Alice Bourgault-Roy

Lawyer, Partner

Expertise

Insurance Law

Language

English, French

Office

Montréal

LinkedIn

 

Alice Bourgault-Roy is a partner in our Insurance Law Group, which she joined at the beginning of 2019. A rigorous, efficient and supportive lawyer, she focuses her practice on the defence of professional liability, civil liability and personal insurance cases.

An important part of Alice’s work consists of defending professionals in cases assigned to her by their liability insurance funds. Drawing from her broad experience, Alice also handles numerous files related to general civil liability. She represents contractors, sellers, manufacturers, property owners, municipalities, corporations and individuals in cases related to manufacturing defects, bodily injuries and municipal law.

Furthermore, Alice has developed her practice in the field of personal insurance, particularly with life, disability, and travel insurance. She advises and represents insurers in litigation arising from claims for indemnities, coverage issues, and invalid or lapsed policies.

Alice began her career in a regional firm, where she managed files pertaining to various fields of law, mainly professional and real estate law. She then joined the legal department of a regulatory institution in the construction industry, where she performed various tasks as clerk of a disciplinary committee, prosecutor, and legal advisor to mechanical building systems contractors.

This experience allowed her to develop skills and techniques in arcane areas of law and regularly appear in court. Having acted as a commissioner and investigator, she developed indispensable abilities that, even today, allow her to creatively investigate facts and perform in-depth analyses of her files. Alice is known for her intellect and her ability to develop detailed arguments involving complex legal questions.


Representative files and mandates

Professional Liability

  • Defending a notary who had documented a sale of a condo unit under judicial authority, and had allegedly neglected his duty of counsel regarding the substantial common expenses left unpaid by the former owner
  • Defending an accountant sued for an abuse of procedure after having testified for his client in previous litigation
  • Defending a lawyer who acted as a family mediator and had allegedly failed to safeguard one spouse’s rights in their family residence
  • Defending a notary held responsible for having disbursed the funds lent by a private investor to a third party holding a legal construction hypothec, despite the alleged existence of a counter letter under which the investor was to receive the funds (Morika Capital inc. c. Deslauriers, 2020 QCCQ 2890)
  • Defending an accountant who allegedly breached his obligation to advise in the context of an application for reimbursement of GST and QST on a new rental building
  • Defending a pre-purchase inspector who had allegedly omitted to disclose visible clues of a building’s structural subsidence
  • Defending a lawyer who had represented the liquidator of an estate in a previous dispute with the heirs in connection with allegations of abuse of procedure
  • Defending an accountant who recommended attributing an incorrect market value to an asset traded between two related companies, thus triggering an important tax assessment
  • Defending an accountant held responsible for having placed himself in a conflict of interest and of having breached his obligation to advise, by referring his client to a consulting firm in which he had an interest, and which did not have the competence required to execute the proposed mandate

Personal Insurance

  • Defending a disability insurer in connection with a claim for total disability insurance benefits based on the alleged partial limitations on the practice of a medical specialist
  • Defending a disability insurer against a claim for benefits due to the voluntary isolation of a factory worker at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Defending a travel insurer against a claim for moral and punitive damages based on the conditions of the insured’s repatriation
  • Defending an insurer sued after refusing to cover the theft of a luxury automobile on the basis of the policy’s clauses excluding coverage as to the maximum retail price suggested by the manufacturer
  • Filing a claim on behalf of an insurer to recover excess disability insurance benefits paid after the integration of benefits paid under a government program
  • Defending an insurer who cancelled an insurance policy and denied coverage based on the insurer’s reluctance or misrepresentations as to his medical condition when he bought the policy

Civil Liability

  • Defending a fire protection systems contractor sued following the breakdown of the piping of a rental residential complex
  • Defending a major retail chain against a claim for $1.7 million by a professional musician who sustained a fall in the store’s parking lot
  • Defending racehorse owners in relation to an accident that led to the euthanasia of a horse
  • Defending a municipality that allegedly allowed inaccurate entries in its assessment role, causing a business to be denied financing and to lose a business opportunity
  • Defending an adventure park operating zip lines following the fall of a visitor who was secured by an inadequate cable


Honours

  • Best Lawyers in Canada: recognized for Insurance Law (since 2024)
  • Dean’s List, Université de Montréal Faculty of Law (2014)
  • French Schools Scholarship (2010)


Associations

  • Young Bar of Montreal
  • Montreal Association of Insurance Women (2019–present)
  • Bar of Montreal Avocates dans la profession committee (2018–2020)
  • Young Bar of Longueuil Association: board member, secretary, vice-president (2016–2017)


Bulletins

Exclusion Clauses In Life And Health Insurance Scrutinized

July 16, 2024

On May 9, 2024, in Beneva inc. v. Bolduc, 2024 QCCA 589, the Quebec Court of Appeal unanimously confirmed the decision rendered by the Honourable Jean-Yves Lalonde of the Superior Court in Bolduc v. SSQ Assurance, 2023 QCCS 266, which was the subject of one of our previous newsletters. Facts in dispute François Roch (“Roch“) […]

Fraudulent Statements: Still a Question of Credibility

October 31, 2023

In Paul-Hus c. Sun Life, Compagnie d’assurance-vie, 2023 QCCS 3890, the Superior Court reminds us of the importance of answering questions truthfully and completely when taking out an insurance policy. Faced with the question of whether the insured intended to deceive the insurer, the Court’s analysis shows that credibility remains a key element. Facts On March […]

The Inevitable Disclosure of Changes in Insurability in Life Insurance Matters

August 30, 2023

On July 11, in Bourdages v. Ivari, 2023 QCCS 1688 (CanLII), the Superior Court considered the impact of an undisclosed change in the state of health of an insured taking out a life insurance policy, which occurred between the submission of the application and the effective date of the policy. Background to the dispute On […]

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Publications and Conferences

  • “The Presence of a ‘Trap’ Is Not an Essential Criterion for a Personal Injury Claim,” RSS newsletter, December 2021
  • “The Defence of Res Judicata Is Permitted Even in Cases With Different Legal Grounds and Legally Distinct Parties,” RSS newsletter, March 2021
  • “An Insured Is Bound by His Statements About His State of Health,” RSS newsletter, November 2020
  • SNC-Lavalin inc. c. Deguise: The Professional Responsibility of the Geologist,” RSS newsletter, June 2020
  • “Les concours publicitaires : oui, mais à quel prix ?”, Le Denturo (Association des denturologistes du Québec), Spring 2020 and Winter 2016
  • “Can the burden of proof be reversed in matters of annulment of will for incapacity or undue influence?”, RSS newsletter, July 2019
  • Monthly articles in L’Entre-Presse (Corporation of Master Pipe-Mechanics of Quebec), 2017–2019
  • “Déboulonnons les mythes!”, Le Denturo, Winter 2015


Community Involvement

  • Montreal Association for the Intellectually Handicapped (AMDI)
    • Director (2015–present)
    • Secretary (2019–present)
    • Founding member of the Ambassadors’ Circle, which aims to ensure future philanthropy for the organization
  • Active in the RSS au féminin initiative


Education

Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.)

Université de Montréal

2014


Call to Bar

Quebec

2015