Lawyer Profile
Claude-Armand Sheppard
Montréal, Québec
Overview
Claude-Armand Sheppard is a partner in our Civil and Commercial Litigation Group. His practice focuses on most aspects of civil and commercial litigation, including defamation, shareholder conflicts, administrative and constitutional law, and claims by senior executives for wrongful dismissal.
Claude-Armand is one of the most the prominent members of our Litigation Group. He frequently appears as head counsel in very significant disputes, and as arbitrator in commercial disputes.
Representative files and mandates
Few litigators have a track record matching that of Me Sheppard. He has appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada on numerous occasions, in constitutional matters (judges’ independence, referral on the secession of Quebec, criminal immunity of a Crown corporation, religious neutrality of a municipality), as well as defamation matters and even criminal cases.
He was also one of the lawyers behind the acquittals of Dr. Henry Morgentaler, victories that ushered in a change of policy, which eventually led to the legalisation of abortion in Canada.
Throughout his career, Claude-Armand has been an advisor to Royal Commissions, the Attorney General of Canada, parliamentary committees, and various governments.
His recent activity is equally diverse:
Defending counsel in a series of damage claims in the wake of the Charbonneau Commission’s report, which investigated the award and management of public contracts in the construction industry
Disputes involving testamentary trusts
Disciplinary proceedings against a member of the Bar and members of the accounting profession
Representing witnesses before public inquiry commissions
Arbitrating a dispute arising from a joint venture in the mining sector
Presiding over an arbitration board in an industrial dispute
Shareholder disputes and the protection of minority shareholders
Defamation cases over the Internet and social media
Defending a publisher who allegedly held that certain people were agents of a foreign power paid to disseminate its ideology
Obtaining an injunction to enforce a restrictive covenant in a “development and licence” agreement
Involved in a case surrounding the unjustified dismissal of the chair of a national corporation
Practice Areas
Bar Information
Called to the bar: 1959 (QC)
Professional Details
Education
Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.)
McGill University
1958
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)
McGill University
1955
Awards & Recognition
Designated Lawyer Emeritus by the Bar of Quebec (2012)
Best Lawyers in Canada : recognized as an expert in commercial litigation (since 2006)
Rated “AV Preeminent” by Martindale-Hubbell for his skills and ethics
Articles & Speeches
Temporary Suspension of the Obligation for Corporations to Provide French Translation of English Court Proceedings
August 29, 2022
In Mitchell c. Procureur général du Québec, 2022 QCCS 2983, Madam Justice Chantal Corriveau of the Superior Court has just suspended the coming into force of sections 9 and 208.6 of the Charter of the French Language as amended by An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec, better known as Bill [ ]
Claude-Armand has written several books, and has published articles in the McGill Law Journal , the Revue juridique Thémis , the Revue du Barreau , the Canadian Bar Review, and several other specialized periodicals. Some of his most notable written work includes:
Régimes linguistiques canadiens et étrangers , a series of digests produced for the Commission of Inquiry on the Situation of the French Language and Linguistic Rights in Quebec (Éditeur officiel du Québec, 1974)
Inventaire critique des droits linguistiques au Québec , a 1,682-page, three-volume compendium on language rights for the Government of Quebec (Éditeur officiel du Québec, 1973)
Obstacles juridiques à la mobilité de la main-d’œuvre hospitalière (Éditeur officiel du Québec, 1973)
The Law of Languages in Canada , for the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (1971)
L’organisation et la réglementation des professions de la santé et du bien-être au Québec , a 3,000-page, nine-volume report on the medical and paramedical professions for the Commission d’enquête sur la santé et le bien-être social (1970)
Claude-Armand is also regularly invited to speak at conferences and other professional events on topics such as arbitration and alternate dispute resolution, and ethical issues facing lawyers and other professionals.
Community Involvement
Chair of the Festival de Lanaudière for some 15 years
Chair of the Ballets Jazz Montréal dance company
Member of the executive committee of the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde