This section keeps you up-to-date on the latest news and upcoming public appearances of Lavery professionals.
News
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Luc Thibaudeau will be a speaker at the Conférence sur le droit de la publicité et du marketing.
During this conference on advertising and marketing law, to be held in Montreal on March 25 and 26, 2010, Mr. Luc Thibaudeau, a partner with Lavery, will address the conference on the reform of the Consumer Protection Act. Among other issues, Mr. Thibaudeau will cover a number of specific clauses and go over the objectives of the Consumer Protection Act with respect to advertising.
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Jean Saint-Onge becomes a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America
Mr. Jean Saint-Onge, a partner at Lavery practicing in litigation, has been offered the prestigious title of Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America. The Litigation Counsel of America is an honorary society composed of less than one half of one percent of the lawyers in North America. Nominations of fellows are by invitation only and are highly selective, being based on accomplishment and excellence in litigation. Mr. Saint-Onge practices in the areas of commercial insurance, class actions, competition and antitrust, product liability as well as the distribution of financial products and services.
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Lavery announces the appointment of Richard Dolan as Chairman of the Board
Montreal, February 18, 2010 – Lavery is pleased to announce the appointment of Richard Dolan to the position of Chairman of the Board. After having led the firm during the last 10 years, he succeeds Michel Yergeau who was Chairman of the Board for more than 13 years. “I am highly honoured by the trust my partners have shown me and determined to provide every support for our new Managing Partner, Élise Poisson, in pursuing the development of Lavery and reinforcing our Business Law positioning in the years to come,” Mr. Dolan declared. As Chairman of the Board, Richard Dolan will continue his activities with the World Services Group, in addition to playing an active role in client development for the firm’s benefit. A specialist in corporate and commercial law, his practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions and commercial transactions. Mr. Dolan joined the firm's Business Law Group in 1979 and was a partner in the Business Law Group from 1986 to 1996, during which he represented numerous Canadian and foreign clients establishing, acquiring or selling businesses in Canada, the United States and South America. From 1996 to 2000, he served as Senior Vice-President, Law and General Counsel, with one of the firm's clients, a leading international engineering and construction firm. He was also a member of the Management Committee and the Operations Review Committee of that firm while continuing to practise in the areas of mergers and acquisitions and being involved in several major infrastructure privatizations, including the privatization of Highway 407 in Ontario.
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Bernard Larocque presents a review of the jurisprudence in insurance law in 2009 for the Canadian Insurance Claims Managers Association
On February 17, Bernard Larocque, a partner at Lavery, gave a speech to the Canadian Insurance Claims Managers Association. He took as his subject a review of the jurisprudence in insurance law in 2009.During this conference, among other things, Mr. Larocque discussed formation of the contract, remedial work and liability insurance warranty, as well as the wide variety of liability insurance.
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Michel Servant invited to preside the Prix Relève d’Excellence 2010 Committee of Réseau HEC Montreal
Michel Servant, a partner at Lavery, will be the President of the Prix Relève d’Excellence 2010 Committee of Réseau HEC Montréal. This competition recognizes the professional success of HEC graduates aged 35 and under, in four different classes: Large Enterprises, Small and Medium Enterprises (SME), Entrepreneur and Young Professional. Prizewinners are selected by a jury of experienced businesspeople.This event will take place at a Gala-Breakfast on Friday, May 14, 2010, at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel. It is the 25th anniversary of the Prix Relève d’Excellence this year and Patrick Palerme, President and Chief Executive Officer of GE Capital Canada, will act as Honorary President.HEC Montreal is the first business school in Canada and arguably Canada’s leading business school with over one hundred years of history and three international accreditations.
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Speech by Manon Robert for the Canadian Association of Paralegals
Manon Robert, paralegal and administrative trainer at Lavery, gave a speech on case management during the Litigation Conference of the Canadian Association of Paralegals, which was held on February 10, 2010.The Canadian Association of Paralegals noted Manon Robert’s dynamism, professionalism and extensive expertise in litigation.
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Conference given by our insurance law specialists
At a breakfast conference on the mornings of January 26 and 27, Bernard Larocque and Jean Bélanger presented our clients with a review of the jurisprudence in 2009 as it affects insurance law. This annual activity provides a look back over the legal decisions of the past year.
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Jean Martel Reappointed to BDC’s Board of Directors
Jean Martel has been reappointed by the Minister of Industry of Canada to the Business Development Bank board of directors for a period of four years. BDC’s Chairman, John MacNaughton, said he was extremely pleased with the news of the reappointment, which will ensure continuity in board membership. He extended his warmest congratulations to Jean and thanked him for his continued commitment to BDC.Jean Martel joined the BDC board of directors in September 2006. As a partner at Lavery, he practises in the field of financial law — securities, corporate financing, the distribution of financial services and products, and the regulation of financial institutions and capital markets.
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Lavery Welcomes Business Law Specialist Daniel Des Aulniers
Quebec City, January 26, 2010 - Lavery, the largest independent law firm in Quebec, is pleased to announce that Daniel Des Aulniers has joined its ranks as a member of its Business Law Group. Mr. Des Aulniers will be practicing in his area of expertise, Bankruptcy and Insolvency Law, at the firm’s Quebec City office.Called to the Quebec Bar in 1976, Mr. Des Aulniers has been practicing with other law firms for over 25 years. As a specialist in Bankruptcy and Insolvency Law, he has played an active role in the turnaround of major national and provincial businesses. He represents both trustees and debtors before all the jurisdictional levels of Quebec’s courts.Mr. Des Aulniers will advise the firm’s clients and represent them in various insolvency-related matters.
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Lavery Spearheads the Purchase of the Montreal Canadiens by the Molson Brothers and Their Partners
Since the spring of 2009, Lavery has played a key role in the purchase of the Montreal Canadiens, the Bell Centre and its related businesses by a group of investors headed by the Molson brothers. The Molson brothers initially retained Lavery’s services to help them prepare an offer to purchase all the Gillett family’s holdings in the Montreal Canadiens and the Bell Centre businesses. The first phase of the mandate involved the due diligence review of the entities targeted by the proposed purchase, including the hockey club, the Bell Centre real estate complex and the Gillett Entertainment Group. Lavery was also involved in setting up the Molson led partnership that would make the offer to the Gillett family. Once the Gillett family had accepted the Molson group offer to purchase, Lavery became the advisor to the group and started working on the partnership agreement, at the same time as negotiating the credit facilities with the lenders and the purchase agreement and other related documents with the Gillett family representatives. When the Molson group decided also to purchase all the interests held by Molson Coors Brewing Company put up for sale by the Gillett family, Lavery’s instructions were extended to preparing and negotiating this second offer to purchase with Molson Coors' representatives, followed by the preparation of this second purchase agreement and related documentation. The team from Lavery also had to ensure that the Quebec Government had all the information necessary to adopt the order-in-council authorizing Investissement Québec to participate in financing the purchase. At the same time, other members of the Lavery team held regular talks with representatives of the National Hockey League to enable them to obtain the consent of the League’s Board of Governors for the proposed transactions. "We are very proud to have made a major contribution to such an important transaction in the North American professional sports industry. The members of our team successfully led all the legal aspects of an extremely complex acquisition file on behalf of all the members of the purchasing group headed by the Molson brothers," said Jacques Paul-Hus. The following lawyers from Lavery were involved in completing: Richard Dolan, Gérard Coulombe, Jacques Paul-Hus, Francis Desmarais, André Paquette, Marie-Andrée Gravel, André Vautour, Sébastien Vézina, Guillaume Lavoie and Valérie Boucher (corporative/commercial); Chantal Joubert and Nicole Messier (real estate); Catherine Maheu and Josiane L’Heureux (labour and employment); Josée Dumoulin (pensions and benefits); François Renaud, Pierre Denis and Benjamin Gross (financing); Luc Pariseau (tax).
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Valérie Boucher Writes on Trusts in the JurisClasseur Québec Encyclopedia
Valérie Boucher is the author of the 20th volume of the JurisClasseur Québec encyclopedia – Biens et publicité des droits, published by LexisNexis. In this volume, Ms. Boucher summarizes the essential elements of the law of trusts in Quebec.The JurisClasseur Québec encyclopedia is a work that is designed to meet the needs and realities involved in the current practice of law in Quebec, and was written by an outstanding team of authors.Valérie Boucher practises in the areas of business law, corporate law and the law of trusts. She has had a significant role in numerous reorganizations of small, medium and large businesses, and has been actively involved in various transactions for the acquisition and sale of shares and assets.
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Raphaël Schachter on the Board of the American College of Trial Lawyers Canadian Foundation
Raphaël Schachter, Q.C. has been asked and has accepted to be on the Board of the American College of Trial Lawyers Canadian Foundation. He will represent the Province of Quebec.The Foundation, afforded charitable status by the Canadian Revenue Agency (Revenu Canada), will be chaired by the Honorable Jack Major, former Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.Appointed as Queen's Counsel in 1986, and inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers in 1994, Mr. Schachter was President of the Quebec Section of the American College of Trial Lawyers from 2006 to 2008. He practises exclusively in the areas of criminal law, penal law and the penal aspects of competition law.