Experience
Upon graduating from the National Program of the University of Ottawa (LL.L./LL.B.) in 2000 – as the recipient of the John Aylen Q.C. Prize for highest cumulative academic standing - Michael began his legal career working in the litigation department of a large national firm.
Michael initially worked for the firm as a student in the Montreal office and subsequently, as a lawyer in the Toronto office. In 2002, Michael returned to academia by undertaking his LL.M. studies at Harvard Law School where, upon graduation in 2004, he was named class speaker. Michael was invited to co-host the Sports and the Law Lecture Series at Harvard Law School in 2004-2005 and has returned as a guest speaker, on a number of occasions, since that time.
Following several years of private practice with another national firm – again, in Toronto and Montreal – in 2006, Michael joined the in-house legal department of Future Electronics, one of the largest electronic component distributors in the world and took on the role of General Counsel to Convergia Networks, a global end-to-end telecom network company.
In 2010, Michael was named Vice President Legal Affairs and General Counsel of Future Electronics. It was in his capacity as General Counsel to both Future Electronics and Convergia Networks, that Michael spearheaded and oversaw several high-profile commercial court cases and arbitrations, as well as a number of significant business transactions.
Michael returned to private practice and in 2015, he co-founded Renno & Vathilakis.
Expertise
Michael’s practice focuses on dispute prevention and commercial litigation, as well as family law. Michael has acted in mediations and arbitrations both in Canada and abroad and has appeared before all levels of courts in Quebec and Ontario as lead counsel in significant cases related to technology, real estate and shareholder disputes. Michael’s practice includes an emphasis on urgent and highly litigious injunctive matters. He also acts in employment matters and is currently lead counsel in several significant class actions. Since 2022 alone, Michael has been a key player in the settlement of several class actions involving Bell Canada, Air Canada and Apple - amongst others. In fact, in August of 2024, Michael was lead counsel in the Loblaw et al. alleged price fixing of bread which led to the largest anti-trust settlement in Canadian history.
Michael's practice in family law includes regularly advising clients with respect to divorce and separation, including custody rights, child and spousal support, and separation of property. He is a member of the Association des avocats et avocates en droit familial du Québec. Michael has been recognized as a leading practitioner in the field of family law every year as of the 2020 Edition of The Best Lawyers in Canada.
Michael lectures to law students on a frequent basis – with respect to international commercial arbitration and class actions - at Harvard Law School; Stanford; McGill Law School and the University of Montreal. Michael also lectures in the South of France at Sciences Po (Menton campus) with respect to international bodies and their functions within a global community.
Michael has been named a star in Quebec Litigation by Benchmark Litigation since 2016 and was recently named (2019) as fellow by the Litigation Counsel of America. Michael was also nominated as the Canadian Dispute Resolution Expert in the 2019 Global Law Experts Handbook. In addition to holding an LL.M. from Harvard Law School (2004) and LL.L. and LL.B. from the National Program at the University of Ottawa, Michael also holds an undergraduate degree in political science from McGill University (1995).
