Most business problems are cheaper to prevent than to win.
Depth in the work that prevents disputes and the work that ends them — under Quebec civil law, in French and English. When a matter crosses a border, we bring in correspondent counsel and stay on the file. One point of contact. One lawyer who understands your business. We are there from the beginning of your process to help you prevent legal problems.
Two capabilities. One relationship.
Counsel that keeps you out of trouble, and disputes work that gets you out of it — priced and staged the way an SME actually decides.
Business counsel
Contracts, shareholders, deals, employment and day-to-day judgment under Quebec civil law — so you negotiate from your paper, not theirs.
DisputesCommercial & civil litigation · ADR
Demand letters, negotiation, mediation, arbitration and court when needed — with a fixed-fee early case assessment and a go/no-go at each stage. When there are damages, whether in business or not, there are recourses. We can help you identify your rights and recourses and how you can get justice. This can be before the courts or with a process of mediation or arbitration with the benefits it can provide.
If this is your week, we have done it before.
Our skill and judgment comes from experience. We have seen it before and this experience is on your side.
You're taking on a partner or investor
Structure the deal and the relationship before the honeymoon ends.
A customer won't pay
The most common reason an SME first calls a litigator — often fixable with a clear demand and a staged plan.
You're buying or selling the business
Diligence, documents and closing that protect what you have built.
A supplier or contractor failed you
Preserve leverage early; choose negotiation, ADR or filing with your eyes open.
Your co-shareholder has become a problem
Deadlock, oppression and buy-outs — handled before they become permanent.
Every contract you sign is theirs, not yours
We build your paper so you stop negotiating from the counterparty's forms.
An employee situation is escalating
Discipline, departure or dispute — advice that weighs risk against culture and cost.
You need something stopped today
Injunctions and urgent applications when waiting is not an option.
Your business has a matter outside Quebec
We co-ordinate correspondent counsel across Canada, Europe and internationally — you keep one point of contact.
Also within our practice - because we have the expertise
Securities and capital markets, AI governance and technology contracts, privacy (including Quebec Law 25), SaaS and licensing, and cross-border commercial work. If a matter falls outside what we do well, we will tell you and point you to someone who does it better.
Evidence, not adjectives.
- Shareholder buy-out, manufacturing, $4M — resolved without filing.
- Injunction obtained within 72 hours to preserve a distribution agreement.
- Asset sale of a family business, foreign purchaser, French/English closing.
- Unpaid receivables recovered through staged demand and settlement — no trial.
- Co-shareholder deadlock unlocked via negotiated buy-sell, Quebec company.
- Commercial lease dispute settled in mediation before hearing dates were set.
Anonymised illustrations. Results in any given matter depend on the facts of that matter. Past outcomes do not guarantee similar results.
A senior lawyer on retainer. A fraction of an in-house salary.
A senior in-house counsel in Montreal is a six-figure salary plus benefits — which most companies under thirty people cannot justify. So businesses go without, and pay for it later by the hour, at the worst possible moment. Fractional GC gives you experienced counsel on a monthly retainer scaled to what you actually need.
Cancel with 30 days' notice — no exit fee, no annual lock-in.
Retainer clients get priority intake if a dispute arises.
Essentials
$1,500
per month · CAD
- 3 hours legal review / month
- 2 fixed-fee documents / month
- 1 hr management meeting / month
- Direct lawyer access
Ideal for early-stage & lean SMEs
Growth
$3,000
per month · CAD
- 6 hours legal review / month
- 4 fixed-fee documents / month
- 1 hr management meeting / month
- Direct lawyer access
- Additional time at reduced rate
Ideal for growing companies
Scale
$6,000
per month · CAD
- 12 hours legal review / month
- Unlimited fixed-fee documents
- 1 hr management meeting / month
- Direct lawyer access
- Board & governance support
Ideal for active-deal scale-ups
Litigation and ADR, priced the way a business leader decides.
We will do an early case assessment to.determine what is possible and more importantly likely, and we will honourably provide the business solution for the matter that should not proceed.
- 01
Fixed-fee early case assessment
Facts, leverage, options and a clear recommendation — before you commit to a fight.
- 02
Demand
A precise opening move that preserves rights and opens a path to resolution.
- 03
Staged budget
A go/no-go decision at each stage — you see the cost before the next dollar is spent.
- 04
Resolution
Negotiation, mediation, arbitration or court — chosen for the outcome, not the theatre.
- 05
Debrief
What to change in the contracts and processes so the next dispute is cheaper — or never starts.
Methodical. Planned Execution for Successs by Senior Strategic Counsel .
Experience and judgement have taught us to be methodical. We plan and execute for success.Technology where it helps. Judgment where it counts with the support of Senior Strategic Counsel. Data stored in Canada.
The person you meet does the work
Direct counsel — not a relay race of associates.
You know the price before we start
Retainers, fixed assessments and staged dispute budgets.
We take a limited number of clients
So when you call, someone who knows the file answers.
Quebec civil law in both languages
French and English as working languages of the mandate.
Technology where it helps, judgment where it counts
AI supports the work. A lawyer owns every matter. Data stays in Canada.
Advice that includes "don't"
We will tell you when not to sue, sign, or spend.
Your Lead Counsel. Reach without the friction.
We practise in Quebec. When a matter crosses a border — elsewhere in Canada, in Europe, or with another international counterparty — we bring in correspondent counsel and professionals who practise there, and we stay on the file. You keep one point of contact and one lawyer who understands your business. We have done this before. French, English, Spanish and Greek when the room needs it.
SMEs, founders and their families and in-house teams who want counsel that prevents disputes — and ends them when prevention is no longer enough.
For SMEs & founders
Seasoned counsel on your team through Fractional GC — strategic legal advice as a monthly retainer sized to a growing company.
For in-house counsel
We work with your legal department, not around it — expert co-counsel, bilingual overflow, and specialized expertise on demand.
For businesses with matters outside Quebec
We co-ordinate correspondent counsel across Canada, Europe and internationally. You keep one relationship.
The first conversation is free and confidential.
If we are not the right firm for your matter, we will say so on that call. We respond within 24 hours. For urgent injunctions or deadlines, say so in the form.
John Mavridis
jmavridis@lexo.ca
Dominique Pion
dpion@lexo.ca
Where we work
Montreal, Quebec — virtual and in person by appointment only. Clients across Canada, Europe and internationally via correspondent counsel.