Practice Expertise

  • Class Actions
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Distribution of Financial Products and ...
  • Financial Products and Services

Areas of Practice

  • Class Actions
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Distribution of Financial Products and ...
  • Financial Products and Services
  • Insurance
  • Mediation and Arbitration
  • Product Liability
  • Professional Liability
  • Special Risk Insurance
  • View More

Profile

Counsel

Ian Rose is a senior litigator, arbitrator and mediator with experience in civil and commercial disputes in many areas including insurance coverage, construction matters, product liability, professional liability, directors' and officers' liability, and intellectual property. He specializes in complex matters involving multiple parties, and has also acted as monitoring counsel in litigation involving multiple jurisdictions.

He has extensive experience before all levels of Quebec?s civil courts and has also represented clients before the Supreme Court of Canada. He has been called as an expert witness on Quebec law before the Superior Court of Justice (Ontario) and the High Court of Justice in London, England.

Mr. Rose is a member of the Quebec Bar, a certified mediator and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He is also a Member and Chairman of the Insurance and Financial Services Table of the Quebec Mediation and Arbitration Institute of Quebec (IMAQ), as well as a member of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Canada Arbitration Committee. Furthermore, in 2020 Mr. Rose taught Insurance Law as a Sessional Lecturer at McGill Faculty Law. 

Representative Mandates
  • Lead counsel for an industrial chemical products supplier named in a class action filed on behalf of the victims of a legionella outbreak in Quebec City
  • Lead counsel for several insurers involved in litigation concerning the application of Quebec law to the worldwide professional liability insurance program of Coopers & Lybrand in the context of the Castor Holdings litigation
  • Lead coverage counsel for the liability insurer of one of the central parties in litigation involving hundreds of claims totalling some half a billion dollars involving defective concrete
  • Lead counsel for a D&O insurer sued directly as defendant in a class action along with the directors and accountants of a company allegedly having included misleading information in its IPO prospectus
  • Lead counsel for the D&O insurer of the directors before the Quebec Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada in the landmark decision concerning duties of directors and officers in Canada, Peoples Department Stores v. Wise
  • Lead counsel before the Quebec Superior Court and the Quebec Court of Appeal defending a multinational industrial products manufacturer in a multimillion dollar lawsuit involving an allegedly defective recovery boiler
  • Counsel for a leading Canadian D&O insurer in a coverage dispute involving several million dollars in defence costs for multiple lawsuits instituted in the U.S. involving claims of hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars
  • Lead negotiator in achieving landmark agreement between Quebec authors and book publishers leading to the creation of the Quebec copyright collective COPIBEC ? Société québecoise de gestion collective des droits de reproduction
  • Sole Arbitrator in a contract dispute between a French publisher and a Canadian licensee regarding royalties
Publications
  • DRI Compendium Writing a Reservation of Rights (co-author, Quebec section)
  • "Legal Developments for Directors and Officers in Canada" (co-authored) in Executive Risks: A Boardroom Guide 2012/13, by White Page in collaboration with Willis Finex Global
  • "Quelques réflexions sur la responsabilité du fabricant au Québec à la lumière de l?arrêt Domtar", AGRAQ, January 22, 2009
  • "Recent Developments in the Securities Class Action Field in Canada" in PLUS Magazine, February 2006
  • "Canada (& Quebec)" (co-authored with André Laurin & Isabelle Lamarre) in The Willis Worldwide Directory of Directors' and Officers' Liability, 3rd ed., London, 2005 
Conferences
  • "Médiation dans le monde des affaires ? Assurance", as part of the Rendez-vous 2018-2019 of the Clinique de médiation de l?Université de Montréal (CMUM), October 30, 2018
  • "Statutory civil liability remedies for investors in the secondary securities markets", F.P. publication, 4th Conference on the liability of directors and officers, February 2013
  • "Exploring Trends in D&O Liability ? Certain Canadian Trends", Canadian Institute?s 12th Annual Forum of Directors?, Officers? and Fiduciary Liability, Montreal, October 22-23, 2009
  • "The Canadian ABCP Experience: The Montreal Accord of 2007 and the Metcalfe & Mansfield CCAA Plan of Arrangement" as part of the PLUS conference "La crise mondiale du crédit : où en sommes-nous ? Où allons-nous?; D&O, E&O et autres types de responsabilité", PLUS Seminar, Montreal, May 6, 2009
  • "Directors' Duties: The Supreme Court Confirms that Directors Owe No Fiduciary Duty to the Company's Creditors", McGill University, Faculty of law, Montreal, February 8, 2006
  • "Current Developments in D & O Litigation: What You Need to Know in Light of Peoples v. Wise and other Recent Court Decisions", Canadian Institute, October 25, 2005
  • "When They Sneeze... Emerging Trends in Canadian Directors' & Officers' Claims", RIMS Canada, Montreal, September 19, 2005
  • "Peoples Department Stores Inc. v. Wise: Directors' Duties Defined", QRIMA, November 2004
  • "The Liability of Pension Plan Administrators in the Quebec and Canadian Context", QRIMA, Montreal, February 26, 2004
  • "Barbarians at the Gate? Corporate Disclosure and Securities Class Action Litigation in Canada", QRIMA, Montreal, February 15, 2001

Education

  • B.C.L., McGill University, 1971
  • B.A., McGill University, 1968
  • Certified Mediator (Barreau du Québec and Arbitration and Mediation Institute of Quebec (IMAQ))
  • Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb)

Areas of Practice

  • Class Actions
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Distribution of Financial Products and Services
  • Financial Products and Services
  • Insurance
  • Mediation and Arbitration
  • Product Liability
  • Professional Liability
  • Special Risk Insurance

Professional Career

Significant Accomplishments
Counsel for several insurers involved in the litigation concerning the application of Québec law to the worldwide professional liability insurance program of Coopers & Lybrand in the context of the Castor Holdings litigation.
Lead coverage counsel for the liability insurer of one of the main parties in litigation involving hundreds of claims totaling nearly half a billion dollars involving defective concrete.
Lead counsel for Chubb Insurance Company of Canadabefore the Quebec Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada in a landmark decision concerning duties of directors and officers in Canada, Peoples Department Stores v. Wise.
Lead counsel before the Quebec Superior Court and the Quebec Court of Appeal defending a major multinational industrial products manufacturer in a multimillion dollar lawsuit involving an allegedly defective recovery boiler.
Counsel for a leading Canadian directors and officers insurer in a coverage dispute involving several million dollars in defence costs in the context of lawsuits instituted in theUSinvolving claims of hundreds of millions U.S. dollars.
Lead negotiator in achieving landmark agreement between Québec authors and book publishers leading to the formation in 1997 of the Québec copyright collective COPIBEC – Société québecoise de gestion collective des droits de reproduction.


Professional Associations
Canadian Bar Association
American Bar Association
International Bar Association
Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS)
Defense Research Institute
Canadian Defence Lawyers
Arbitration and Mediation Institute of Quebec (IMAQ)

Seminars/ Presentation
DRI Compendium Writing a Reservation of Rights (Co-author, Quebec Section).
"Statutory civil liability remedies for investors in the secondary securities markets", F.P. publication, 4th Conference on the liability of directors and officers, February 2013.
"Legal Developments for Directors and Officers in Canada" (co-authored) in Executive Risks: A Boardroom Guide 2012/13, by White Page in association with Willis Finex Global.
"Exploring Trends in D&O Liability – Certain Canadian Trends", Canadian Institute’s 12th Annual Forum of Directors’, Officers’ and Fiduciary Liability, Montreal, October 22-23, 2009.
"The Canadian ABCP Experience: The Montreal Accord of 2007 and the Metcalfe & Mansfield CCAA Plan of Arrangement" as part of the PLUS conference entitled "La crise mondiale du crédit : où en sommes-nous ? Où allons-nous?; D&O, E&O et autres types de responsabilité", PLUS Seminar, Montreal, May 6, 2009.
"Quelques réflexions sur la responsabilité du fabricant au Québec à la lumière de l’arrêt Domtar", AGRAQ, January 22, 2009.
"Directors' Duties: The Supreme Court Confirms that Directors Owe No Fiduciary Duty to the Company's Creditors", McGillUniversity, Faculty of Law,Montreal, February 8, 2006.
"Recent Developments in the Securities Class Action Field in Canada" in PLUS Magazine, February 2006
"Current Developments in D & O Litigation: What You Need to Know in Light of Peoples v. Wise and other Recent Court Decisions", Canadian Institute, October 25, 2005.
"When They Sneeze... Emerging Trends in Canadian Directors' & Officers' Claims", RIMSCanada,Montreal, September 19, 2005.
"Canada (& Quebec)" (co-authored with André Laurin& Isabelle Lamarre) in The Willis Worldwide Directory of Directors' and Officers' Liability, 3rd ed., London 2005.
"Peoples Department Stores Inc. v. Wise: Directors' Duties Defined", QRIMA, November 2004.
"The Liability of Pension Plan Administrators in theQuebecand Canadian Context", QRIMA,Montreal, February 26, 2004.
"Barbarians at the Gate? Corporate Disclosure and Securities Class Action Litigation in Canada", QRIMA, Montreal, February 15, 2001.

Professional Activities and Experience
Accolades
  • Best Lawyer 2016
  • Lexpert 2016
  • Best Lawyer 2017
  • Best Lawyer 2018
  • Best Lawyers 2019
  • Martindale
  • Best Lawyers 2020
  • Best Lawyers 2021
  • Best Lawyers 2022
  • Best Lawyers 2024


Articles

  • Y2K: the Countdown Draws to a Close
  • Peoples Department Stores v. Wise: The Directors Are Not Personally Liable in Bankruptcy
  • Directors make mistakes (CA Magazine.com)
  • Directors Duties Defined: The Supreme Court of Canada Confirms that Directors Owe No Fiduciary Duty to Creditors
  • The Application of Ontario's Bill 198 to Securities Class Actions in Quebec
  • The Manufacturer-Seller's Warranty in Québec: Still "Distict"!
  • Recent Developments in the Securities Class Action Field in Canada (PLUS)
  • Directors and Officers Liability
  • Legal Developments for Directors and Officers in Canada dans le livre Executive Risks: A Boardroom Guide 2010/11

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