Lawyer Profile
Léon H. Moubayed
Montréal, Québec
Overview
Léon Moubayed has established himself as a key player in complex and often highly political and high-profile issues and has demonstrated exceptional and decisive creativity in court.
A partner in the Investigations & White Collar Defence and Dispute Resolution practices, Léon is retained in high-stakes domestic and international white-collar criminal cases, usually encompassing significant commercial, civil and administrative ramifications. He acts for clients in high-profile investigations and prosecutions relating to white-collar and regulatory offences. His particular expertise includes challenging search warrants, wiretaps and other investigative techniques. He also represents corporations and individuals in multijurisdictional investigations, conducts confidential internal investigations and carries out asset recovery in extraordinary circumstances.
Léon has appeared at all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada. He was also appointed amicus curiae of the Supreme Court by the Chief Justice of Canada in an appeal where criminal law and civil law were closely intertwined. The Court unanimously upheld his position from the bench. He regularly acts in complex commercial disputes and public law matters such as constitutional challenges and judicial reviews, including advocating for fundamental rights and other social causes on a pro bono basis.
Léon serves as a judge at the International Criminal Court Moot Competition in The Hague. He founded Davies’ International Investigations & White Collar Defence Summit, held in Montréal, and is the practice coordinator for Davies’ Investigations & White Collar Defence team. He is a fellow of the International Academy of Financial Crime Litigators and a fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America.
Appointed amicus curiae of the Supreme Court of Canada by the then-chief justice of Canada, Beverley McLachlin, in a case raising a question of criminal law applied in a civil context to insurance contracts rules (Desjardins Financial Security Life Assurance Company v Émond, 2017 SCC 19). The Supreme Court unanimously upheld the amicus curiae's position and dismissed the appeal from the bench.
Acted for Onex Corporation in its successful application for judicial review of the amended Income Tax Act before the Federal Court of Canada.
Represented an international retailer in the context of a confidential internal investigation that led to the termination with cause of a senior employee for illicit actions which included soliciting and accepting secret and undisclosed payments or other forms of gifts or benefits from the retailer's suppliers or contractors in multiple jurisdictions.
Acting on behalf of confidential clients in a challenge of multiple search warrants executed in multiple locations by the Québec's Revenue Agency in the context of an investigation being jointly conducted with the Sûreté du Québec, the provincial police force. The case was heard by the Superior Court of Québec, the Court of Appeal of Québec and is now before the Supreme Court of Canada.
Practice Areas
Bar Information
Called to the bar: 2010 (QC)