Isabelle Desharnais

Partner

Montréal
IDesharnais@blg.com
514.954.3134

Isabelle is the national co-chair of our Insolvency and Restructuring Group. Her areas of practice include insolvency and financial restructuring, banking law, banking litigation and corporate finance.

She advises both legal and special accounts groups of leading Canadian financial institutions, as well as trustees and accounting firms on complex commercial insolvencies.

Isabelle also practises in commercial litigation, specializing in matters of fraud, bills of exchange and other payment instruments.

Isabelle previously worked as a research analyst at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, with lawyers and policy advisors of the Office of Values and Ethics. She was involved in drafting internal policies for federal public service employees, particularly the Values and Ethics Code and the Policy on Internal Disclosure of Information Concerning Wrongdoing in the Workplace.

Isabelle is a member of the Executive Committee, Bankruptcy and Insolvency Section of the Canadian Bar Association (Québec Division) since 2016; she is also its former president.

Experience

  • Acted for National Bank of Canada, first ranking secured creditor (depending on the entity) and co-interim lender, in the Xebec Adsorption Inc. et al. CCAA proceedings, being a group of related debtors having multi-provincial and cross-border operations.
  • Acting for National Bank of Canada, first ranking secured creditor and interim lender, in the ELNA Medical Group Inc. et al. CCAA proceedings, being a group of related debtors having multi-provincial operations in the healthcare industry.
  • Acted for Bank of Montréal, first ranking secured creditor, in the appointment of an interim and national receiver to Leading Edge Geomatics et al, a group of related debtors having multi-provincial and cross-border operations.
  • Advises banks, mortgage lenders, asset-based lenders and other financial institutions, as well as creditors and committees of creditors concerning their rights in cases of liquidation and insolvency.
  • Acts for bankruptcy trustees and managers dealing with various problems related to bankruptcy and insolvency.
  • Represents debtors under the protection of the courts pursuant to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act.
  • Represents clients before all courts in Québec, including the Court of Appeal, as well as before administrative and arbitral tribunals.

Beyond Our Walls

Professional Involvement

  • Member, Barreau du Québec
  • Member, Executive Committee, Bankruptcy and Insolvency Section, Québec Division, Canadian Bar Association
  • Member, Insolvency Institute of Canada (IIC)
  • Member, Turnaround Management Association (TMA)
  • Member, ARIL Society
  • Member, Commercial Practice Division Liaison Committee, Superior Court of Québec, Montréal District

Community Involvement

  • Board member, Lakeshore General Hospital Foundation

Awards & Recognition

  • Recognized in the 2025 edition (and since 2016) of The Best Lawyers in Canada (Insolvency and Financial Restructuring Law)
  • Recognized in the 2024 edition (and since 2020) of Benchmark Litigation Canada
  • Recognized in the 2025 edition (and since 2023) of The Canadian Legal Lexpert® Directory (Banking & Financial Institutions) and the 2024, 2023 and 2019-2020 editions (Insolvency and Financial)
  • Recognized in the 2024 edition (and since 2016) of IFLR1000 – The Guide to the World's Leading Financial Law Firms (Restructuring and Insolvency).

Bar Admission & Education

  • Québec, 2004
  • LL B in Civil Law, magna cum laude, University of Ottawa, 2002
  • BA in Political Science/International Relations, Université du Québec à Montréal, 1999