This section keeps you up-to-date on the latest news and upcoming public appearances of Lavery professionals.
News
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Lavery appoints five new Partners
Lavery is pleased to announce that Audrey Gibeaut, Justin Gravel, Myriam Lavallée, Marilyn Paré and Virginie Simard have been appointed Partners of the firm. Audrey Gibeault is a member of the firm’s Business Law group and practices tax law. From family-owned businesses to multinationals, she provides companies with advice in connection with reorganizations, corporate acquisitions and sales, but also in regards to developing several private investment funds, including the legal structures to be put in place in order to welcome investors to Canada who are residents and non-residents alike. Justin Gravel is part of the firm’s Litigation and Conflict Resolution group and he practices primarily in the bankruptcy and insolvency, bank law and construction law sectors. He is frequently called on to represent bankruptcy trustees, financial institutions and various construction sector stakeholders before all of the province’s law courts. Myriam Lavallée focuses her practice on labour and employment law, administrative law as well as human rights law. She advises and represents numerous companies in a variety of sectors in connection with individual working relations and collective labour relations. She has specific expertise in the childcare services sector. Marilyn Paré is a member of Lavery’s Business Law group and practices in the areas of transactional law, commercial law, financing as well as corporate reorganizations. She frequently advises companies in drafting and negotiating numerous types of commercial or corporate agreements, such as sales agreements and shareholder agreements. Virginie Simard works with Lavery’s Litigation and Conflict Resolution group. Virginie focuses her practice primarily in the areas of hospital liability, civil and professional liability, director and officer liability, as well as insurance law. Virginie represents insurers, hospital centres, clinics and youth centres before civil courts, in arbitration matters, as well as in connection with coroners’ inquests.
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Lavery – the first law firm to receive ICI ON RECYCLE! Program’s Level 3 Gold Achievement Certification
Lavery is the first law firm to receive the ICI ON RECYCLE! Program’s highest honour, which is the Level 3 Gold Achievement Certification. This award received by the Montréal office is a testament to Lavery's commitment to developing best practices in sustainability and social responsibility. Established by RECYC-QUÉBEC, this recognition highlights the remarkable efforts of industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) organizations that have implemented measures to manage their residual materials responsibly. The Level 3 certification is an impressive recognition to receive considering that the organization must clearly demonstrate the implementation of source reduction, reuse, recycling, energy recovery and disposal processes (4R-D) of residual materials targeted by the Québec Residual Materials Management Policy. The organization must also illustrate its awareness-raising efforts, in particular by organizing information activities with its employees regarding waste management.
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21 partners from Lavery ranked in the 2018 edition of The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory
Lavery is proud to announce that 21 partners are ranked among the leading practitioners in Canada in their respective practice areas in the 2018 edition of The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory. “The fact that they are ranked amongst some of the most influential lawyers simply confirms their leading role in a competitive market. This distinction recognizes the depth of their expertise and the fact that they put their clients and partners at the forefront of their practice. Congratulations to all!”, stated Anik Trudel, Chief Executive Officer. The following Lavery partners are listed in the 2018 edition of The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory: Asset Equipment Finance/Leasing Pierre Denis Benjamin David Gross Aviation (Regulation & Liability) Louis Charette Banking & Financial Institutions Louis Payette, Ad.E. Computer & IT Law André Vautour Construction law Nicolas Gagnon Corporate Commercial law André Vautour Corporate Finance & Securities René Branchaud Family Law *Caroline Harnois Elisabeth Pinard *Gerald Stotland Franchise law Jean-Philippe Turgeon Labour Relations *Pierre-L. Baribeau Michel Desrosiers Norman A. Dionne Michel Gélinas Guy Lavoie, CIRC Litigation - Commercial Insurance *Bernard Larocque Litigation - Product Liability Louis Charrette Mining René Branchaud Benjamin David Gross Sébastien Vézina Occupational Health & Safety Josiane L’Heureux Property Development *Louis-Martin Dubé Property Leasing *Richard Burgos *Louis-Martin Dubé Technology Transactions André Vautour Workers' Compensation Guy Lavoie, CIRC Workplace Human Rights Michel Gélinas *New posting The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory is the most comprehensive publication to legal talent in the country and it identifies leading practitioners in over 60 separate practice areas and leading law firms in over 40 practice areas. It is a reference guide for Canadian and foreign corporate counsels and law firms in need of specialized legal services in Canada. For more information, please visit Lexpert’s website at: http://www.lexpert.ca/directory.
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Luc Thibaudeau publishes the 2nd volume of the Guide pratique de la société de la consommation – Les Garanties
On March 28, 2018, Luc Thibaudeau, a partner of the Litigation and Conflict Resolution group, launched the second volume of his Guide pratique de la société de la consommation on warranties. The event, which took place at the Lavery Conference Centre, welcomed more than 100 guests. The publication is not only intended for lawyers working in consumer law in Quebec, but also for the general public. Mr. Thibaudeau addresses the different types of warranties that apply to goods and services intended for consumption, while drawing many parallels with the warranties of common law. The author's analysis captures both the rationale and the limits of consumer protection as regards warranties. His expertise in this field has been recently recognized by his nomination to the Consumer Protection Advisory Committee. Members will provide input on the evolving nature of the financial sector and consumer needs by sharing their perspectives on marketplace trends and emerging issues, concerns regarding the delivery of financial services, and how changes in the financial services sector are impacting Canadians. For more information or to buy the book, click here.
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Construction project financing: Étienne Brassard presents at the 21st Annual CEGQ Conference
On February 21, 2018, Étienne Brassard, Partner with Lavery’s Business Law group, alongside Helen Bougas, Director of the Legal Affairs division of Réseau Sélection, made a presentation on the topic of construction project financing at the Corporation des entrepreneurs généraux du Québec’s 21st Annual Conference.
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Lavery welcomes Valérie Dufour, ex-senior securities analyst at the AMF to its Business Law group
Lavery is pleased to welcome Valérie Dufour to its Business Law group at its Montréal office. For the last twelve years, Ms. Dufour worked for the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF). Until just recently, she was a senior securities analyst with the AMF where she served as a key advisor, both internally and externally, on complex issues relating to prospectus financing, takeover bids and issuer bids, reorganizations, and discretionary exemptions from a requirement in securities legislation. During her tenure at the AMF, Ms. Dufour also sat on various committees of the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) responsible for the application and modernization of securities regulation, including the Committee on takeover bids and issuer bids as well as the Committee on reducing the regulatory burden for reporting issuers. “In addition to the recent arrival of Eric Stevenson, the arrival of Ms. Dufour continues to solidify our positioning as a key consulting resource for our clients and stakeholders in the financial sector in Quebec,” said Anik Trudel, Lavery’s Chief Executive Officer."
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Lavery hires five of its articling students
Lavery is pleased to announce that it has hired five of its articling students as associates. Alexandra Belley-McKinnon has joined the Litigation and Conflict Resolution group. She holds degrees in common law and civil law from McGill University as well as an LL.M. in International Law at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. Céleste Brouillard-Ross has joined the Litigation and Conflict Resolution group. Prior to law school, Céleste studied History and Women’s Studies at McGill University. Félix Germek-Michaud has joined the Labour and Employment Law group. He completed a Bachelor in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Law with honours from the Université du Québec à Montréal. Pierre-Olivier Valiquette has joined the Business Law group. He holds a Bachelor of Civil Law (B.C.L.) and a Bachelor of Law (LL.B.) from McGill University. Felicia Yifan Jin has joined the Business Law group. She completed her bachelor’s degree in civil law at the Université de Montréal and two internships in the Chinese legal system, one within the firm Tiantong & Partners, and the other at Guangdong International Business Law Firm. “We are very proud to welcome talent like Daphnée, Charles, Chantal, Yaoqi and Andrée-Anne into the Lavery family. They have distinguished themselves by their quality of work, dedication and ongoing pursuit of excellence,” commented Loïc Berdnikoff, Director of Professional Development.
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The Pierre-Basile-Mignault Moot Court Competition: five prizes for a team supervised by Lavery
On February 16 and 17, 2018, the 40th edition of the Pierre-Basile-Mignault moot court competition was held between students from six Canadian civil law faculties. Lavery has been involved for several years, alongside students of the competition. This year, Justin Gravel supervised students of the Université de Sherbrooke, while Myriam Brixi and Dominique Vallières supervised students of the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). The UQAM team, which included Valérie Dupont, Vincent Grondin, Emmanuelle Arcand and Gabriel Sévigny-Ferland, set themselves apart by winning five of the nine prizes awarded in the competition: best team, best factum, tandem finalist of the finale (2nd best tandem), 2nd best litigator and best tandem of non-finalist litigators. The Lavery Cup for the 3rd best litigator was presented by Loïc Berdnikoff to Chloé Boisvenue of the University of Ottawa. For more information on the Pierre-Basile-Mignault Moot Court Competition, click here.
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Myriam Brixi spoke at the Congrès des Services de Première Ligne
The Congrès des Services de Première Ligne was held on February 22, 2018, at the Palais des Congrès de Montréal. Over 300 participants, including medical clinic managers, physicians, residents, nursing personnel and other healthcare professionals who work on the front line of the system came together for the occasion. Myriam Brixi, a lawyer with the Lavery litigation group, spoke at the conference. Her presentation dealt with class actions relating to accessory costs, which were abolished on January 26, 2017, when the Regulation abolishing accessory costs related to the provision of insured services and governing transportation costs for biological samples came into force. In her presentation, she reviewed the class actions then underway and clarified the situation as it relates to front-line professionals affected by the regulatory change.
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Lavery, still leading the pack
For the fifth consecutive edition, Lavery ranked first among regional law firms in the Top 10 Québec Regional Law Firms survey published by Canadian Lawyer magazine. The results of this survey, which is conducted across Canada with lawyers in private practice and in-house legal advisors, are testament to the reputation and breadth of our firm’s expertise. Our client service and the remarkable skills of our lawyers have contributed to keeping Lavery poised at the top of the rankings for the past decade. The legal services reference in Québec Lavery also earned the Regional Law Firm of the Year Award from Chambers Canada. The Chambers award is proof of the exceptional confidence members of the Canadian legal community have expressed for our firm. Moreover, our presence in the major business centres of Quebec combined with our ability to provide services to businesses of all sizes makes Lavery a business partner of choice for our clients. Our vision—being an agent of change in the transformation of legal services “The vision of our firm provides us with the agility needed to adapt to the changing needs of our clients, whether they are in Quebec, the rest of Canada or abroad. We have remained at the head of these rankings since their inception due to the comprehensive range of legal services that we provide, which is always rooted in a client experience that is adapted to their business reality”, said Anik Trudel, Lavery’s Chief Executive Officer.
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A new partnership between Lavery and La Factry
Lavery is proud to launch a new partnership with La Factry, following the official inauguration of their new campus. This collaboration between Lavery and La Factry is a concrete step in order to accelerate our firm’s efforts in realizing the vision of being a force leading the transformation of our industry and of the way legal services are provided in Quebec. La Factry is an international calibre school of creativity sciences that forges creative minds capable of finding innovative solutions to contemporary problems. With the conviction that creativity can be taught, La Factry offers training programs focused on developing creative competencies. The campus also offers training tailored specifically to professionals and companies that are looking to transform their business creatively. Click on the following link to learn more about what unites Lavery and La Factry.
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Lavery takes part in the 5th edition of Pro Bono Québec’s Grands Vins, Grands Noms benefit evening
On February 8, 2018, several partners and lawyers represented Lavery at Pro Bono Québec’s Grands Vins, Grands Noms benefit evening for access to justice for all. The cocktail dinner, hosted at the McCord Museum, brought together some 250 VIPs who helped collect more than $131 600 during a silent auction. Lavery, an ambassador and sponsor of this charity dinner since its very beginnings, also contributes to Pro Bono Québec’s mission through Bernard Larocque, a partner who serves as the Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors, Luc Thibaudeau and Maude Adam-Joly, respectively a partner and an associate with the Litigation and Conflict Resolution group. Proceeds from the Pro Bono Québec benefit evening will help with the renewal of its programs and the creation of new ones. Founded in 2008 at the behest of the Barreau du Québec, Pro Bono Québec is a non-profit organization, whose mission is to mobilize the legal community in providing expertise and offering their time to individuals and Quebec NPOs who lack the resources required for legal services.