Court, Federal Court and various other courts and tribunals, arbitration panels and disciplinary committees.

In 1992 and 1993, he was Editor-in-Chief of the McGill Law Journal. Mr. Phillips has also worked as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Canada.

Areas of Practice

Mr. Phillips is Regional Leader of the Public Law Group (Montréal). He represents our clients in proceedings for judicial review, declaratory judgment, injunction and others, as well as constitutional challenges under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Québec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.

Mr. Phillips is also a member of the Commercial Litigation Group and practises civil and commercial litigation.

Professional experience

Mr. Phillips has acted in several major cases where fundamental freedoms were at stake, notably freedom of conscience and religion, freedom of expression, freedom of association and the right to equality. He has also acted and advised in constitutional matters involving division of legislative powers, inter-jurisdictional immunity and unwritten constitutional principles.

In administrative law, he has argued cases involving judicial review and declarations of nullity of administrative decisions and executive orders-in-council. He has appeared before a wide variety of tribunals in cases involving such things as access to information and regulatory matters. He is the author of a chapter on declaratory judgments in a text on civil procedure and has been a guest speaker on the standard of review in administrative law.

Mr. Phillips has also argued numerous cases in commercial, civil, disciplinary and penal matters. His practice has involved litigation regarding corporate governance, personal liability of directors and officers of companies, shareholders’ remedies, civil liability of professionals and product liability. His experience has been drawn upon in several areas of activity, notably education, energy, natural resources, manufacturing, telecommunications, agriculture, sports and health services. He has advised a foreign State on matters of public international law.

Mr. Phillips is the author of the only book on the Québec law of electronic evidence, entitled La preuve électronique au Québec (LexisNexis Canada 2010). He has also published and spoken on various topics, notably electronic documents, expert testimony, cross-examination, professional ethics and appeals to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Mr. Phillips speaks several languages, including English, French and Russian.

Community Activities

Mr. Phillips has sat on several boards of directors, including those of the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Society of Québec and the Société québécoise d'opéra-concert. He is currently on the board of Presbyterian College, Montréal.