Our Lawyers

Danièle Dion

Danièle Dion

Bar admission(s)

Quebec Bar, 1985

Profile

Danièle joined the firm as a partner in 1996 after working 11 years with the Admiralty Section of the Canadian Department of Justice. She practices in all areas of maritime and transportation law and her practice includes litigation, arbitration and mediation, as well as advice on commercial and regulatory matters. Danièle routinely advises on issues involving contracts of affreightment, coasting trade, vessel acquisitions and registration, port state control intervention and vessel arrest and security. She has been counsel in matters involving oil pollution, personal injury, ship groundings and hull and machinery claims. Danièle has appeared before a variety of courts including the Supreme Court of Canada.

Education

University of Ottawa, B.A. Social Communications, 1977

University of Ottawa, LL.L., 1980

University of Ottawa, LL.B., 1981
Dalhousie University, LL.M., 1983

Professional involvement

Director, Canadian Maritime Law Association
Member, Editorial Board, Journal of Maritime Law and Commerce
Member, Association of Maritime Arbitrators of Canada
Past Member, Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada
Past Chairperson, Legal Committee, International Hydrographic Organization
Past-Chairperson, Great Lakes Pilotage Authority

Community involvement

Member, Grunt Club Inc.
Member, WISTA

Language(s)

English
French

Other interests

Danièle’s other interests include most outdoor pursuits such as tennis, running, cycling and golf, time and weather permitting.

David G. Colford

David G. Colford

Bar admission(s)

Quebec Bar, 1980

Profile

David joined the firm in 1980 after a teaching career and became a partner in 1985. His interests involve commercial and corporate law in the maritime industry. He specializes in multi-modal transport issues, contractual disputes and litigation controversies before the admiralty and civil courts. He has appeared in the Supreme Court of Canada on several occasions.
David continues to teach courses on admiralty and general transport law and provide topical presentations to law students, freight forwarders, shipbrokers and operators in the transport industry.

Education

McGill University, B.A., Honours Classics, 1972
McGill University, Diploma in Secondary Education, 1973
McGill University, LL.B., 1978
McGill University, B.C.L., 1979

Professional involvement

Past-President, Canadian Maritime Law Association

Community involvement

Member, Grunt Club Inc.
Member, WISTA
Member, Youth of Shipping

Language(s)

English
French

Other interests

David has been riding, raising and training horses for over 25 years.

Peter J. Cullen (FCIArb)

Peter J. Cullen (FCIArb)

Bar admission(s)

Quebec, 1981
Ontario, 1990

Profile

Prior to joining the firm as Senior Counsel in 2023, Peter practiced in a leading national commercial firm where he was a partner for 32 years (and the long-serving chair of its national Risk Management Committee and member of its national Professional and Ethics Committee).

Peter represents domestic and foreign shipping interests in commercial transactions – including ship building, major conversions, sale and purchase, contracts of carriage – and dispute resolution, as well as financial institutions, protection and indemnity associations and domestic and foreign marine insurers, including members of Lloyd’s and other London Market, European and Asian insurers.

He also advises on commercial insurance matters including D&O, energy – construction risks, delay, exploration/development, faulty design – liability, property, regulatory and policy interpretation/coverage disputes.

He appears before the Federal Court across Canada, superior and appellate courts in Quebec and Ontario, as well as arbitration/administrative panels.

He also acts as a mediator and arbitrator in commercial and shipping disputes.

Professional Activities

Peter is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a former member of council of the Canadian Bar Association (as Chair of the National Sections Council and Maritime Law Section) and a member of the International Bar Association (former North American Regional Officer of the Transportation Section). He is listed on the International Arbitration Panel of the Canadian Council for International Business, the Canadian affiliate of the International Chamber of Commerce, Paris and is a member of the User’s Council of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre. He is an Honorary Life Member of the Canadian Maritime Law Association (President 2003-2005) and a Titulary Member of the Comité Maritime International (member of the Audit Committee and International Working Group on Polar Shipping).

He is a former officer and Trustee with the Canadian Irish Studies Foundation, in connection with its funding of programs at the School of Irish Studies at Concordia University, former Gouverneur de la Fondation du Barreau du Québec and was a long-standing Director of Dans La Rue (Chair 2006-2015), a non-profit organization helping at-risk street youth in Montreal.

Education

Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (U.K.) (Diploma in International Arbitration, 2017)
McGill University (LL.B. 1980)
McGill University (B.C.L. 1979)
University of New Brunswick (B.A. 1975)

Language(s)

English
French

Accolades(s)

Chambers Canada 2023 as a Senior Statesman in Transportation: Shipping.
The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2022 as a leading lawyer in Shipping & Maritime.
The Legal 500 Canada 2022 as a leading individual in Transport: Shipping.
The Best Lawyers in Canada 2022 in Alternative Dispute Resolution, Insurance, International Arbitration and Maritime.
The Best Lawyers in Canada 2019 as “Lawyer of the Year” in Maritime.
Who’s Who Legal: Shipping 2022.
Who’s Who Legal: Canada 2021 in Shipping.

Other interests

Winter and Summer outdoor activities. Avid reader (history) and news junkie.

Richard Desgagnés

Richard Desgagnés

Bar admission(s)

Quebec Bar, 1988

Profile

Richard is the manager of the Firm, which he joined in 2016 after having headed the Canadian maritime and transportation practice as well as the transnational litigation practice of a leading international commercial law firm.

Richard’s transportation practice covers most litigious and non-litigious aspects of the speciality. He has advised or represented ship owners, operators, charterers, shippers, freight forwarders, insurers, shipbuilders, domestic and international indemnity funds, ports and marine terminals operators, the Canadian government, banks and financiers, aircraft manufacturers, purchasers and their lenders as well as airport authorities. Other areas of his practices include insurance law (coverage dispute) and commercial contractual disputes.

He has successfully appeared on behalf of clients before all courts of Quebec, the Federal Courts of Canada and the Supreme Court of Canada as well as a number of private arbitration tribunals. He has coordinated or participated in various transnational litigations, both in civil law and common law jurisdictions, including cases before the courts of Hong Kong (including the Court of Final Appeal), England, Jersey Island (including the Privy Council), France, Luxembourg and the United States (including the Court of Appeals).

In addition, Richard has developed expertise in execution of foreign judgments and arbitral awards and on issues of state immunity.

Education

University of Montreal, LL.B., 1986
Diploma in Shipping, University of London 1988

Professional involvement

Canadian Maritime Law Association, Director

Language(s)

English
French

Other interests

Outdoor activities, history and reading. Richard is also one of the founders of a leading junior women’s road cycling team based in Quebec.

Katherine Shaughnessy-Chapman

Katherine Shaughnessy-Chapman

Bar admission(s)

Quebec Bar, 2017

Profile

Katherine joined the firm in 2016 as an articling student and was called to the Quebec Bar in May 2017. She assists colleagues and clients in all areas of the firm’s practice, notably, maritime claims, commercial transactions and various areas of Quebec Civil law. Katherine has appeared before the provincial Courts of Quebec and the Federal Court. Before joining Brisset Bishop, Katherine participated in a summer internship program at one of Canada’s largest shipping companies, allowing her to gain valuable knowledge of daily operations in the marine industry.

Education

Concordia University, B.A. Honours Urban Planning, 2012 (with distinction)
University of Montreal, LL.B., 2015

Professional involvement

Vice-president, Eastern Canada, Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association Canada (WISTA)
Member, Canadian Maritime Law Association

Community involvement

Member, Grunt Club Inc.
Member, Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association (WISTA)
Member, Youth of Shipping

Language(s)

English
French

Other interests

Katherine is an avid tennis player, golfer and skier. She also enjoys supporting various charitable causes and Montreal institutions.

Luce Bourbeau

Luce Bourbeau

Bar admission(s)

Quebec Bar, 2019

Profile

Luce joined the firm in 2022 as a lawyer, while completing her Masters at McGill University. She assists colleagues and clients in all areas of the firm’s practice. Following her call to the bar, Luce took a leave of absence from legal practice for approximately two years to compete in road bike racing at the Elite level in North America and Europe.

Education

McGill, B.A. Honours Political Sciences, 2013, with honours
University of Montreal, LL.B., 2017
McGill, LLM (current)

Language(s)

French
English

Other interests

Luce is an accomplished athlete who loves the outdoors. Before her cycling career, she represented Canada in rowing at the international level, placing 5th at the 2013 U23 World Championships (Women’s Eight).

Lauriane Long-Raymond

Lauriane Long-Raymond

Bar admission(s)

Ontario Bar, 2020
Quebec Bar, 2022

Profile

Lauriane joined the firm in 2022 after clerking for the Honourable Justice Rochester at the Federal Court of Canada. She assists clients and other lawyers of the firm in all areas of the firm’s practice.

Before joining Brisset Bishop, Lauriane had worked in the fields of biological sciences and legal tech.

Education

University of Montreal, B.Sc., Biological Sciences, 2015
University of Ottawa, LL.L., J.D., 2019 (Cum Laude)

Community involvement

Executive Treasurer, Philo-Boxe

Language(s)

English
French

Other interests

Lauriane plays soccer and volleyball. She used to be a downhill ski instructor and coach. She recently developed an interest in exploring the food scenes of Montreal and of other cities she visits.