The Best Lawyers in Canada 2025 recognize 88 lawyers of Lavery

August 29, 2024

Lavery is pleased to announce that 88 of its lawyers have been recognized as leaders in their respective fields of expertise by The Best Lawyers in Canada 2025.

The ranking is based entirely on peer recognition and rewards the professional performance of the country's top lawyers.

The following lawyers also received the Lawyer of the Year award in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in Canada:

Isabelle Jomphe: Intellectual Property Law
Myriam Lavallée : Labour and Employment Law

Consult the complete list of Lavery's lawyers and their fields of expertise:

Geneviève Beaudin : Employee Benefits Law
Josianne Beaudry : Mergers and Acquisitions Law / Mining Law / Securities Law
Geneviève Bergeron : Intellectual Property Law
Laurence Bich-Carrière : Class Action Litigation / Contruction Law / Corporate and Commercial Litigation / Product Liability Law
Dominic Boivert : Insurance Law
Luc R. Borduas : Corporate Law / Mergers and Acquisitions Law
Daniel Bouchard : Environmental Law
René Branchaud : Mining Law / Natural Resources Law / Securities Law
Étienne Brassard : Equipment Finance Law / Mergers and Acquisitions Law / Project Finance Law / Real Estate Law
Jules Brière : Aboriginal Law / Indigenous Practice / Administrative and Public Law / Health Care Law
Myriam Brixi : Class Action Litigation / Product Liability Law
Benoit Brouillette : Labour and Employment Law
Marie-Claude Cantin : Construction Law / Insurance Law
Brittany Carson : Labour and Employment Law
André Champagne : Corporate Law / Mergers and Acquisitions Law
Chantal Desjardins : Intellectual Property Law
Jean-Sébastien Desroches : Corporate Law / Mergers and Acquisitions Law
Raymond Doray : Administrative and Public Law / Defamation and Media Law / Privacy and Data Security Law
Christian Dumoulin : Mergers and Acquisitions Law
Alain Y. Dussault : Intellectual Property Law
Isabelle Duval : Family Law
Ali El Haskouri : Banking and Finance Law
Philippe Frère : Administrative and Public Law
Simon Gagné : Labour and Employment Law
Nicolas Gagnon : Construction Law
Richard Gaudreault : Labour and Employment Law
Julie Gauvreau : Biotechnology and Life Sciences Practice / Intellectual Property Law
Marc-André Godin : Commercial Leasing Law / Real Estate Law
Caroline Harnois : Family Law / Family Law Mediation / Trusts and Estates
Marie-Josée Hétu : Labour and Employment Law
Édith Jacques : Corporate Law / Energy Law / Natural Resources Law
Marie-Hélène Jolicoeur : Labour and Employment Law
Isabelle Jomphe : Advertising and Marketing Law / Intellectual Property Law
Nicolas Joubert : Labour and Employment Law
Guillaume Laberge : Administrative and Public Law
Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin : Insurance Law
Awatif Lakhdar : Family Law
Marc-André Landry : Alternative Dispute Resolution / Class Action Litigation / Construction Law / Corporate and Commercial Litigation / Product Liability Law
Éric Lavallée : Technology Law
Myriam Lavallée : Labour and Employment Law
Guy Lavoie : Labour and Employment Law / Workers' Compensation Law
Jean Legault : Banking and Finance Law / Insolvency and Financial Restructuring Law
Carl Lessard : Labour and Employment Law / Workers' Compensation Law
Josiane L'Heureux : Labour and Employment Law
Hugh Mansfield : Intellectual Property Law
Zeïneb Mellouli : Labour and Employment Law / Workers' Compensation Law
Isabelle P. Mercure : Trusts and Estates / Tax Law
Patrick A. Molinari : Health Care Law
Luc Pariseau : Tax Law / Trusts and Estates
Ariane Pasquier : Labour and Employment Law
Hubert Pepin : Labour and Employment Law
Martin Pichette : Insurance Law / Professional Malpractice Law / Corporate and Commercial Litigation
Élisabeth Pinard : Family Law / Family Law Mediation
François Renaud : Banking and Finance Law / Structured Finance Law
Marc Rochefort : Securities Law
Yves Rocheleau : Corporate Law
Judith Rochette : Alternative Dispute Resolution / Insurance Law / Professional Malpractice Law
Ian Rose FCIArb : Class Action Litigation / Director and Officer Liability Practice / Insurance Law
Ouassim Tadlaoui : Construction Law / Insolvency and Financial Restructuring Law
David Tournier : Banking and Finance Law
Vincent Towner : Commercial Leasing Law
André Vautour : Corporate Governance Practice / Corporate Law / Energy Law / Information Technology Law / Intellectual Property Law / Private Funds Law / Technology Law / Venture Capital Law
Bruno Verdon : Corporate and Commercial Litigation
Sébastien Vézina : Mergers and Acquisitions Law / Mining Law / Sports Law
Yanick Vlasak : Banking and Finance Law / Corporate and Commercial Litigation / Insolvency and Financial Restructuring Law
Jonathan Warin : Insolvency and Financial Restructuring Law

We are pleased to highlight our rising stars, who also distinguished themselves in this directory in the Ones To Watch category:

Romeo Aguilar Perez : Labour and Employment Law (Ones To Watch)
Anne-Marie Asselin : Labour and Employment Law (Ones To Watch)
Rosemarie Bhérer Bouffard : Labour and Employment Law (Ones To Watch)
Marc-André Bouchard : Construction Law (Ones To Watch)
Céleste Brouillard-Ross : Construction Law / Corporate and Commercial Litigation (Ones To Watch)
Karl Chabot : Construction Law / Corporate and Commercial Litigation (Ones To Watch)
Justine Chaput : Labour and Employment Law (Ones To Watch)
Julien Ducharme : Corporate Law / Mergers and Acquisitions Law (Ones To Watch)
James Duffy : Intellectual Property Law (Ones To Watch)
Joseph Gualdieri : Mergers and Acquisitions Law (Ones To Watch)
Katerina Kostopoulos : Corporate Law (Ones To Watch)
Joël Larouche : Corporate and Commercial Litigation (Ones To Watch)
Despina Mandilaras : Construction Law / Corporate and Commercial Litigation (Ones To Watch)
Jean-François Maurice : Corporate Law (Ones To Watch)
Jessica Parent : Labour and Employment Law (Ones To Watch)
Audrey Pelletier : Tax Law (Ones To Watch)
Alexandre Pinard : Labour and Employment Law (Ones To Watch)
Camille Rioux : Labour and Employment Law (Ones To Watch)
Sophie Roy : Insurance Law (Ones To Watch)
Chantal Saint-Onge : Corporate and Commercial Litigation (Ones To Watch)
Bernard Trang : Banking and Finance Law / Project Finance Law (Ones To Watch)
Mylène Vallières : Mergers and Acquisitions Law / Securities Law (Ones To Watch)

These recognitions are further demonstration of the expertise and quality of legal services that characterize Lavery’s professionals.

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November 20, 2024

Laurence Bich-Carrière, a rising star in the Canadian legal profession

Lavery is proud to announce that on November 19, Laurence Bich-Carrière received the Rising Stars Leading Lawyers Under 40 award from Lexpert. This prestigious award honours lawyers under the age of 40 in Canada who distinguish themselves in the legal profession. The winners are selected by a jury of law firm managing partners and recognized corporate counsels, based on rigorously studied criteria like leadership, outstanding professional achievement and service to clients. As a litigation partner and a member of the Barreau du Québec and of the Law Society of Ontario, Laurence is an accomplished lawyer. Specializing in complex litigation, her expertise is especially valued in class actions and appeals. Her clients appreciate her efficiency, her stringent analyses and her ability to propose a range of solutions, often by thinking outside the box, to further her cases. Laurence is committed to her clients and her colleagues, and she is also a very active member of the legal community, proving her professional versatility. She is also involved with other legal institutions—she is a member of the civil procedure committee of the Barreau du Québec, a member of the executive committees of the Canadian Bar Association, Quebec Branch, including the Research and Knowledge Management section and the International section—and community organizations, such as the board of directors of the Fondation Claude Masse for the dissemination of consumer law knowledge. In addition to her solid practical experience, Laurence is also interested in research and training the next generation of lawyers. She is a sought-after speaker, the author of some forty publications, including several in scientific journals, she occasionally lectures and participates in the deliberation of various university research groups. Congratulations to Laurence on this well-earned recognition of her talent and expertise. For more information, read the article : 2024 Winners | Lexpert Rising Stars About Lavery Lavery is the leading independent law firm in Québec. Its more than 200 professionals, based in Montréal, Québec City, Sherbrooke and Trois-Rivières, work every day to offer a full range of legal services to organizations doing business in Québec. Recognized by the most prestigious legal directories, Lavery professionals are at the heart of what is happening in the business world and are actively involved in their communities. The firm’s expertise is frequently sought after by numerous national and international partners to provide support in cases under Québec jurisdiction.

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November 4, 2024

La Presse’s Big Gamble Pays Off

Pierre-Elliott Levasseur will always remember a conversation he had in 2010 with Guy Crevier, Editor of La Presse, who was also its president at the time. “The first iPad had just come out. We were both looking at the tablet and, although we didn’t know exactly what to think, we knew we had to do something with this new tool,” says Pierre-Elliott Levasseur, who has been President of La Presse since 2016. The rest, as they say, is history. La Presse’s titanic digital transformation and overhaul of its business model became a case study that has been making headlines for almost 15 years. The last major milestone in this evolution was its change of business model in 2018, when La Presse decided to adopt a not-for-profit structure. This allowed it to diversify its revenue streams by obtaining donations and assistance from the federal and provincial governments, in addition to advertising revenue. Power Corporation would no longer own La Presse, abandoning the business model adopted by the media industry for the past century. This new model also enabled La Presse to become one of the first news media in the country to obtain Registered Journalism Organization (RJO) status. Thanks to this, La Presse can now issue tax receipts to its donors, thus diversifying its income and ensuring its long-term survival. All this was a big gamble in uncharted territory, but La Presse was no stranger to risk taking over the years. Why the change in structure? In a difficult economic climate for media companies, marked by declining ad revenues and fierce digital competition, La Presse has chosen to remain faithful to the principle of free access, which is deeply rooted in its mission. Quality information is a public good, and a public good must serve the entire population, for free. We had to find another business model to increase and diversify our revenue streams. If La Presse hadn’t transformed itself, it wouldn’t have survived. We had no choice but to take the risk. Pierre-Elliott LevasseurPrésident, La Presse Six years later, the gamble has paid off handsomely. Since the launch of the philanthropic model, over 75,000 people have donated to La Presse. La Presse is the largest independent French-language media in North America, with over 500 employees, including 220 in the newsroom. Every month, La Presse reaches 4 million readers, or 60% of Quebec’s adult population. “The quality of the product remained at the heart of all our decisions: we never compromised on that,” says Pierre-Elliott. Human challenges Getting there wasn’t easy. “The expression we used in 2018 when Power Corporation was no longer our owner was ‘we’re leaving the nest.’ We had to find a solution together, because otherwise we’d have gone bankrupt together.” The culture of change that La Presse had developed in previous years as part of its digital transformation was the first step towards success. “It wasn’t our first transformation. But it certainly required a lot of communication to reassure people and convince them that we were heading in the right direction.” Its excellent relationship with the unions was another success factor. “The unions supported us and always acted with us.” In addition to a $50 million contribution to fund the transition, Power Corporation retained responsibility for past retirement plan obligations, which cushioned the risk and reassured employees. Legal challenges On top of the human challenges, there were legal obstacles. In order to convert to a not-for-profit structure, La Presse had to obtain a legislative change from the elected members of the National Assembly. When Power Corporation acquired the newspaper in 1967, the Quebec government passed a law preventing the transfer of ownership to foreign interests. A unanimous vote was required to amend the law. “It was definitely a period of uncertainty. It was difficult to move forward operationally,” recalls Pierre-Elliott. In July 2018, the legislative change was approved, and La Presse became an independent, not-for-profit structure. A few months later, the philanthropic program was launched, and La Presse received its first donations from readers. At the end of 2020, the tax transformation was completed, with the Canada Revenue Agency granting La Presse its Registered Journalism Organization (RJO) status, enabling it to become a qualified donee and issue tax receipts for donations received. Committed donors In 2023, 56,000 donors contributed a total of $7.8 million to La Presse, an increase of 13% over 2022. “We started from zero and have now reached nearly $8 million in donations. This would not have been possible without our loyal donors,” says Pierre-Elliott. La Presse ended the 2023 fiscal year with a positive balance sheet and a $40 million reserve fund. “This fund is designed to ensure La Presse’s long-term future, allowing us to weather economic downturns or technological changes. The fund also allows us to reinvest in our mission and in journalism in Quebec.” Never stop innovating At the same time, La Presse has seen an increase in advertising revenue in a shrinking market. These results can be attributed, in part, to yearly innovations in its advertising product offerings. “Our advertising products are based on data and careful audience segmentation, in full compliance with the industry’s highest privacy standards. We listen to our customers and advertisers to understand their needs before making business decisions,” says Pierre-Elliott. In writing its content, La Presse works with tools used by the world’s leading media, including the BBC and The Guardian, to determine angles for its coverage based on readers’ main information needs: to be informed, but also to have context, to be guided in their lives, and to be inspired and entertained. La Presse’s journalistic mission is supported by a solid business team. For example, La Presse employs specialized technology and business intelligence teams. These two teams have nearly 100 employees working on innovative tools that help La Presse compete ethically and locally with some of the solutions offered by American digital giants. La Presse’s digital transformation and change in business model have been essential to its success. “Our commitment to digital transformation was total. We didn’t compromise.” Today, La Presse has a competitive and strategic advantage that’s hard to rival. This year marks La Presse’s 140th anniversary, while La Presse+ celebrates its 11th. Through many storms, independently and without commercial shareholders, La Presse continues to reinvent itself. Not only has its gamble paid off, but La Presse has also remained true to its mission of delivering quality journalism that’s free and accessible to everyone. And that’s something that will never change,” says Pierre-Elliott.

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October 31, 2024

Lavery recognized in Best Lawyer's new directory of Canada's best law firms for 2025

We are pleased to announce that Lavery has been recognized as one of the top law firms in the new edition of Best Law Firms - Canada published by Best Lawyers for 2025. Our firm was ranked in 16 practice areas nationally and 50 practice areas regionally. These recognitions are further demonstration of the expertise and quality of legal services that characterize Lavery's professionals. Firms on the 2025 Best Lawyers - Canada list are recognized for their professional excellence through evaluations by their clients and peers. Areas of expertise in which Lavery is recognized: Tier 1 Administrative and Public Law (National / Regional) Banking and Finance Law (Regional) Class Action Litigation (Regional) Commercial Leasing Law (Regional) Construction Law (Regional) Corporate and Commercial Litigation (Regional) Corporate Law (Regional) Family Law (National / Regional) Information Technology Law (Regional) Insolvency and Financial Restructuring Law (Regional) Insurance Law (National / Regional) Intellectual Property Law (Regional) Labour and Employment Law (Regional) Mergers and Acquisitions Law (Regional) Mining Law (Regional) Natural Resources Law (Regional) Product Liability Law (Regional) Securities Law (Regional) Trusts and Estates (Regional) Workers' Compensation Law (Regional) Tier 2 Administrative and Public Law (Regional) Advertising and Marketing Law (Regional) Alternative Dispute Resolution (Regional) Biotechnology and Life Sciences Practice (Regional) Class Action Litigation (National) Corporate Governance Practice (Regional) Corporate Law (National / Regional) Director and Officer Liability Practice (Regional) Energy Law (Regional) Environmental Law (Regional) Family Law (Regional) Health Care Law (Regional) Insurance Law (Regional) Intellectual Property Law (National) Labour and Employment Law (National) Professional Malpractice Law (Regional) Real Estate Law (Regional) Tax Law (Regional) Trusts and Estates (National) Tier 3 Aboriginal Law / Indigenous Practice (Regional) Alternative Dispute Resolution (Regional) Banking and Finance Law (National) Construction Law (National) Corporate and Commercial Litigation (National) Defamation and Media Law (Regional) Employee Benefits Law (Regional) Equipment Finance Law (Regional) Family Law Mediation (Regional) Health Care Law (Regional) Insolvency and Financial Restructuring Law (National) Mergers and Acquisitions Law (National) Mining Law (National) Privacy and Data Security Law (Regional) Private Funds Law (Regional) Professional Malpractice Law (Regional) Project Finance Law (Regional) Securities Law (National) Workers' Compensation Law (National) About Lavery Lavery is the leading independent law firm in Quebec. Its more than 200 professionals, based in Montréal, Quebec, Sherbrooke and Trois-Rivières, work every day to offer a full range of legal services to organizations doing business in Quebec. Recognized by the most prestigious legal directories, Lavery professionals are at the heart of what is happening in the business world and are actively involved in their communities. The firm’s expertise is frequently sought after by numerous national and international partners to provide support in cases under Quebec jurisdiction. About Best Lawyers Best Lawyers is the oldest and most respected lawyer ranking service in the world. For almost 40 years, Best Lawyers has assisted those in need of legal services to identify the lawyers best qualified to represent them in distant jurisdictions or specialized areas. Best Lawyers lists are published in leading local, regional, and national publications across the globe.

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October 28, 2024

Two new members join Lavery’s ranks

Lavery is pleased to announce that two recently sworn-in lawyers are joining Lavery following the completion of their articling within the firm. Éloïse Fortin Éloïse joins our Family, Personal and Estate Law group. She focuses her practice on family law, handling divorce, separation, division of property, parenting time, and child and spousal support cases. “What inspires me about Lavery is their ongoing commitment to excellence and innovation. The firm’s vision combines legal know-how with a deep understanding of client needs to create the perfect environment for collaboration and growth. I feel privileged to be part of this exceptional team. It motivates me to provide high-quality services with a human touch.” El Hadji Alioune Seck Alioune joins our Litigation and Dispute Resolution group. Since joining the firm as a student, Alioune has been involved in major civil, constitutional and administrative cases before various jurisdictions, including the Federal Court and the Court of Appeal of Quebec. “When you join the Lavery team, it doesn’t take long to realize that you are part of an incredible talent incubator where you can develop your full potential. Your colleagues will give you a leg up right from the start and won’t hesitate for a second to entrust you with major responsibilities once you’ve proven yourself. As a lawyer, you couldn’t ask for a better environment to grow your practice and steadily build your professional reputation.”

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