Sylvie Rodrigue Ad.E.

Sylvie Rodrigue Ad.E., a partner at Torys LLP who chairs the firm's National Class Action Practice and serves as Managing Partner of its Montréal office, has been named Class Action Defense Lawyer of the Year in Canada at the 2024 Corporate INTL Global Awards. The recognition reflects her standing as one of Canada's foremost litigators and her particular authority in class action defence, a field in which she is regarded as a national leader across both civil law and common law jurisdictions.

Ms Rodrigue is recognised for her versatility, representing clients across jurisdictions and industries, and is known nationwide for her strength in class action, product liability and commercial disputes. She is among the small number of counsel in Canada able to defend cases in both Québec and the common law provinces, a dual capability that is especially valuable in the multi-jurisdictional class proceedings that increasingly define large-scale litigation in the country. Her practice has spanned an unusually wide range of matters, including class actions relating to product liability, drugs and medical devices, banking, privacy, constitutional law, competition law, consumer complaints, civil liability, employment, securities, and large tort and negligence claims.

Her leadership within the profession is as notable as her courtroom record. She is the founder and past Chair of the Class Action Section of the Ontario Bar Association, Chair of the National Task Force on Class Actions of the Canadian Bar Association, Co-Chair of the International Class Action Subcommittee of the American Bar Association and Co-Chair of the Class Action Working Group of the International Bar Association. Through these roles she has helped to shape the development of class action law and practice both in Canada and internationally, and has become an authoritative voice on the procedural and substantive questions that the field continues to generate.

In 2013 Ms Rodrigue opened and led a new Torys office in Montréal, known as Société d'avocats Torys S.E.N.C.R.L., while continuing her litigation practice in Toronto, extending the firm's national platform into Québec. Her contribution to the profession has been formally acknowledged by the Québec Bar, which awarded her the designation of Advocatus Emeritus (Ad.E.), a distinction reserved for a limited number of lawyers to honour an outstanding legal career, a remarkable contribution to the profession and dedicated service to the community.

Combining a formidable trial and appellate practice with cross-jurisdictional reach and sustained leadership in the organisations that steer class action law, Ms Rodrigue offers clients defence counsel of exceptional depth in some of the highest-stakes proceedings they can face. Corporations confronting nationwide or multi-jurisdictional class claims benefit from her ability to coordinate strategy seamlessly across Québec and the common law provinces. The 2024 Corporate INTL Global Award confirms her position at the very top of class action defence in Canada and recognises a career distinguished by advocacy, leadership and service to the profession.