Myriam Seers
Myriam is one of the firm's founding partners. Before that, she spent most of her career in major Canadian business law firms McMillan and Torys.
She specializes in acting for sovereign states, state-owned entities and companies with cross-border operations in investment treaty arbitration and international commercial arbitration matters, with a particular focus on disputes arising from the mining, electricity (including renewable energy) and transportation sectors. A large component of her practice involves appearing before Canadian courts in proceedings to set aside or recognize and enforce foreign arbitral awards, in matters involving complex issues arising under the State Immunity Act, the New York Convention and the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration.
Myriam is particularly passionate about working with clients who are working to develop renewable energy and critical minerals projects.
Throughout her career, she has worked on cases involving mining projects at all phases of their life cycle, from early-stage exploration to development-stage projects to operating mines, in jurisdictions as varied as Ecuador, Mexico, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Madagascar and the Kyrgyz Republic. She has extensive experience helping clients navigate the wide variety of roadblocks that can stall or stop a mining project over the course of its life, and in fearlessly advocating on clients’ behalf in an investment treaty arbitration or other dispute resolution forum when those roadblocks cannot be overcome.
Myriam has substantial experience with disputes involving renewable energy projects, including offshore wind, onshore wind, hydroelectric and solar projects.
Myriam is ranked as a “Future Leader” by the global publication “Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration” (which states that she is “truly excellent” and has “a remarkable reputation for her work on large, complex international arbitration proceedings”) and “Up and Coming” by Chambers Global and Chambers Canada: Dispute Resolution (which states that she is “extremely bright and dynamic” and “attracts praise for her ability to understand and manage very complicated situations”). She works in English, French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.
In addition to her counsel practice, Myriam sits as an arbitrator and is part of Arbitration Place’s NextGen roster of arbitrators. She has been appointed arbitrator by the International Court of Arbitration of the ICC.
Myriam is the Chair of the ICC Canada Arbitration Committee, a member of the ICC Commission and a frequent guest lecturer on investment treaty arbitration at Osgoode Hall Law School and McGill University.
Bar Admission
Ontario (Canada), 2008
Education
LLB, University of Ottawa
Hons. BA program, McGill University
Usually works from
Toronto, and sometimes from Vancouver
Languages
English, French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, some German