This section keeps you up-to-date on the latest news and upcoming public appearances of Lavery professionals.
News
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Lavery 2nd in the top 30 law firms in Quebec according to Les Affaires
In a special feature of Les Affaires titled ‘Grands du droit 2016’, Lavery was ranked 2nd in the Top 30 law firms in Quebec. Étienne Brassard, business law partner, also discusses Lavery GO inc. Program as part of the nomination: "Lavery (2nd) for his part created a program for start-ups called Lavery GO inc. Program, which operates on selection. "We select promising projects and we help them becoming successful business ," said Étienne Brassard, head lawyer of the program." [Translation – article available in French only] In 2015, Lavery was ranked 3rd on the charts. Thus, this is a significant rise for the firm in the 2016 rankings you can view here.
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In Luxembourg, Laurence Bich-Carrière wins Tony-Pemmers international public speaking competition
Good things come in threes! Winner of the Young Bar of Montreal's Prix de l'orateur in June 2015 and the oratory competition at the 30th Conférence internationale des barreaux de tradition juridique commune held in Cotonou, Benin, in December 2015, Laurence Bich-Carrière took home top honours at the first edition of the Tony-Pemmers international public speaking contest organized as part of the solemn reassembly of the Luxembourg Bar. The eliminatory round of this speaking contest was held on June 2, 2016, at the Superior Court of Justice of Luxembourg before a five-member jury composed of European and Luxembourgian magistrates and lawyers. The winner of the finals, held the following day, was decided by popular vote, so it was an audience of 250 jurists that Ms. Bich-Carrière had to convince and delight to win first place. The competition focused on eloquence, soundness of argument, and strength of conviction, but also on the speaker’s charisma, sense of humour, and ability to make a connection with the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. A member of the Quebec Bar and the Law Society of Upper Canada, Ms. Bich-Carrière is part of Lavery’s litigation group. She has worked as a law clerk at the Supreme Court of Canada and received numerous merit-based scholarships during her years of study. Her practice includes all aspects of civil and commercial litigation, among other things.
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More than 100 participants at Lavery’s Annual Labour and Employment Law Conference
Lavery’s Annual Conference on Labour and Employment Law took place on June 1, 2016, in Trois-Rivières. Nearly 110 participants attended the various conferences presented by Nicolas Courcy, Carl Lessard and Marie-Josée Hétu. The speakers addressed several topics, such as the employers protection of interests and rights after the employment relationship breakdown, the best practices in disability management and the recent developments in labour and employment law. Again this year, the event was a great success, tailored for participants and guests who were present. Nicolas Courcy Carl Lessard Marie-Josée Hétu
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Marie Cossette speaker and president of a disciplinary law training organized by Open Forum
May 31, 2016, Marie Cossette, partner at Lavery and head of the business integrity group, chaired a disciplinary law training organized by Open Forum. Several topics were discussed during the event, including the obligation to work and the trustee's powers of investigation, the disciplinary law expert, disciplinary complaints conduct and evidence and procedures new rules, as well as the place of prejudice in determining the sanction and conciliation in disciplinary law. For her part, Ms. Cossette reviewed the landmark decisions of the highest courts in disciplinary law to help people in the field identifying trends and issues to watch. She was assisted by Ms. Charlotte Fortin in the preparation of the conference.
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2016 edition of Lavery’s Major Symposium in Labour and Employment Law - A critical look at some of the challenges facing the business community
Lavery held the 2016 edition of its Major Symposium in Labour and Employment Law and it was a great success. About 300 people made their way to Centre Mont-Royal on June 8, 2016, to participate in the event. The plenary session was hosted by Nicolas Joubert and Guy Lavoie, partners in the Lavery’s Labour and Employment Law group. On this occasion, attendees got to participate in various workshops presented by Dave Bouchard, Jean Boulet, Élodie Brunet, Brittany Carson, Norman A. Dionne, Josée Dumoulin, Carl Lessard, Josiane L’Heureux, Zeïneb Mellouli, Véronique Morin and François Parent. Speakers addressed many different subjects, such as best practices in recruiting, in employment termination and in disability management; in psychological harassment, in pension plans and lessons we can learn about labour and employment law after forty years of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
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Raphaël Schachter, master of ceremonies at the annual conference on human rights organized by the Lord Reading Law Society
On 25 May 2016, Raphael Schachter, partner at Lavery and former president of the Lord Reading Law Society, had the honour to serve as the master of ceremonies of the Annual Human Rights Dinner organized by the Lord Reading Law Society. With over 600 attendees from the field of law and politics as well as important dignitaries, the dinner-meeting was an opportunity to pay tribute to the Honourable Irwin Cotler, former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, former MP for Mount Royal and spokesman of the Liberal Party of Canada in human rights, freedom and international justice. Several leaders of the legal community delivered a heartfelt tribute to Mr. Cotler, including Ms. Justice Rosalie Abella of the Supreme Court who was accompanied by four of her colleagues, Judge Nicholas Kasirer of the Quebec Court of Appeal, as well as the well-known Professor Alan Dershowitz, Esq. from Harvard University. The success of the evening was crowned with a video presentation from the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, highlighting the passion, achievements and outstanding contribution of Mr. Cotler in the field of human rights.
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Julie Grondin, Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin and Awatif Lakhdar appointed partners at Lavery
Lavery is pleased to announce the appointment of three of its lawyers as partners of the firm. They are: Julie Grondin (Litigation) Julie is part of the firm's litigation group and specializes in the areas of construction law, surety law and commercial litigation. She advises public and private owners, contractors as well as surety companies at all stages of construction projects. She also advises clients in respect of public bidding process and drafting of contract documents, management of the work and claims. Julie is also involved in divided co-ownership matters and represents syndicates of co-owners in various cases involving legal hypothecs and work defects. Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin (insurance law litigation, professional liability and commercial litigation) Graduate of McGill University, Jonathan has extensive experience in insurance law. Often involved in complex matters, he regularly appears before all Quebec authorities. He participated in several reference works and gives many presentations and training, including the annual conference Jean Bélanger, an insurance law annual retrospective before the Canadian Bar Association and the Canadian Insurance Claims Manager Association. Jonathan is also a lecturer at the University of Quebec in Montreal for the Pierre-Basile Mignault moot court. He has recently taken part of the team representing Pro Bono Québec before the Supreme Court of Canada in Réjean Hinse v. Attorney General of Canada. Awatif Lakhdar (family law, personal law and estate law) Awatif is a member of the Family Law, personal law and estate law group since May 2014. Called to the Quebec Bar in 2002, she worked in private practice for over 10 years before joining the firm. Awatif represents clients in international cases including inheritance, divorce, legal separation, child custody, alimony, and the application of matrimonial regimes. Moreover, she often defends clients in international child abduction cases in which the country of origin is not a signatory to the Hague Convention and has acted as legal advisor in cases involving the identification of matrimonial regimes in certain Muslim countries.
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Victory for Lavery at the Supreme Court on behalf of the Chambre des notaires du Québec
In an important judgment rendered on June 3, 2016, the Supreme Court of Canada declared certain provisions of the Income Tax Act (ITA), which allowed the Minister of National Revenue to require notaries or lawyers to provide documents or information which could be useful for the application or enforcement of the ITA and which excluded their accounting records from the protection of the duty of professional secrecy of legal advisers, to be unconstitutional. The Court concluded that several deficiencies caused the requirements sent to notaries or lawyers to be unreasonable and contrary to s. 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It also concluded that the exception to the professional secrecy set out at s. 232(1) of the ITA is unconstitutional and of no force or effect with respect to notaries and lawyers. Raymond Doray and Loïc Berdnikoff, two partners practising administrative and constitutional law at Lavery, represented the Chambre des notaires du Québec before the country’s highest court. Guillaume Laberge and Laurence Bich-Carrière also assisted in the preparation of this case. To see the judgment of the Supreme Court of Canada, click here.
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Marie Cossette, partner at Lavery, to lead the Défi 100 jours / L’effet A in Quebec City
--> Lavery is pleased to announce that Marie Cossette, head of the Corporate and Business Integrity group and partner in its Quebec City office, will lead the Défi 100 jours/ L’effet A. Marie has many years’ experience handling major cases in various areas of litigation. She is regularly called upon to work on cases dealing with different aspects of government relations. In taking part of this challenge, Marie will be encouraging discussions and promoting arts-business relationships. She also aims to provide participants with the tools they need to communicate effectively in their work environment. “I salute the determination of these visionaries, who so generously give of their time and talent to support the ambitions of women and ensure that more of them rise to positions of influence,” declared Don McCarty, Managing Partner at Lavery. We invite you to follow the progress of the ‘L’effet A’ challenge, starting September 9 on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook, as well as on ‘L’effet A’ website at www.effet-a.com
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Léonie Gagné discusses her career transition towards the field of law in the DTRC’s Annual Report
Léonie Gagné, a litigation lawyer at Lavery, is interviewed on her career change in the Dancer Transition Resource Centre’s 2014/2015 Annual Report in an article entitled "From Winning Applause to Winning Cases" . Before practising law, Leonie devoted herself for more than ten years as a professional classical ballet dancer in Toronto, in particular with the National Ballet of Canada : ‘Léonie Gagné had high hopes for her second career. ‘I wanted to find something I was proud of and that matched my ambitions,’ the former ballet dancer revealed. While her career transition is characterized by careful planning and incremental career changes, she has found all the passion and excitement she was looking for in her new career as a litigator. In 2014/15, Léonie became an associate at Lavery De Billy, a prominent Quebec law firm, practising in the areas of insurance law, civil and professional liability as well as product liability.’ Discover Leonie’s career transition and the reasons that motivated her to choose law by reading the article available here.
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René Branchaud recognized by Lexpert as a leader in business law
On 27 May 2016, Report on Business, The Globe and Mail’s Report on Business was publishing the 2016 Lexpert/ROB Corporate Special Edition on Canada's Leading Corporate Lawyers, in which René Branchaud, partner at Lavery, is recognized among the Canada’s leaders in business law. This special edition recognizes committed corporate lawyers who have distinguished themselves in their practice area. You can read René Branchaud’s biography on page 9 of the publication.
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Léa Maalouf performs at Théâtre d'Aujourd'hui
--> Léa Maalouf, member of the Litigation Group, performed in a play titled "Les mondes possibles" at the Théâtre d'Aujourd'hui on the 24th, 25th and 26th of May 2016, for the 23rd edition of the Centre du Théâtre d'Aujourd'hui benefit shows. The event committee consisted of 20 one-night-comedians from the business community who have shown on stage the best of their artistic personality during this festive, musical and irreverent evening.