Claude-Armand Sheppard, Ad. E.

Few litigators have a track record matching that of M^e Sheppard. He has appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada on numerous occasions, in constitutional matters (judges’ independence, referral on the secession of Quebec, criminal immunity of a Crown corporation, religious neutrality of a municipality), as well as defamation matters and even criminal cases.

He was also one of the lawyers behind the acquittals of Dr. Henry Morgentaler, victories that ushered in a change of policy, which eventually led to the legalisation of abortion in Canada.

Throughout his career, Claude-Armand has been an advisor to Royal Commissions, the Attorney General of Canada, parliamentary committees, and various governments.

His recent activity is equally diverse:

• Defending counsel in a series of damage claims in the wake of the Charbonneau Commission’s report, which investigated the award and management of public contracts in the construction industry
• Disputes involving testamentary trusts
• Disciplinary proceedings against a member of the Bar and members of the accounting profession
• Representing witnesses before public inquiry commissions
• Arbitrating a dispute arising from a joint venture in the mining sector
• Presiding over an arbitration board in an industrial dispute
• Shareholder disputes and the protection of minority shareholders
• Defamation cases over the Internet and social media
• Defending a publisher who allegedly held that certain people were agents of a foreign power paid to disseminate its ideology
• Obtaining an injunction to enforce a restrictive covenant in a “development and licence” agreement
• Involved in a case surrounding the unjustified dismissal of the chair of a national corporation

Claude-Armand has written several books, and has published articles in the McGill Law Journal, the Revue juridique Thémis, the Revue du Barreau, the Canadian Bar Review, and several other specialized periodicals. Some of his most notable written work includes:

• Régimes linguistiques canadiens et étrangers, a series of digests produced for the Commission of Inquiry on the Situation of the French Language and Linguistic Rights in Quebec (Éditeur officiel du Québec, 1974)
• Inventaire critique des droits linguistiques au Québec, a 1,682-page, three-volume compendium on language rights for the Government of Quebec (Éditeur officiel du Québec, 1973)
• Obstacles juridiques à la mobilité de la main-d’œuvre hospitalière (Éditeur officiel du Québec, 1973)
• The Law of Languages in Canada, for the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (1971)
• L’organisation et la réglementation des professions de la santé et du bien-être au Québec, a 3,000-page, nine-volume report on the medical and paramedical professions for the Commission d’enquête sur la santé et le bien-être social (1970)

Claude-Armand is also regularly invited to speak at conferences and other professional events on topics such as arbitration and alternate dispute resolution, and ethical issues facing lawyers and other professionals.

• Chair of the Festival de Lanaudière for some 15 years
• Chair of the Ballets Jazz Montréal dance company
• Member of the executive committee of the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde