Expertise
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Practice Areas:
- Bar Admissions:
- Education:
- Osgoode Hall Law School (1998) LLB
- Queen's University (1995) BA (Honours - Political Science)
- LawVision Group (2015) Legal Project Management
Details
- Bio
- Cases
- Associations
- Blog Posts
- News & Media
- Publications & Presentations
- Recognition
Monique Jilesen (she/her)
is Managing Partner at Lenczner Slaght.
"She is very client-focused, personable and strategic." — Chambers Canada
Monique is one of Canada’s leading litigators who clients turn to for their toughest commercial disputes. Her practice focuses on class actions, contract and shareholder disputes, civil fraud cases, injunctions, professional liability, bankruptcy and insolvency matters, and securities and derivatives cases.
Monique is a fearless advocate, unafraid to take on tough, notable, and high-profile cases, even at a moment’s notice. She was counsel to the Ukrainian World Congress in an application for judicial review of Canada's decision to allow the delivery of turbines to Germany for use by a sanctioned Russian company. In Li v Barber, she successfully secured an unprecedented Mareva order freezing up to $20 million of assets and cryptocurrency of Freedom Convoy leaders. She also represented Douglas Cardinal in an injunction to restrain the use in Canada of the Cleveland baseball team's racist name and logo on human rights grounds.
Recognized for her exceptional work, Monique was previously awarded The Advocates’ Society’s prestigious Douglas K. Laidlaw Award for Excellence in Advocacy. In 2023, Monique was named Litigator of the Year at the Canadian Law Awards and one of the Top 50 Most Influential by Toronto Life. Monique is also a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.
Monique is co-leader of the firm’s Commercial Litigation practice group and a member of the Commercial List Users’ Committee. In 2018, she developed commerciallist.com, an award-winning website that serves as a one-stop shop for all things Commercial List.
As the firm's Managing Partner, Monique is at the forefront of executing the firm’s strategy, building an innovative mindset across the firm, and nurturing its high-performing and inclusive culture.
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Lundin Mining Corporation v Dov Markowich
Counsel to the intervenor, CFA Societies Canada, at the Supreme Court of Canada in a matter that considers the definition of “material change” under the Securities Act.
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VIA Rail Canada Inc v Canadian National Railway Company and Attorney General of Canada
Counsel to Canadian National Railway Company responding to a judicial review brought by VIA Rail Canada Inc. in the Federal Court of Canada. Successfully brought a motion to strike the judicial review without leave to amend on the basis that CN is not a judicially reviewable decision-maker and the Federal Court did not have jurisdiction over the dispute.
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Re: Ashcroft Urban Developments Inc
Counsel to a commercial lender in a contested CCAA Application with countervailing relief sought for the appointment of a Receiver. Successfully obtained the appointment of a Receiver over the debtor’s assets, and the debtor’s application for relief under the CCAA was denied.
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Canadian News Media Companies v OpenAI
Counsel to Canada’s leading news media organizations in their legal action against OpenAI for breach of copyright, breach of online terms of use, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment for scraping large swaths of content (millions of works) from Canadian media to help develop its products, such as ChatGPT.
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Bell Media Inc et al v Warner Bros. Discovery et al
Counsel to the Warner Bros. Discovery entities responding to Bell Media Inc.’s request for a permanent injunction seeking to prevent Warner Bros. Discovery from licensing television content to Rogers Communications Inc.
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University of Toronto (Governing Council) v Doe et al
Counsel to the University of Toronto in successfully bringing an interlocutory injunction to bring a peaceful end to the encampment that occupied the green space known as Front Campus for over 50 days. The University successfully argued that it was the private property owner of Front Campus and entitled to enforce its property rights over the protestors residing in the encampment. The University also successfully argued that its actions in respect of the encampment were not subject to the application of the Charter.
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Castillo v Xela Enterprises Ltd
Counsel to the court-appointed receiver in contempt proceedings on the Commercial List. Successfully obtained a finding of civil contempt and a full indemnity costs award – both of which were upheld on appeal.
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Patricia De Bartolo et al v Icona Developments
Counsel to a condominium vendor, a real estate development company, the landowners, and an individual officer and director in an application brought by the purchasers of a condominium regarding the termination of the agreement of purchase and sale of units.
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Counsel to a board director of a TSX listed company to compel production of records in relation to an insider transaction.
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VIA Rail Canada Inc v Canadian National Railway Company
Counsel to Canadian National Railway Company in an application brought by VIA before the Canada Transportation Agency to impose a new contract on CN.
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American College of Trial Lawyers - Fellow
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International Academy of Trial Lawyers - Fellow
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Commercial List Users’ Committee - Member
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The Advocates' Society - Board of Directors (2024-present); Former Chair of the Commercial Litigation Practice Group
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Canadian Bar Association
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Ontario Bar Association
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United Way Greater Toronto - Chair, 2024 Major Individual Giving Cabinet; Member, Women United
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International Women's Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation
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Women's White Collar Defense Association
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Turnaround Management Association
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Ontario Trial Lawyers Association Moot - Former Coach, Osgoode Hall Law School
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Osgoode Hall Law School - Former Adjunct Professor
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Gale Cup Moot Committee - Past Chair
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The Law Foundation of Ontario - Member, Class Proceedings Committee
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The LCO’s Class Actions Final Report: The Defence Perspective
As has now been widely reported, the Law Commission of Ontario has released its final report on class actions which makes recommendations to improve the system of class actions in Ontario. Our colleagues, Brian Kolenda and Derek Knoke, commented on those that will be of interest to plaintiffs in their blog post here. We provide the defence counsel perspective here.
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The Rules of Evidence Still Apply in PMNOC Section 8 Cases
It’s no surprise to litigators that some courts tend to be relaxed with the rules of evidence in civil cases. In many contexts, courts are prepared to admit inadmissible hearsay evidence and simply address evidentiary concerns by noting that such evidence may be given less weight. That type of approach was often taken in cases under section 8 of the Patented Medicine (Notice of Compliance) Regulations.
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The weight of the corporate veil: It will be lifted with only the strongest tools
The "corporate veil" is an old and well-establish concept. Corporations are separate legal entities under the law and, generally, liability will not flow through the corporation and onto the owners and directors. This is why a corporate bankruptcy doesn't result in a flurry of debt collectors knocking on the door of every shareholder.
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Monique Jilesen to Receive Prestigious Law Society Medal
Lenczner Slaght is proud to announce that our Managing Partner, Monique Jilesen, will be awarded one of the legal industry’s highest honours at the annual Law Society Awards ceremony on May 28, 2025.
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2025 Lexpert Directory Highlights Lenczner Slaght’s Excellence in Advocacy
Peers and senior members of the legal profession across the country continue to recognize the depth and breadth of Canada’s leading litigation firm in the latest 2025 Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory.
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Monique Jilesen Inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers
Congratulations to Monique Jilesen who was inducted into the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers at a ceremony held on Saturday, March 8, 2025.
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Lenczner Slaght Recognized in Chambers Global 2025
Canada’s leading litigation firm and its expert litigators are recognized for the 23rd consecutive year in world-renowned directory, Chambers Global.
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Lenczner Slaght’s 24th Year at the Centre of the Lexpert Bull’s Eye
The 2025 edition of Lexpert's Leading 500 Cross-Border Lawyers: A Guide to Doing Business in Canada continues to recognize Lenczner Slaght as the #1 firm in Toronto for Litigation and Commercial Litigation.
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Canadian Media Giants Sue OpenAI Over Alleged Copyright Violations in ChatGPT Training
ALM's Law.com International reports on Canada's biggest media outlets suing U.S.-based artificial intelligence organization OpenAI of infringing their copyright by unlawfully scraping news content to train products like ChatGPT. Monique Jilesen and Sana Halwani are mentioned as leading the team represending the news organizations.
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Lenczner Slaght Lawyers Recognized as Canada’s Leading Litigators
Following an in-depth peer review process across the legal profession, 21 Lenczner Slaght lawyers have been recognized in the 2024 Lexpert Special Edition: Canada’s Leading Litigation Lawyers guide for their extensive courtroom experience and subject-matter expertise.
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Lenczner Slaght Recognized as a Leading Litigation Firm in Legal 500 Canada
Canada’s leading litigation firm has reaffirmed its Tier 1 ranking in Dispute Resolution in Legal 500 Canada.
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Chambers Canada Recognizes Lenczner Slaght’s Deep Bench of Expert Litigators
Canada’s leading litigation firm continues to advance their position in the latest edition of the world-renowned directory.
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Litigation Firm Lenczner Slaght Welcomes First Chief Client Officer
In this Law Times article, Gillian Scott is featured as Lenczner Slaght’s first Chief Client Officer, joining the firm’s management committee to oversee its client-focused business functions and drive strategic initiatives. The article notes that this follows the firm’s recent appointment of Claudia Bessant as Chief Operating Officer.
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2024 Snapshot: Through the Lens of Lenczner Slaght
Lenczner Slaght launches our 2024 Snapshot, which highlights the most significant developments, decisions, and trends in litigation from the past year across 20 areas of expertise. Reflect on 2024 and look ahead to 2025 through the lens of our expert litigators.
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2023 Snapshot: Through the Lens of Lenczner Slaght
Lenczner Slaght launches our 2023 Snapshot, a look at the most significant developments, decisions, business takeaways, and trends in litigation from the last year, across 15 practice areas. Revisit 2023 and look ahead to 2024 through the lens of our expert litigators.
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Monique Jilesen was invited to present at The Advocates' Society's Fall Convention. Monique participated on the panel discussion, Things You Were Afraid to Say.
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Monique Jilesen was invited to share her expertise at The Advocates' Society's annual program on Evidence for Litigators. Monique participated on the panel Arguing Hearsay Exceptions and Other Objections.
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Monique Jilesen and Brian Kolenda shared their expertise at The Advocates' Society's annual program on Class Actions Advocacy, co-chaired by Jonathan Chen. The program offered the latest developments, comparative legislation, and multi-jurisdictional challenges in class actions. Monique presented on "Cross Examination of Experts: Advanced Skills," while Brian presented on "Lightning Round: Case Law Updates in Class Actions Litigation".
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Developing Personal Style; The Judges Weigh In
Monique Jilesen presented at The Advocates' Society's program Cross-Examination: Building Block Series Block Two: Conducting an Effective Cross. Monique discussed how she developed her personal style for cross-examinations and how you can too.
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10th Annual Professionalism Issues for Business Lawyers
Monique Jilesen was invited to share her expertise at the OBA's 10th Annual Professionalism Issues for Business Lawyers program. Monique will discuss "Issues of Good Faith and Mistakes in Contractual Negotiations".
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Arbitration Place Invitational Pre-Moot
Monique Jilesen was invited to share her expertise at the Arbitration Place Invitational Pre-Moot for the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot.
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Monique Jilesen was invited to present at the OBA's Young Lawyers Division program Your First Civil Trial. She shared her expertise on the panel "Introducing Evidence at Trial." Monique discussed how to introduce exhibits, including during remote proceedings, ethical issues and professional responsibilities, issues of admissibility, considerations for expert evidence, and the strategic use of objections.
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The Yunusov Question: A Conversation with Monique Jilesen
Featured on The Yunusov Question Podcast, Monique Jilesen talks about her path to law, her litigation practice, her day-to-day as Managing Partner, and everything in between.
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Law Society Medal (2025)
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Toronto Life’s Top 50 Most Influential (2023)
Canada's Top Litigator
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Douglas K. Laidlaw Medal for Excellence in Advocacy (2017)
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Chambers Canada (2019-2025)
Litigation: General Commercial (Ontario)
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Canadian Legal Lexpert® Directory (2014-2025)
Class Actions, Insolvency & Financial Restructuring, Litigation - Corporate Commercial, Litigation - Directors' & Officers' Liability, Litigation - Securities
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Lexpert Guide to the Leading 500 Cross-Border Lawyers in Canada (2016-2025)
Corporate Commercial Litigation, Directors’ & Officers’ Liability Litigation
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Lexpert Special Edition: Canada's Leading Litigation Lawyers (2014-2024)
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Lexpert Guide to the Leading US/Canada Cross-Border Lawyers in Canada (2013-2019)
Dispute Resolution, Corporate Commercial Litigation, Litigation Lawyer to Watch (2013)
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Lexpert Special Edition: Canada's Leading Technology Lawyers (2021)
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Lexpert Zenith Award (2018)
Mid-Career Excellence in Corporate Commercial Litigation
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