Ari Y. Sorek

Partner

Ari’s practice is primarily focused on restructuring, insolvency and complex commercial litigation. He regularly represents and advises a wide range of stakeholders, including debtors, creditors (bondholders, secured lenders and trade creditors), court-appointed officers (trustees, monitors, and receivers), financial institutions and parties seeking to invest or make acquisitions in the context of restructurings.

Ari is appreciated for his unique blend of legal acumen and rigour, combined with a pragmatic, collaborative, and commercially driven approach. He has acquired valuable experience in a wide range of industries including real estate, financial services, retail, manufacturing, gaming, aviation, telecommunications and technology.

Ari has played leading and active roles in many of the most significant and complex restructurings in Quebec and Canada, including several that have reshaped the legal and commercial landscape. In the area of commercial litigation, Ari has had the privilege of pleading two of the leading decisions rendered by the Quebec Court of Appeal involving corporate investigations and oppression remedies, among many other notable cases.

Prior to joining FFMP, Ari was a partner and the Montreal lead of the Bankruptcy, Insolvency and Restructuring Group of a major international law firm, where he practiced for 13 years. In between these ventures, Ari gained valuable experience in the securities space as a prosecutor in the litigation division of Quebec’s prudential authority and financial markets regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers.

Contact

Areas of Practice

  • Insolvency and Restructuring
  • Civil and Commercial Litigation
  • Real Estate
  • Securities

Bar Admission

  • Québec, 2005

Education

  • McGill University, B.C.L. , LL.B. (2002)
  • King’s College London, LL.M. (International Financial and Commercial Law) (2025)

Professional Affiliations & Activities

  • Sits on the Executive Committee of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency division of the Canadian Bar Association (Québec).
  • Sits on the Executive Committee of the International Law division of the Canadian Bar Association (Québec).
  • Served two terms as member of the Montreal Bar Standing Committee liaising with judges of the Commercial Division of the Superior Court.
  • Currently teaches evidence and civil procedure at the Quebec Bar School.
  • Has volunteered at community legal clinics.
  • Has twice acted as President of a flagship cultural festival of the Communauté Séfarade du Québec.
  • Published extensively, and is regularly called upon to speak at trade conferences.
  • Had the privilege of clerking at Supreme Court of Israel.
  • Panelist, “Conduct Developments: Exercise of Judicial Discretion; Duties of Good Faith”, Annual Review of Insolvency Law Conference, February 2021.
  • Panelist, Canadian Bar Association, Skilled Lawyers’ Series, Commercial Insolvency and Restructuring: Essential Skills for Corporate Lawyers to Help Clients through Difficult Times, panel entitled: “Rehabilitating a Distressed Corporation: Restructuring Options under the BIA, CCAA and CBCA”, 19 November 2020.
  • Panelist, “To Supply or Not to Supply that is the Question? - The Post-Filing Creditors Dilemma” 18th Annual Review of Insolvency Law, February 2020, Vancouver, Canada.
  • Panelist, “Les services de paiement par cartes de crédit dans un contexte de LACC, à la lumière des décisions dans le dossier Beyond the Rack”, Advanced conference on restructuring and insolvency, Canadian Institute, Montréal, November 2016.
  • Professional training/continuing education, “Everything you need to know before, during and after a commercial lease”, Collège de l’immobilier du Québec, 2015, 2016 and 2017.

Publications