Ponora is our President. He joined YCPA as Vice-President in 2008. He was then elected President for the term 2011-2013. He is a commercial lawyer. His practice involves all aspects of commercial litigation in the areas of banking law, securities enforcement, bankruptcy and insolvency law, corporate law, real estate law, construction law and directors' liability. He was recently awarded Lawyer of the Year 2010 by YBAM in commercial and civil litigation.
His academic background is quite interesting. After having received a Diploma of International Secondary Education, he completed his CEGEP degree with grades that ranked him among the top students of his year. Ponora then earned, with distinction, an undergraduate degree in civil law and a second one in common law from McGill Faculty of Law. Two years before completing his studies, Ponora was already recruited by one of the most renowned boutique law firm in litigation in the country.
After only few years of practice, Ponora was exposed in the most important actions in Canada. For instance, he was acting in the Castor Holding matter, which is the longest trial in the Canadian legal history. He was also part of the lawyers acting in the matter of the Contestation of the arrangement plan of BCE, which was heard before the Supreme Court of Canada. The latter was qualified as the most complex action in corporate law in Canada. Ponora is now practicing at McMillan LLP, a leading national law firm, having offices from Montreal to Hong Kong.