Anne Merminod

Partner

Montréal
[email protected]
514.954.2529

Anne is a highly experienced and skilled litigator devoting her entire practice to class action defence. She represents a wide range of clients such as manufacturers and distributors, pharmaceutical companies, financial institutions, and public corporations.

With more than a decade of dedicated service to various clients, Anne has played a pivotal role in developing effective litigation strategies tailored for class actions that have consistently yielded successful outcomes. Her experience in class actions spans across various industries, and she currently serves as lead counsel for defendants in multiple ongoing class actions.

Her recognition within the field is made evident through her current positions as:

  • Vice-Chair of the International Bar Association’s Class Actions Committee;
  • Vice President of the Executive Committee of the Class Actions Section of the Canadian Bar Association (Québec Division); and
  • President of the Barreau du Québec’s annual National Conference on Class Actions.

Anne’s thorough and extensive understanding of class actions has made her a sought-after writer and speaker. She regularly speaks and write on the subject of class actions in Canada and abroad. Some of her recent articles include:

  • “The Need to Establish Knowledge of False or Misleading Representations in Consumer Law: Perspectives in Québec and in Canada”, in Barreau du Québec, Service de la formation continue, Colloque  national sur l'action collective, Développements récents au Québec, au Canada et aux États-Unis, vol 544, Montréal (QC), Éditions Yvon Blais, 2023, p. 271 (on false representations in the context of class actions);
  • "COVID-19 Class Actions Forecast", American Bar Association, June 2020;
  • "Maximus in Minimis: Damages for Stress, Worry and Inconvenience in Class Actions", Annual Review of Civil Litigation, Thomson Reuters, 2020;
  • "Privacy Class Actions", Managing Privacy in a Connected World, LexisNexis, 2020; and
  • “Two Solitudes of Privacy: Privacy Class Actions in Québec and the Rest of Canada", in Barreau du Québec, Service de la formation continue, Colloque national sur l’action collective, Développements récents au Québec, au Canada et aux États-Unis, vol 480, Montréal (QC), Éditions Yvon Blais, 2020, p. 67.

Experience

  • Hébert v. Kia Canada Inc. – Defeated authorization on behalf of Kia Canada in the defective Bluetooth system class action. The Court of Appeal of Québec upheld the decision in appeal.
  • Sofio v. Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) – Defeated authorization on behalf of IIROC in the class action following the loss of personal information of 50,000 investors. The Court of Appeal of Québec upheld the decision in appeal.
  • Maxwell vShoppers Drug Mart Inc./Loblaws & all (2019) – Obtained the discontinuance of the class action regarding the alleged practice at differentiating prices according to the gender of the consumer, commonly referred to as "pink tax".

Beyond our Walls

Professional Involvement

  • Member, Executive Committee of the Class Actions Section of the Canadian Bar Association (Québec Division)
  • Member, Québec Bar Association
  • Member, Young Bar Association of Montreal
  • Member, Canadian Bar Association

Community Involvement

  • Board member, Cuisine Atout (since 2013)

Awards & Recognitions

  • Recognized in the 2024 edition of Chambers Canada – Canada's Leading Lawyers for Business (Dispute Resolution: Class Action (Defence) - Nationwide - Canada).
  • Recognized in the 2024, 2022 and 2019 editions of The Canadian Legal Lexpert® Directory (Class Actions) and in the 2024 edition (Litigation - Product Liability).
  • Recognized in the 2023 edition of Lexpert Special Edition: Technology and Health Sciences
  • Recognized in the 2023 edition (and since 2022) of Lexpert Special Edition: Litigation.
  • Recognized in the 2023 edition of Benchmark Litigation Canada as a Litigation Star and in the 2022
  • Canadian Law Awards : Commercial Litigation Team of the Year - Excellence Award (2023) with Stéphane Pitre, Alexandra Hebert and Alexis Leray for Lamoureux v. Organisme canadien de réglementation du commerce des valeurs mobilières, 2022 QCCA 685 edition (and since 2021) of Benchmark Litigation Canada's “40 & Under Hot List" and as a "Future Star".
  • Recognized in the 2024 edition of Best Lawyers in Canada (Product Liability Law) and since 2019 (Class Action Litigation).
  • Recognized in 2022 as a Lexpert Rising Star: Leading Lawyer Under 40
  • Recognized as Acritas Star 2019 (and since 2016) by a survey of 4,000 general counsels and senior leaders at legal departments around the world.

Bar Admission & Education

  • Québec, 2010
  • BCL/LLB, McGill University, 2008
  • McGill University exchange student in Legal Studies, National University of Singapore, 2008
  • B.A. (honours) in History, Concordia University, 2005