Practice Expertise

  • Class Actions
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Damage Insurance
  • Information, Privacy and Defamation

Areas of Practice

  • Class Actions
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Damage Insurance
  • Information, Privacy and Defamation
  • Insurance
  • Product Liability
  • Professional Liability
  • Special Risk Insurance
  • View More

Profile

Partner

Bernard Larocque is a partner whose practice focuses primarily on civil litigation, including defamation law, insurance law, class actions, professional liability, and administrative disputes. He frequently appears before the courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada and the Quebec Court of Appeal.

Mr. Larocque regularly speaks at conferences on various subjects such as insurance law, liability, and civil procedure. 

Representative mandates 
  • Represent numerous companies, including news organizations, in defamation suits as either plaintiff or defendant
  • Represent an international engineering consulting firm in a billion-dollar class action related to contaminated soil
  • Represent a major law firm in professional liability proceedings related to a public offering
  • Represent several insurance companies in litigation related to damages totalling tens of millions of dollars as a result of flooding in several municipalities
  • Represent energy company in a class action related to the operation of a hydro-electric dam 
Publications 
  • La proposition d?assurance par internet : où en sommes-nous ? Développements récents en droit des assurances 2016, Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin, Bernard Larocque and Leïla Yacoubi, Barreau du Québec, Éditions Yvon Blais, vol. 423, p. 49
  • Honesty of financial advisors and discretion of the Autorité des marchés financiers: the Québec Court of Appeal rules, Need to Know 2016, Catherine Pariseault and Bernard Larocque
  • Fraud, nullity and compulsory professional liability insurance: the Québec Court of Appeal rules in, Need to Know 2016, Bernard Larocque
  • The Québec Court of Appeal rules on the duty to defend and the exclusion of liability assumed by contract, Need to Know 2016, Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin and Bernard Larocque
  • The Supreme Court of Canada will not review the duty of the insured to collaborate, Need to Know Express 2016, Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin and Bernard Larocque
  • Overlapping Insurance Policies: The Court of Appeal of Ontario Toes the Line! In Fact and in Law, Mary Delli Quadri and Bernard Larocque, April 2014
  • The Theratechnologies Case, In Fact and in Law Express, Jean-Philippe Lincourt and Bernard Larocque, March 2014
  • Pension Plans and Class Actions: the Vivendi case, In Fact and in Law Express, Josée Dumoulin, François Parent, and Bernard Larocque, January 2014
  • The Robinson Case: the Final Chapter, In Fact and in Law, Bernard Larocque, Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin, with the collaboration of Jérôme Bélanger, January 2014
  • The liability insurer's duty to defend: what is the lawyer's role? Bernard Larocque and Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin, Recent developments in insurance law 2013, Barreau du Québec, Éditions Yvon Blais, vol. 373
  • Professional liability insurance and gross fault: the Court of Appeal sings a different tune, In Fact and in Law Express, Bernard Larocque, September 2012
  • Liability Insurance, professional activities and gross fault: the Québec Court of Appeal sets the record straight, Lloyd?s of London v. Alimentation Denis & Mario Guillemette, In Fact and in Law Express and ChADPresse, Bernard Larocque, August 2012
  • Self-insured retention amounts: what is their scope in civil law?* Louis Charette and Bernard Larocque, Recent developments in insurance law, Barreau du Québec, Éditions Yvon Blais, vol. 337 
Lectures 
  • Panelist at the 14th annual Barreau du Québec national conference on class actions, March 23, 2017, on the topic of class actions in environmental law
  • The lawyer and best litigation practices,* Bernard Larocque, courses given to students at the Barreau du Québec ? since 2013
  • Insurance in the context of commercial leasing,* training given by Bernard Larocque to the Real Estate Law Group ? October 21, 2014
  • 2016 Annual review of insurance case law,* Bernard Larocque and Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin, Lavery Symposium, January 27, 2017/ Conférence Jean-Bélanger en assurance de dommages, January 31, 2017 / Chambre de l?assurance de l?assurance de dommages du Québec, February 21, 2017 / Canadian Insurance Claims Managers Association, February 23, 2017
  • 2015 Annual review of insurance case law, * Bernard Larocque and Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin, Lavery Symposium, January 14 and 15, 2014 / Conférence Jean-Bélanger en assurance de dommages, January 22, 2014 / Canadian Insurance Claims Managers Association, February 12, 2014
  • 2014 Annual review of insurance case law, * Bernard Larocque and Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin, Lavery Symposium, January 21, 2015 / Conférence Jean-Bélanger en assurance de dommages, January 22, 2015 / Canadian Insurance Claims Managers Association, February 11, 2015
  • 2013 Annual review of insurance case law, * Bernard Larocque and Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin, Lavery Symposium, January 14 and 15, 2014 / Conférence Jean-Bélanger en assurance de dommages, January 22, 2014 / Canadian Insurance Claims Managers Association, February 12, 2014
  • The liability insurer's duty to defend: what is the lawyer's role? Bernard Larocque, Recent developments in insurance law symposium, Montréal, October 4, 2013
  • The good and the bad of the insurer's duty to defend, Bernard Larocque and Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin, Lavery, October 24 and 25, 2012
  • L?exclusion des travaux de l?assuré : l?arrêt Progressive Homes, 2010 CSC 33, Bernard Larocque with the collaboration of Me Odette Jobin-Laberge, Ad.E., Institut d?assurance de dommages, Montréal, April 4, 2012 

* Title translated from the French.

Education

  • LL.B., Université Laval, 1994

Areas of Practice

  • Class Actions
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Damage Insurance
  • Information, Privacy and Defamation
  • Insurance
  • Product Liability
  • Professional Liability
  • Special Risk Insurance

Professional Career

Significant Accomplishments
Represented an international engineering consulting firm in a billion dollar class action regarding contaminated soils.
Represented a major law firm in professional liability proceedings regarding a distribution of securities to the public.
Represented several insurance companies in litigation relating to tens of millions of dollars in damages as a result of floodings occurring in several municipalities.
Represented a major Crown Corporation in litigation involving several millions of dollars against the manufacturer of sophisticated machinery.
Acted as plaintiff or defence counsel on behalf of many media businesses in the context of libel litigation.


Professional Associations
Canadian Bar Association
Lecturer at the University of Montreal (2008-2009 and 2009-2010)
Member of the board of directors (member and Chair) of GEIPSI (community organization) (2002-2009)
Member of the board of directors of ProBono Québec (2010-2011)
Member of the board of directors and Treasurer of ProBono Québec (2011 -)
Member of the Approval and Referral Committee of ProBono Québec (2009 -)
Member of the board of directors of Théâtre I.N.K. (2009 - 2012)
Member of the task force on the Best Practices Guide of the Quebec Bar (2011-2012)

Seminars/ Presentation
The lawyer and best litigation practices,* Bernard Larocque, courses given to students in the Quebec bar admission course – 2013-2014;
Insurance in the context of commercial leasing,* training given by Bernard Larocque to the Real Estate Law Group – October 21, 2014;
2013 Annual review of insurance case law,* Bernard Larocque and Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin, Lavery Symposium, January 14 and 15, 2014 / Jean Bélanger damage insurance conference, January 22, 2014 / Canadian Insurance Claims Managers Association, February 12, 2014;
The liability insurer's duty to defend: what is the lawyer's role?* Bernard Larocque, Recent developments in insurance law symposium, Montreal, October 4, 2013;
The good and the bad of the insurer's duty to defend,* Bernard Larocque and Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin, Lavery, October 24 and 25, 2012.
* Title translated from the French.

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


Articles

  • Selling your house is an insured personal activity
  • Statutory Examinations: Their Use Before the Courts is Not Automatic
  • Not Telling the Truth is Not Necessarily Lying (Art. 2472 C.C.Q.)
  • Exclusion Raised Belatedly Without a Problem!
  • Nullity of an Insurance Contract and Criminal History: Clear and Specific Questions Must Be Asked
  • Beware of Allegations of Fraud in Insurance: Words Fly Away, Writing Remains!
  • The Court of Appeal on the concept of intentional fault: insurers have a heavy burden of proof
  • English title
  • The Chicken, the Egg, the Producer - the Quebec Court of Appeal Knows Which Came First!
  • The Court of Appeal authorizes an insurer to institute a subrogatory recourse as a preventive measure
  • Liability Insurance and Reconstituted Families: Where Does the Court of Appeal Stand?
  • The Supreme Court clarifies the parameters for assessing whether a commercial representation is false or misleading: The average consumer is credulous and inexperienced
  • Liability insurance, professional activities and gross fault: the Québec Court of Appeal sets the record straight
  • Professional liability insurance and gross fault: the Court of Appeal sings a different tune (new version)
  • The insurer's duty to defend and indemnify: a new judgment of the Quebec Court of Appeal
  • To What Extent are Insurers Required to Cover Premises where Criminal Activities are Conducted?
  • Class Actions: The Supreme Court of Canada addresses the issue of indirect purchasers and the jurisdiction of the Quebec courts over contracts formed at a distance
  • The Robinson Case: The Final Chapter
  • Pension Plans and Class Actions: the Vivendi case
  • The Theratechnologies Case
  • Overlapping Insurance Policies: The Court of Appeal of Ontario toes the line!
  • The Supreme Court of Canada will not review the duty of the insured to collaborate
  • The Québec Court of Appeal rules on the duty to defend and the exclusion of liability assumed by contract
  • Fraud, nullity and compulsory professional liability insurance: the Québec Court of Appeal rules in
  • Honesty of financial advisors and discretion of the Autorité des marchés financiers: the Québec Court of Appeal rules

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