Dykema Litigator Fred Fresard Admitted to the Ontario Bar

Fred J. Fresard, Bloomfield Hills-based member in the Firm’s Litigation Department, has gained admission to practice law in Canada. On Monday, June 24, 2013, Fresard was “Called to the Bar” of the Law Society of Upper Canada, the largest organization of its kind in Canada, responsible for the regulation, licensing and discipline of Ontario’s 44,000 lawyers. With this admission, Fresard is able to represent clients and litigate matters in provincial and federal courts throughout Canada (except Quebec).

In securing his admission to the Ontario bar, Fresard becomes the first Dykema attorney to be licensed to practice law in both the U.S. and Canada. This achievement is particularly notable in light of the increased class action filings Dykema’s clients are seeing across the North American continent, as changes in the class action laws of Canada and Mexico are resulting in the filing of “copycat” class actions north and south of the U.S. border. 

Fresard’s Ontario bar admission reflects Dykema’s intense focus on providing exceptional client service while helping its clients control costs.  As Fresard notes, “Cross-border litigation, especially in class action lawsuits, has become more and more the norm.  With plaintiffs’ attorneys often filing copycat suits in Canada—even after a matter has been resolved in the U.S.—our clients are forced to invest time and money in duplicative efforts.  With my admission to the Ontario bar, Dykema can now provide clients a ‘one-stop shop’ for such matters, providing highly efficient resolution of suits pending in both countries.”

Fresard, who joined Dykema in 2011, has more than 20 years’ experience defending complex, high exposure litigation in product liability, class action, commercial and negligence actions for numerous multinational corporations. He serves as national and local counsel for several global manufacturing enterprises, helping clients manage hundreds of millions of dollars of exposure. He also advises clients on risk management issues outside the context of litigation.