This section keeps you up-to-date on the latest news and upcoming public appearances of Lavery professionals.
News
-
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.
-
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.
-
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).
-
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.
-
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.
-
Lavery Represents Industrial Alliance in $100 Million Bought Deal Financing of Preferred Shares
On October 15, 2009, Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. closed a public offering of 4,000,000 Non-Cumulative Class A Preferred Shares Series E for gross proceeds of $100 million. The Preferred Shares were sold to a syndicate of underwriters led by Scotia Capital Inc. and RBC Dominion Securities Inc., including National Bank Financial Inc., BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., CIBC World Markets Inc., TD Securities Inc., Desjardins Securities Inc., Casgrain & Company Limited, Dundee Securities Corporation, HSBC Securities (Canada) Inc., Industrial Alliance Securities Inc. and Laurentian Bank Securities Inc. Industrial Alliance was represented by a team from Lavery consisting of Marc Rochefort, Michel Servant, Benoit Mallette and Guillaume Lavoie (corporate and securities), and Philip Nolan (tax). Founded in 1892, Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. is a life and health insurance company that offers a wide range of life and health insurance products, savings and retirement plans, RRSPs, mutual and segregated funds, securities, auto and home insurance, mortgage loans and other financial products and services. Industrial Alliance is among the 100 largest public companies in Canada.
-
Lavery announces the appointment of the firm's new Managing Partner. Élise Poisson succeeds Richard Dolan.
Montreal, December 8, 2009 – Lavery is pleased to announce the appointment of Élise Poisson as the firm's managing partner commencing January 1, 2010. Ms. Poisson succeeds Richard Dolan, who directed the firm for the past 10 years, becoming the first woman to occupy the position of managing partner in Lavery's history. "All of Lavery's partners, associates, other professionals and employees are enthusiastic about the appointment of Élise Poisson as managing partner", said Richard Dolan, the outgoing managing partner. "Her professional dedication and the high quality of her work on the management team over the past five years have fully prepared her to take on her new functions". Élise Poisson joined Lavery after obtaining her bachelor of law from the University of Montreal in 1985, and has remained with the firm ever since. She became a partner in 1994 and has been a member of the board of directors since 2004. She is a respected litigator in the areas of commercial law and extraordinary recourses, and has represented a broad range of commercial, industrial and institutional clients before all levels of the courts. "Under the leadership of Richard Dolan, Lavery has adapted to the reality of the business world and has put the talent and expertise of all the firm's members to work for our clients in the business community", said Ms. Poisson. "In the coming years, we will continue strengthening the firm by consolidating our expertise so that we remain in tune with our clients, understand their business realities and anticipate their needs, while also focusing on recruiting and developing the best legal talent, and highlighting our firm's distinctiveness". Richard Dolan will remain a member of the firm's board of directors.
-
Lavery represents the syndicate of underwriters in $115 million bought deal financing of 6.50% Convertible Unsecured Subordinated Debentures of Cominar Real Estate Investment Trust
On September 22, 2009, Cominar Real Estate Investment Trust closed a public offering of $115 million aggregate principal amount of Series D 6.50% Convertible Unsecured Subordinated Debentures.The Debentures were sold to a syndicate of underwriters led by National Bank Financial Inc. and BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., including RBC Dominion Securities Inc., Desjardins Securities Inc., CIBC World Markets Inc., Scotia Capital Inc., Canaccord Capital Corporation, Blackmont Capital Inc. and Genuity Capital Markets G.P.The syndicate of underwriters was represented by a team from Lavery consisting of Marc Rochefort, Michel Servant and Guillaume Lavoie (corporate and securities), and Philip Nolan (tax).Cominar is the largest commercial property owner and manager in the Province of Québec.
-
Jean Saint-Onge invited to speak at the Vingt-deuxièmes Entretiens du Centre Jacques Cartier
Jean Saint-Onge, a partner at Lavery, will be a guest speaker at the Vingt-deuxièmes Entretiens du Centre Jacques Cartier to be held in Lyons, France, on November 30 and December 1, 2009.For this symposium, whose theme is "The Civil Law Culture: An Obstacle or Asset to Doing Business?", Jean Saint-Onge's speech will be entitled "Collective redress: An efficient instrument or consumerist drift?"Les Entretiens Jacques Cartier is a major annual event held in France in the Rhône-Alpes region, and one out of every four years in Quebec. By holding this event, the Centre Jacques Cartier, created in 1984, affirms its commitment to engage in a constructive dialogue with the territorial communities.
-
Jean Saint Onge to Moderate Seminar on Recent Developments in Class-Action Suits
On October 29 and 30 2009, Jean Saint Onge will, for the sixth straight year, moderate the Quebec Bar Continuing Education Seminar on Class-Action suits: recent developments in Quebec, Canada, the United States and Europe. This continuing education activity will bring together no less than 32 lecturers from several jurisdictions, who will speak to participants about the most recent developments in the area of class actions. Jean Philippe Lincourt has been closely involved in organizing this seminar. For his part, Yvan Biron will act as moderator for the panel discussion on environmental class-action suits, which will be held on October 29.
-
Ian Rose - Speaker at the Canadian Institute’s Forum on Directors’, Officers’ and Fiduciaries’ Liability
Last October 21, Ian Rose, a Lavery partner, gave a lecture entitled Exploring Trends in D&O Liability – Certain Canadian Trends at the Canadian Institute’s 12th Annual Forum on Directors’, Officers’ and Fiduciaries’ Liability held on October 21st and 22nd, 2009 in Toronto. His presentation focused on exposures to liability from the current economic climate and credit crisis, increased class action activity in the secondary markets, and the possible implications of Quebec law on D&O liability in certain circumstances.Mr. Rose specializes in complex litigation involving products liability and professional liability, as well as directors' and officers' liability.
-
The Lavery Seminar, a Remarkable Event with 350 Participants
On September 22, 2009, Lavery held a seminar intended for corporate lawyers under the theme of Risk Management.Here is a look back at this very successful event: 9 seasoned lecturers 350 participating corporate lawyers 7 workshops and 7 subjects of great interest 1 reliable, free and recognized* information source 3 hours of training recognized for the purposes of the By-law respecting the professional training of advocates** for participants registered for the entire seminar 1 great opportunity to exchange with peers.The seminar featured workshops covering the following subjects:The role of corporate counsel and the constraints he facesAlternate solutions to the employment agreement: how to plan one’s workforce without increasing the responsibilities of the employer?Environment management: what to do to minimize the risks for the enterprise?Class actions: a measure for improving access to justice or pro consumer drift?Privacy and protection of personal information within enterprises doing business in Quebec, Canada and abroadSurviving the insolvency of your business partners, whether they are clients or suppliersActivist shareholders: who are they? What are their goals and how to cohabit with them?This seminar is just one of the numerous steps Lavery is taking towards meeting the needs of its business partners. Stay abreast of our activities and firm news by visiting lavery.ca.________________________________________________________ *The Lavery seminar is an activity recognized by the Quebec Bar for the purposes of the mandatory continuing professional education** Since April 1, 2009, lawyers in Quebec are required to participate in 30 hours of professional training per 24 month period.