This section keeps you up-to-date on the latest news and upcoming public appearances of Lavery professionals.
News
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Anik Trudel appointed to the Montréal Port Authority’s Board of Directors
Our Chief Executive Officer, Anik Trudel, was appointed on August 12, by the Minister of Transport and Minister Responsible for the Estrie Region, Mr. François Bonnardel, to the Board of Directors of the Montréal Port Authority (MPA) as representative for the Government of Québec. The Montréal Port Authority represents a major pole of business activity in Québec and Canada, in addition to being the gateway for business between Québec and Ontario. In recent years, the Port has distinguished itself and found a prominent position among the world’s most innovative ports. Several major projects are underway, including its expansion in Contrecoeur. “After serving on the MPA’s Board of Directors for 9 years, and my being the first woman to hold the position of Chair, I am honoured by this renewed opportunity. The Port of Montréal is a major engine of our economy and a flagship for the Montréal metropolitan region. I am privileged to join the board team. Board members complement one another through their individual experiences and thereby build a strong team, guiding and supporting a remarkable management team,” said Anik Trudel. The MPA has experienced a spectacular increase in freight tonnage handled in the past few years, despite fiercer competition, not to mention its enviable location as a tourist port with its new Grand Quay. According to the Chairman of the Lavery Board of Directors, Philippe Frère, “this appointment reflects Anik’s strategic thinking and management skills. The role that she will play on this board is fully in keeping with the firm’s vision, namely that of being a partner in growth for the key players in Québec’s economy.”
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Édith Jacques: One of the 25 Most Influential Lawyers in Canada
Édith Jacques has been recognized as one of Canada's Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers in 2019 by Canadian Lawyer magazine. She is listed in the Businesscategory with four of her peers. This recognition is a testament to the client-oriented approach that characterizes Édith Jacques. In particular, at the end of 2018, she was central to the closing of the sale of our client Camso Inc. to Michelin, a US $1.7 billion transaction.
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Lavery Lawyers represents MTY in the acquisition of the Yuzu Sushi franchise network
On July 16, MTY formalized the acquisition of Yuzu Sushi, a fast-growing franchise network with more than 100 sushi restaurants and counters in Quebec and New Brunswick. Representing our franchise expertise, a Lavery team spearheaded by Guillaume Synnott, Jean-Sébastien Desroches, Pierre-Olivier Valiquette and Chantal Desjardins was pleased to support MTY in this transaction by proposing a multi-service offer that included our business law and intellectual property groups. MTY owns a large number of restaurant chains including Scores, Mikes, Ben & Florentine, Thaï Express, Sushi Shop and Giorgio Ristorante. In total, these chains have approximately 6,000 franchised and corporate restaurants, mainly in Canada and the United States.
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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. Rosemarie Bhérer Bouffard has joined the Labour and Employment Law group. During her studies, she volunteered with the legal information clinic at Université Laval and the Quebec association for the defence of the rights of retired and pre-retired persons. Shereen Cook has joined the Business Law group. During her studies, she assumed the position of director of the law moot court program: Les simulations de procès - Travaille en Cour, which led her to cooperate with jurists and other legal professionals to draft legal cases. Katerina Kostopoulos has joined the Business Law group. Prior to law school, Katerina obtained a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University with a major in Political Science and a double minor in Philosophy and Neo-Hellenic Studies. Élizabeth Martin-Chartrand has joined the Litigation and Conflict Resolution group. While a law student, Élizabeth served on the executive committees of the University of Ottawa’s Canadian Student Association for Children’s Rights and the Criminal Law Association, and as columnist for the student newspaper. Jean-François Maurice has joined the Business Law group. During his university studies, Jean-François was involved in various student organizations, often as treasurer of the club or organization. While attending Peking University, he also served as a research assistant in connection with several publications in corporate and business law.
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Lavery Lawyers pays tribute to Anne-Marie Trahan, former Superior Court judge
We were very sad to learn of the death of our former colleague Anne-Marie Trahan, also formerly a judge of the Superior Court of Québec. She was a leading figure in the fight for women's advancement, not only within our profession, but more broadly in all spheres of society. The Barreau du Québec had just awarded her the Christine Tourigny Award of Merit, a fitting distinction to recognize her social commitment and her special contribution to the advancement of women in the profession. She was involved in many organizations, including as a patron of the Faculty of Music of the Université de Montréal. We wish to pay our respects to the person and to her legacy, both forever a source of inspiration for all of us.
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Lavery Lawyers contributes to the creation of Espace Montmorency
On June 11, construction began on Espace Montmorency, Laval's largest mixed-use real estate project, worth nearly $500 million. Lavery had the opportunity to play a key role in this major transaction by representing Groupe Sélection in the creation of the consortium for the construction, development and ownership of Espace Montmorency. The organization of such a consortium raised complex issues related to corporate, construction, real estate and labour law all at once. In addition to having been mandated to develop several important project agreements, including the consortium agreement governing the rights and obligations of Espace Montmorency's builders, the lawyers involved in the deal represented Groupe Sélection in the negotiation of the terms of all the agreements ancillary to the project. Espace Montmorency is a sustainable, mixed-use urban development project combining residential, commercial, cultural and community spaces. This human-scale project, located near Place Bell and Laval's main thoroughfares and directly linked to Montréal's subway system, is sure to become a popular destination. Montoni and the Fonds immobilier de solidarité FTQ will now rely on the recognized expertise of our client Groupe Sélection, a Canadian leader in the creation of intergenerational living environments, for the design and construction of the residential portion of the project. The work of Lavery's team, led by Étienne Brassard and composed mainly of Bernard Trang, Carole Gélinas, France Camille De Mers, André Vautour, Nicole Messier, Guy Lavoie, Élodie Brunet, Chantal Tremblay, Dolaine Béland and Joëlle Montpetit, helped launch this flagship project for Laval.
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Lavery Lawyers representing Groupe Sélection in the acquisition of the Molson brewery site in Montréal
On June 28, a consortium made up of Groupe Sélection, Montoni and the Fonds immobilier de solidarité FTQ announced that it had officially acquired the Molson brewery land on Notre-Dame St. in Montréal. Lavery Lawyers, which has advised Groupe Sélection for many years, had the opportunity to play a significant role by representing Groupe Sélection’s interests in this $126 million transaction. "We are pleased to honour the trust that Groupe Sélection has placed in our firm’s expertise for more than 15 years, through the completion of the purchase of the Molson property. Through our business relationship, Groupe Sélection has also given us the privilege of contributing to the transformation and development of this part of the city of Montréal, which is so rich in historical and symbolic value," says Étienne Brassard, Business Law Partner at Lavery Lawyers.
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The Lavery AI Grant offered with Montréal inc. awarded to Arthur Intelligence Inc.
On June 6, Charles Ceelen-Brasseur, head of the Lavery GO inc program, awarded the AI grant that Lavery provides in partnership with Montréal inc. to the start-up Arthur Intelligence Inc. The company offers a cloud-based, SaaS solution to make management and decision-making easier for dental clinics. The Lavery AI Grant is meant for artificial intelligence start-ups. In addition to $15,000, it gives winners access to all the services offered by Montréal inc. as well as legal advising services appropriate for new businesses in the industry.
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Luc Thibaudeau appointed Court of Québec judge
We are very proud to have received the Minister of Justice's announcement confirming the appointment of our partner Luc Thibaudeau as a judgein the Civil Division of the Court of Québec for the district of Longueuil. Throughout his career, Luc has demonstrated that it is possible to combine the defence of the interests of businesses and merchants with the promotion of consumer rights protection, in the name of a responsible and balanced consumer society. "Luc will leave an indelible mark on the firm. As a devoted saxophone player, he instills a good dose of creativity around him, notably through his close involvement with Éducaloi and his network as a member of the Board of Directors of the La Factry school of creativity,” says Anik Trudel, Chief Executive Officer at Lavery Lawyers. “Luc's judicial appointment confirms the firm's long tradition of recruiting and training a large number of litigators who have joined the bench. It is an honour for us, it testifies to the rigour of his legal mind, and it reflects on the entire firm."
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Closing of the sale of Camso Inc. to Michelin | The key project management role played by lawyers
On December 18, 2018, Michelin completed the acquisition of Camso, a world leader in the manufacture of tires and tracks for off-road vehicles. Apart from its value of US$1.7 billion, what distinguishes this transaction from others is its complexity and the role played by the lawyers involved in the legal management of the project. Lavery had an opportunity to play a dual role in this major transaction: we assisted our long-time client, Camso Inc., in selling all the shares of its share capital, and we also represented the two majority shareholders: the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and the Fonds FTQ. Camso owns nearly 50 companies, which include manufacturing and distribution companies, as well as investment and trading companies in 26 different countries. Managing the integration of the different legal realities of the jurisdictions in which the companies operate was crucial in order to complete Michelin’s acquisition of Camso. Acting as much more than legal advisers, the lawyers involved were called on to coordinate the different aspects of the deal, brief the various parties and adapt to their cultural differences, and manage the different features and particular needs of Camso’s 50 companies on a case-by-case basis to ensure that they complied with Michelin's legal and administrative structure. The transaction also stood out due to the integrated approach of the legal services provided by our team. It coordinated issues related to commercial law, labour and employment law, and dispute resolution. In collaboration with the firm Baker McKenzie, the depth of expertise of the Lavery team, led by Édith Jacques and mainly involving Jean-Sébastien Desroches, Judith Houle-Couture, Pierre-Olivier Valiquette and Felicia Yifan Jin, made it possible to successfully carry out this complex mandate that brought together two world leaders in their industry.
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25 partners from Lavery ranked in the 2019 edition of The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory
Lavery is proud to announce that 25 partners are ranked among the leading practitioners in Canada in their respective practice areas in the 2019 edition of The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory. The following Lavery partners are listed in the 2019 edition of The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory: Asset Equipment Finance/Leasing Pierre Denis Aviation (Regulation & Liability) Louis Charette Banking & Financial Institutions Louis Payette, Ad.E. Computer & IT Law André Vautour Construction law Nicolas Gagnon Corporate Commercial law *Étienne Brassard Corporate Finance & Securities *Josianne Beaudry René Branchaud Employment Law *Marie-Josée Hétu, CIRC *Zeïneb Mellouli Family Law Caroline Harnois Elisabeth Pinard Gerald Stotland Franchise law Jean-Philippe Turgeon Intellectual Property Chantal Desjardins Alain Y. Dussault Alain M. Leclerc Labour Relations Pierre-L. Baribeau Michel Desrosiers *Danielle Gauthier, CHRP Michel Gélinas *Marie-Josée Hétu Guy Lavoie, CIRC Litigation - Product Liability Louis Charette Mining *Josianne Beaudry René Branchaud Sébastien Vézina Occupational Health & Safety Josiane L’Heureux Property Leasing Richard Burgos Workers' Compensation Guy Lavoie, CIRC *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.