Profile: Pierre Bienvenu

Commercial Arbitration

Biography: Commercial Arbitration

Pierre Bienvenu is managing partner of Ogilvy Renault and chair of the executive committee, of which he has been a member since May 1, 2001. He is co-chair of our arbitration and alternative dispute resolution team.

Mr Bienvenu practises in international commercial arbitration, corporate and commercial litigation, and constitutional law. He has acted as counsel in numerous domestic and international arbitrations, both ad hoc and institutional, involving disputes in telecommunications, aeronautics, international distribution and joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions and foreign investment. He is also regularly called upon to represent parties in court proceedings to recognise and enforce or to set aside foreign or domestic arbitral awards, including before the Supreme Court of Canada in an appeal concerning the arbitrability of copyright disputes and a recent appeal dealing with the enforceability of arbitration clauses in consumer contracts. Mr Bienvenu also serves as an arbitrator in international arbitrations and has experience as sole arbitrator, party-appointed arbitrator and chairman of the tribunal.

In addition to appearing before numerous administrative and arbitral tribunals, Mr Bienvenu has pleaded before the courts of Quebec, the Federal Court of Canada and the Supreme Court of Canada. He has participated in numerous challenges to the constitutional validity of provincial and federal legislation, and has extensive experience in public law litigation. His Supreme Court of Canada experience includes representing government bodies and individuals in a range of constitutional and commercial law disputes, including representing the attorney general of Canada in the landmark Quebec secession reference and acting as co-counsel for BCE and Bell Canada in their successful appeal to the SCC to approve a plan of arrangement for the US$50 billion leveraged buyout of BCE by a private equity consortium.

Mr Bienvenu is an active member of the International Bar Association, being co-chair of its arbitration committee. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in London. He is a member of the Canadian roster of arbitrators of the International Chamber of Commerce, of the International and Quebec panels of ADR Chambers (a leading provider of ADR services in Canada) and of the commercial panel of the International Center of the American Arbitration Association. He is a member of the NAFTA Advisory Committee on Private Commercial Disputes established under article 2022 of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

He was recently awarded the distinction "Advocatus Emeritus" by the Quebec Bar, and is among the Canadian practitioners featured in the Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada, The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, The International Who's Who of Commercial Arbitration, Chambers Global Guide and the Lexpert-Thomson Guide to the Leading 100 Creative Lawyers in Canada (2006).

Other Practice Areas

Additional Practice Areas