
Simon Chénard
Lawyer, Partner - Montréal and Rimouski
Simon Chénard
Lawyer, Partner - Montréal and Rimouski
Simon Chénard is a partner in the business law group. He practices commercial, corporate and company law in the Montréal and Rimouski offices of Langlois Lawyers.
His practice embraces a broad spectrum of commercial operations such as launching businesses, drafting and negotiating a variety of contracts, the purchase and sale of businesses, corporate financing, corporate consolidations and reorganizations, and developing real estate and venture projects.
Simon is one of the catalysts of the L-inc. Project, Langlois’ program for start-ups and emerging growth companies. In this context, Simon acts as a legal and business advisor to young companies from their incorporation through to their subsequent resale.
Simon also coordinates the Lexmed Program, a tailored approach, which provides specific legal advice to medical practitioners who are members the Federation of General Practitioners of Québec (Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec). In this role, Simon oversees all legal services offered by Langlois Lawyers to individual doctors and groups of practitioners.
Simon’s practice also involves dealing with various regulatory issues in connection with, more particularly, the Charter of the French Language, consumer protection, alcoholic beverages and promotional contests.
Education
LL.B., Université de Sherbrooke, 2013
MBA, Université de Sherbrooke, 2013
Rankings & Recognitions
Dean’s Honour Roll (2013) – Recognition awarded to the ten students in the faculty of law of the Université de Sherbrooke with the best academic average at the end of the third year of their undergraduate law studies
Fournier, Demers, Bureau, and Borduas Scholarship – Scholarship awarded to students of the Université de Sherbrooke’s law school for academic excellence in corporate law
Areas of Practice
- Business Law
- Commercial Contracts
- Commercial Leasing
- Corporate and Companies Law
- Corporate Finance
- Energy, Mines & Natural Resources
- Franchise and Distribution
- Intellectual Property
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Project Finance
- Project Management
- Purchase & Sale Transactions
- Real Estate Financing
- Real Estate Law
Industries
Representative Work
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Langlois Represents a Major Cannabis Enterprise
Since 2017, Langlois Lawyers has been representing a company in connection with the acquisition of a property located in Montreal West, province of Québec, for the cultivation of organic medical marijuana and the development of production facilities.
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Condo Hotel: Proposed Acquisition of a Majority Interest in a Condo Hotel
Langlois Lawyers assisted a hotel operator with its due-diligence investigation and discussions in connection with the proposed acquisition of the majority of the units in a condo hotel. The transaction was not completed in light of the risks identified during the due diligence process.
Bank syndication: Represented and advised the bank syndication of U.S. lenders who financed the CA$2.1 billion acquisition of an industrial portfolio of 187 properties in Québec.
Early-stage businesses: Advice and counsel in connection with the launching of the business, implementation of an appropriate legal structure, and the negotiation and drafting of various contracts.
Emerging growth companies: Advice and counsel in connection with corporate financing, relations with investors and other stakeholders. Optimization of legal aspects of the business ahead of financing or its sale.
Technology businesses: Drafting terms and conditions of use, privacy policies, services agreements, data-hosting contracts and distribution agreements, particularly concerning connected devices (Internet of Things, or IoT), software as a service (SaaS), cloud based software, mobile applications and software for financial-services businesses.
Advertising agencies: Drafting and negotiation of services contracts, licences and confidentiality agreements. Analysis of the compliance of proposed advertising, and assistance in organizing publicity contests.
Purchasers and vendors of businesses of any size: Corporate due diligence, negotiation and drafting of share or asset purchase and sale agreements and ancillary agreements, tax-strategy implementation, negotiation and other assistance in the course of the financing process.
Lessors and lessees: Negotiation of leases and subleases of office, commercial or industrial spaces in private real estate properties and on crown’s land. Assistance in connection with landlord and tenant relations.
Businesses in the energy sector: Advising and negotiating in connection with the development, financing and renewal of wind-energy, hydroelectric, biogas and solar energy projects. Determining whether energy projects are in compliance with the applicable regulatory framework. Assisting with the preparation of tenders in the course of public requests for proposals or similar processes.
Foreign businesses operating in Canada: Contract document revision with a view to adapting them to the legal framework and business practices of Quebec and Canada.
Publications
Articles
- 2023 – Municipalities’ pre-emptive rights
- 2022 – Exemption from registration fees in Québec’s Enterprise Register for Ontario legal persons
- 2022 – Exclusion of international publicity contests from the jurisdiction of the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux
- 2021 – Developments regarding Hydro-Québec’s upcoming calls for tenders to supply 780 MW of renewable energy
- 2021 – Businesses must now disclose who are their true owners
- 2020 – Proactivity and creativity in mergers and acquisitions during COVID-19: 5 key issues
- 2020 – Corporations: important new measures for disclosure of shareholder information
- 2020 – The Meubles Léon decision – Advertising credit: merchants, beware!
- 2019 – The Quebec Government Launches a Public Consultation on Corporate Transparency
- 2019 – Health Canada Announces Changes to the Cannabis Licensing Process
- 2018 – Commercialization of Legalized Cannabis: A Synopsis
- 2018 – Commercialization of Cannabis
- 2018 – A Parliamentary Committee Makes Recommendations Regarding Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation
- 2017 – OSC Decision in Token Funder Inc. Initial Coin Offering: Is Canada Finally Becoming an ICO-Friendly Jurisdiction?
- 2017 – Organizing Publicity Contests in Quebec
- 2017 – Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation Will Have a Lot More Teeth as of July 1, 2017
- 2017 – Short-Term Rentals of Condominiums
News
- 2021 – Langlois represented a leading producer of premium certified organically grown cannabis in a sale of assets
- 2021 – Langlois names five new partners
- 2020 – Solina, TGOD and goPeer choose Langlois to assist with their business transactions
- 2019 – Retrospective 2018 | 10 Successes for Langlois’ Transactional Group
- 2018 – Retrospective of Langlois’ 10 Most Representative Mergers & Acquisitions Mandates of 2017
- 2017 – Adèle Poirier and Simon Chénard publish an article on short-term condo rentals in Copropriété Plus Magazine
- 2016 – Langlois Recruits a Commercial Law Specialist
Other Publications
2017 – « Buyer Beware », co-authored with Gerry Apostolatos and Daniel Baum, Canadian Lawyer InHouse, February 2017
Simon founded and maintains the Conseiller-Juridique.ca blog, on which he frequently publishes articles explaining legal issues in easy-to-understand terms.
