Professional Profile

Called to the Ontario Bar in 1984 and the Québec Bar in 2002, Guy Pratte is the Chair of BLG's National Council and a litigation partner who divides his time between our Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto offices. Fluently bilingual in French and English, he practices regularly before the Superior Courts and Courts of Appeal of Quebec and Ontario, as well as the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal of Canada, and the Supreme Court of Canada. In 2007, Guy became a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a status reserved to less than 1% of all practicing lawyers of any state or province . He is also Co-Chair of the College's Access to Justice Committee. Guy is a member of the Advocates' Society of Ontario and the Association des juristes d'expression française de l'Ontario . He is also a Director of the Supreme Court of Canada Advocacy Institute.

Chambers Global 2007 described Guy as " one of the few practitioners who are members of both the Ontario and Quebec Bars. Peers praise him as truly excellent – he is thorough, well prepared and has superb presentation and cross-examining skills – on top of this, he has style!" Guy is rated as repeatedly recommended in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2007 in Class Action (Québec); Corporate Commercial Litigation (Eastern Ontario/Quebec); and Public Law (Eastern Ontario).

Guy has also been selected by his peers to be named in the 2008 and 2009 editions of The Best Lawyers in Canada in several specialties including Administrative and Public Law, Appellate Law, Class Action Litigation, Corporate and Commercial Litigation, Arbitration and Product Liability Law.

In 2008, Guy captured the medias' attention when two detailed articles were published about him: 'Pratte-à-Porter ' published in Canadian Lawyer in July and L'avocat qu'on s'arrache, published in La Presse in March.

Guy graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours – Gold Medal) in History and Philosophy. He obtained both his Master of Arts in Philosophy and his Bachelor of Laws from the University of Toronto. Guy participated in the Civil Law/Common Law Exchange Program at the Université de Sherbrooke and Dalhousie University.

Responsibilities at the Firm

Guy is the Chair of BLG's governing body, the National Council, and national leader of our Commercial Litigation Practice Group. Guy was Managing Partner of the Ottawa office from 1999-2001 and a member of the National Executive Committee from 2000-2003. He was a member of the National Council from 2000-2003, and was elected again to that position in 2006.

Areas of Practice

While Guy's practice is focused on Commercial Litigation (including class actions), Administrative Law and Constitutional Law, he is consistently retained in complex and sensitive cases requiring strong advocacy skills that concern, for example, public hearings, professional negligence, pharmaceutical litigation, judicial reviews and defamation suits.

Professional Experience

• Lead Counsel of the Right Honourable Brian Mulroney in hearings before the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics and the Oliphant Commission
• Lead Counsel for respondent Mercer (Cité de Sherbrooke v. Mercer et Pierre Caron) (Retirement Fund and professional responsibility).
• Lead Counsel for The Federation of Law Societies in The Ministry of Public Safety and Security v. The Criminal Lawyers' Association.
• Lead Counsel for JTI Macdonald in respect of tobacco related Class Actions.
• Lead Counsel for CBC – Société Radio-Canada (Defamation).
• Lead Counsel for Pharmacie Jean Coutu (Commercial Litigation).
• Recent appearances before the Supreme Court of Canada: Counsel for the Federation of Law Societies (December 2008), CN v. Royal Trust (May 2008), Finney v. Barreau du Québec (Counsel to Mrs. Finney, decided June 10, 2004) (Liability of professional bodies); Chaouilli v. A.G. of Québec et al. (2005) (counsel to intervenor, Canadian Medical Association) re: the constitutionality of public health care monopoly.
• Lead Counsel to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission re: non-renewal of CHOI-FM licence, 2004-2007 (Federal Court of Appeal / Supreme Court of Canada) re: constitutionality of non-renewal of broadcasting license and right of free speech.
• Lead Counsel to Mr. Jean Pelletier (former Chief of Staff to the Right Honourable Prime Minister Jean Chrétien) at the Commission of Inquiry into the Sponsorship Program and Advertising Activities, 2004‑2005; 2005 ‑ 2008 (Federal Court of Canada).
• Numerous appearances before courts in Ontario and Québec, including the Courts of Appeal of Ontario and Québec and the Federal Court of Appeal.
• Counsel for Law Society of Upper Canada in respect of disciplinary matters.
• Counsel to Mr. Justice Jean-Guy Boilard re Canadian Judicial Council Inquiry, 2003, re: constitutionality of judicial disciplinary process and judicial decisions.

Teaching and Community Activities

• Teaching Experience : Instructor, Training Program for Administrative Tribunal Members; Principal Instructor in Public Law - Bar Admission Course; Instructor, Law of Evidence, University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law.
• Visiting Professor, January Term, 2001, University of Western Ontario; "Chargé de cours", Contract Law, Université de Montréal, 2003.
• President, Pro Bono Québec.
• President, Association des juristes d'expression française de l'Ontario (AJEFO), 1993 – 1994.
• Chair of the National Arts Centre Foundation (Ottawa, Ontario) 2002 – 2007.

Publications, Conferences and Speaking Engagements

• Droit et morale professionnelle, Les journées strasbourgeoises 2008.
• Summary Judgment Motions: Recent Judicial Developments Superior Court of Justice (Ontario) Spring Education Seminar, 2008.
• Effective Advocacy before the PMPRB, BLG Biotech and Pharma Group – Pharma Advisory Series, 2008.
• Experts on Experts, 2007 CCLA Civil Litigation Update, 2007.
• The New Administrative Law – Standards of Review: Are we there yet? Law Society of Upper Canada, 2007.
• LSUC Divisional Training Session, Law Society of Upper Canada, 2007.
• The Role of Legal Counsel in Policy and Decision Making Canadian Institute's 6th Annual Advanced Administrative Law & Practice, 2006.
• The Standard of Review Battle: Is Anyone Winning? Osgoode Professional Development – 2nd National Forum – New Directions in Administrative Law and Practice, 2006.
• Resserrement ou Assouplissement? Une mise à jour sur l'application et l'interprétation des normes de contrôle en révision judiciaire 4ième Conférence avancée sur le droit administratif, 2006.
• The Chaouilli Decision: What Does it Mean For Canadians? Canadian Bar Association Annual Meeting, 2005.
• Chaoulli and the Restructuring of Health Care in Canada, Osgoode Professional Development – One Day National Summit, 2005.
• Implications of the Chaoulli Judgment for the Health Insurance Sector (Facilitator) Northwind Professional Institute's 2005 Health Insurance Strategic Forum, 2005.
• Demystifying the Standard of Review (Panel Discussion: Making Sense of the Standard) Osgoode Professional Development – New Directions in Administrative Law & Practice, the National Forum, 2005.
• Développements en contentieux civil et études en droit comparé Congrès annuel de l'AJEFO, 2005.
• Patients Rights 2005 Health Care Policy Invitational Forum Panel Member, 2005.
• Liability of Public Agencies Canadian Bar Association National Civil Litigation CLE Conference, 2005.
• L'application et l'interprétation des normes de contrôle judiciaire : comment s'y retrouver et les changements à venir L'Institut canadien, 3ième conférence avancée sur le droit administratif, 2004.
• Cross-Canada Year in Review: Key Administrative Law Decisions and Their Implications Canadian Institute's 4th Annual Law Conference, 2004.
• "Analyse de la jurisprudence marquante en droit administratif canadien et ses impacts", presented at the Canadian Institute's 2nd Annual Administrative Law Conference, 2003.
• The Law of Evidence as Applied by Administrative Tribunals, presented to the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice Seminar for Administrative Tribunals: Administrative Law and Administrative Writing for the Staff of the Canadian Forces Grievance Authority (CFGA), 2003.
• The Judicial Review Process, presented at the Canadian Institute Course on Fundamentals of Administrative Law & Practice, 2003.
• Test for Judicial Review: The 2001 Version, presented at the Civil Litigation Updated Conference, 2001.
• Assessing the Credibility of Witnesses: A Practical Guide, 2000.
• Reassessing the Role of Lawyers Appearing Before Administrative Tribunals on the Eve of the Millennium, presented at the CCAT International Conference in Vancouver, B.C., 1999.
• Summary Judgment Motions: Recent Judicial Developments, 1998.
• It's Time to Put Language Rights Where They Belong: At the Top of the Constitutional Hierarchy, delivered on the occasion of the National Symposium on Canada's Official Languages to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Official Languages Act of 1998, 1998.
• So Prove It : The Admission and Assessment of Evidence, presentation at Council of Canadian Administrative Tribunals, 1997.
• The Deemed Undertaking Rule: A Critical Note, 1996.
• In Defence of the Adversarial Process: Some Thoughts on the Role of ADR in the Context of Public Utility Regulation, CAMPUT Conference, 1996.
• Principles of Evidence Law Applicable to Administrative Tribunals, presented to the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice Seminar for Administrative Tribunals: The Hearing Process, 1995.
• The Relevance of Comparative Law: A Critique of Alan Watson's "The Making of the Civil Law", University of Toronto Law Review 115, 1982.