Jean-François Vézina
PartnerJean-François Vézina practises civil and commercial litigation. As a member of the Construction and Infrastructure group, he acts primarily in the area of dispute prevention and resolution (adjudication, mediation, arbitration, courts of law and standard-setting bodies), including on issues surrounding requests for the adjustment of timetables and financial terms, non-compliance and defects arising during construction and warranty periods, issues arising during calls for tenders, legal hypothecs, sureties, and insurance.
Over the years, Jean-François has represented owners, developers, professionals, general and specialized contractors, suppliers and manufacturers in large-scale construction projects.
He also handles various commercial litigation matters involving class actions and product liability, and frequently appears before Québec’s courts at trial and on appeal.
Jean-François sits on the firm’s Board of Directors.
As part of his practice, Jean-François has:
- Acted as legal counsel to an engineering firm in connection with multiple lawsuits seeking more than $10 million in damages brought by the City of Gatineau and several of its residents following major flooding allegedly caused by deficiencies and faulty workmanship affecting the retention basin designed and built by Dessau Soprin inc.
- Acted as legal counsel to investors, owners, contractors and professionals involved in industrial and residential construction projects.
- Acted as legal counsel to an engineering firm in connection with two lawsuits seeking nearly $8 million in damages brought by the owner of a spa operated on a boat and its insurer alleging problems in the design of geothermal heating and air conditioning systems.
- Acted as legal counsel to an engineering firm that was part of a consortium involved in the construction of a bridge over the Jacques-Cartier River, in connection with a lawsuit seeking nearly $4 million in damages brought by the general contractor on account of alleged additional costs incurred in performing the construction work.
- Acted for a syndicate of co-owners of a residential condominium building in Montréal in connection with a lawsuit seeking nearly $4 million in damages brought by all stakeholders involved in the construction of the building, following major water infiltration problems.
- Represented the developer of a world-class large tonnage nickel mining project in Madagascar in the context of a governmental audit of its financial, technical and environmental operations.
- Represented a prestigious Montréal academic institution in an $11 million court action for damages against engineers and a construction manager pursuant to the construction of a new building for the school, raising important issues relating to the liability of professionals for faulty design, estimation errors and the mismanagement of work.
- Represented a federal corporation in an action regarding the cancellation of the acquisition of 15 boarding gates, which resulted in nearly $8 million in damages.
- Acted for an important provincial institution in connection with the construction of a major architectural project regarding the analysis of submissions, the awarding of contracts and the ensuing claims; also represented it in legal actions brought by and against this institution totalling over $7 million.
- Represented a petroleum company in connection with a class action instituted following the Lac-Mégantic train derailment in 2013.
- Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory:
- Litigation – Commercial Insurance, 2024
- Construction Law, 2023
- Best Lawyers in Canada:
- Construction Law, 2019-2025
- Insurance Law, 2023-2025
- Bar School Award (for the student who finished in first place during the 2001-2002 academic year), Faculty of Law, Université du Québec à Montréal
- Orange Noyée Theatre company, Chair of the Board of Directors, since 2016
- Fondation du Centre des auteurs dramatiques du Québec (CEAD), Chair of the Board of Directors, 2013-2016
- Co-speaker: La responsabilité du professionnel : connaître les enjeux [Issues of interest concerning professional liability], Langlois Knowledge, webinar, February 25, 2021.
- Co-speaker: Droit de la construction : décisions marquantes de 2018 [Construction law: major decisions in 2018], Langlois Knowledge, Montréal, February 7, 2019.
- Co-speaker: Cyber-risques et cyber-assurance [Cyber-Risks and Cyber-Insurance], Canadian Insurance Claims Managers Association, Montréal, May 9, 2018.
- Co-speaker: Analyse des demandes de paiement, paiement précoce ou tardif et hypothèques légales : interrelations, risques et limitations [Analysing payment requests, early or late payments and legal hypothecs: interrelations, risks and limitations], Québec Association of Construction Estimators and Economists, Montréal, March 1, 2018.
LL.B., Université du Québec à Montréal, 2001
B.A., History, Université du Québec à Montréal, 1997