Mélanie Martel is head of the litigation group in the Montréal office. She practises Civil and Commercial Litigation with a focus on Liability, Contract Law, Construction Law and Class Actions.
Mélanie represents a broad range of local and international clients. She provides judicious advice but also represents them before all levels of court and arbitration, in addition to assisting clients in the prevention, avoidance and settlement of litigation.
She taught the law regarding Obligations (contracts, insurance, obligations, civil liability) and Drafting of Civil Proceedings at the Quebec Bar School from 2019 to 2022, and she taught Contract Law, including sales, leases, insurance, consumer protection and construction, at the University of Sherbrooke from 2008 to 2019.
Mélanie received her Bachelor of Laws degree from Université Laval, and was on the dean’s honour list. She also studied at the University of Victoria in British Columbia as part of a Common Law/Droit civil exchange program. In 2006, she completed the Quebec Bar’s “Techniques de plaidoirie”, an exclusive and intensive course adopted by the US National Institute of Trial Advocacy and adapted by the Ministère de la justice.
She acts as director on the Board of the Société de Transport de Laval and is president of its Governance, Human resources and Ethics Committee. She is also active in the community, and was president of the Board of directors of Myeloma Canada (for multiple myeloma cancer) until 2024.
Examples of Professional Experience:
- Action/Defense in alleged breach of sale, construction, distribution, lease and other contracts;
- Action/Defense in liability cases (personal, contractual, public entity, professional);
- Strategic counsel to client about determination of rights, obligations and liability, as well as to determine the appropriate course of action and recourses following contractual disputes;
- Negotiation, drafting and review of contracts;
- Counselling on various types of contracts, to ensure respect of Quebec laws, norms and regulations and to avoid any potential litigation.
