Alexander De Zordo Ad. E.

Alex De Zordo is a partner in our Commercial Litigation Group and is Chair of the firm's Partnership Board. He regularly acts for financial institutions, corporate victims of occupational or external fraud, forensic accountants, security and investigation services, information services and high-tech companies, as well as companies of every size in the context of complex litigation, injunctions, investigations, trials, arbitration and class actions. Alex has expertise in all aspects of fraud and corruption in the banking, securities, corporate and public sectors, including detection, investigation, prevention and recovery. He has experience with fraudulent financial statements, embezzlement, bank fraud, financial and securities fraud, bills of exchange, letters of credit, fraudulent transactions, money and asset tracing, money laundering, proceeds of crime, unfair competition, IP fraud and counterfeiting.

• Defending Laurentian Bank of Canada in the NSF fees class action (Defrance vs Bank of Montreal et als).
• Successfully represented Stewart Title Guaranty Company in a claim under the Bills of Exchange Act and the CBA Clearing Rules for forged endorsement in relation to a property sale and mortgage fraud via identity theft.
• Advised a Canadian chartered bank in a data breach crisis, avoiding potential litigation and recovering all expenses relating to the breach from the sub-contractor at fault.
• Represented BMO in all litigation relating to a complex mortgage lapping scheme.
• Advised the MUHC in relation to all investigations into allegations of corruption by former officials in the awarding of the PPP contract for the construction of their new 1.3B$ super hospital on the Glen site.
• Represented Scotia Bank in the hostile takeover litigation between Goldcorp and Osisko.
• Represented AGCO Canada for injunctive proceedings that led to the mutual termination of a dealership agreement with an important dealer in its Fendt and Massey Fergusson agro-equipment distribution network.
• Defended RBC in the 40-million-dollar class action instituted by Virginia Nelles on behalf of investors/clients of Earl Jones. Acted for RBC Dominion Securities in a related lawsuit.
• Represented Mr. Réjean Hinse, a victim of wrongful conviction, in his suit for over 10 million dollars in damages against the Attorney General of Québec and the Attorney General of Canada.
• Represented AMGA Poultry & Meat Co. Ltd. against Zavos Distributor, Lea Mardas et al in an action seeking recovery of 1.4 million dollars misappropriated through an invoicing scheme.
• Represented the TD Bank against Group Sutton Royal Inc. and others in all litigation relating to a complex kiting scheme.
• Defended RBS Bank in an action for 45 million dollars resulting from a financing affected by means of a fraudulent bank guarantee.
• Acted for a sports equipment manufacturer in an ICC international arbitration against a Japanese multi-national, for breach of a distribution contract; obtained an award for more than 1.5 million dollars.
• Represented BMO against Stewart Goldstein in a 1.2-million dollar bank fraud case.
• Represented CIT Financial Limited as plaintiff in an action to recover the proceeds of fraudulent financings worth 14 million dollars.
• Represented Marine Property Leaseholds Ltd. as plaintiff against Soltron Realty Inc. in injunction proceedings and an arbitration arising from the abusive closure of the access to the Montréal underground.

• Co-Author, "Québec Superior Court Confirms Strict Liability for Cheque Bearing Forged Endorsement, in A Case Of Identity Theft and Mortgage Fraud," BLG Publication, November 1, 2016. 
• Author, "Regulator's ad browsing on Kijiji pays off with enforcements against illegal solicitation," The Exchange, Financial Institutions Litigation Blog, September 9, 2016.
• Author, "The TMF finds "spring loading" to be insider trading under the Quebec Securities Act," The Exchange, Financial Institutions Litigation Blog, August 25, 2016.
• Co-Chair, along with Chief Justice Elizabeth Corte, of the 4^th National Pro Bono Conference held in Montréal on November 1 & 2, 2012 entitled "Pro Access, Pro Justice, Pro Bono," also speaker on "Public Interest Impact Litigation."
• Speaker, CBA/CCCA Annual Conference entitled, "Managing Litigation: How In-house and Outside Counsel can Collaborate to Maximize Efficiencies and Predictability," Vancouver, August 2012. 
  Lecturer on “Internal Fraud, Detection, Investigation and Legal Aspects,” professional development, Québec Order of Chartered Accountants, 2004-present.
• Co-chair, CBA (Banking Section) on the “Jackson case: Bank Liability Towards Third Parties Broadened?,” November 2011.
• Co-chair, “International Sales Committee panel discussion, International Bar Association’s Annual Conference: When a Sale of Goods Goes South – Freezing Orders, Cancellation of Contract, Damages, Business Interruption,” 2010. 
• Speaker, 16th Annual Canadian ACFE Conference, “Preparing and Dealing With an Investigation by Outside Authorities,” May 2010.
• Speaker, International Bar Association Annual Conference: “United States vs. the Rest of the World – Who is Winning the War on Litigation?,” 2008.
• Speaker and lecturer at professional development seminars on “How to Gather Information in a Fraud Investigation from a Legal and Forensic Point of View,” “Certain Civil Recourses which Maximize Recovery in Fraud Matters,” and “Identity Theft, Real Estate Fraud and Money Laundering,” offered to members of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, 2003-09.
• Speaker, "The Role of Counsel in Cases of Corporate Fraud and e-Discovery," Montreal Institute of Internal Auditors (IVIM), 2006-08.
• Guest speaker, MBA (Litigation Management Course), Concordia University, 2006-2009.
• Speaker and panellist, “Money Laundering: Assuring Compliance Through the Implementation of Concrete Measures,” Annual Canadian Institute Conference  2006.

• Recognized as a leading litigator in the 2018 edition of the Lexpert^®/Report on Business Litigation Special Edition.
• Recognized in the 2016 edition of Who's Who Legal: Litigation.
• Recognized in the 2017 (and since 2013) edition of Benchmark Canada — The Definitive Guide to Canada's Leading Litigation Firms & Attorneys as a "Local Litigation Star: Québec" and a "Litigation Star: Commercial, Insolvency, Intellectual Property, Professional Liability, Securities."
• Recognized in the 2018 edition of Canadian Legal Lexpert^® Directory (Litigation - Corporate Commercial).