This section keeps you up-to-date on the latest news and upcoming public appearances of Lavery professionals.
News
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Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin quoted in the Journal de l’Assurance about his presentation at the Journée de l’assurance de dommages 2016
Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin, partner at Lavery, was invited to speak about regulatory framework during the Journée de l’assurance de dommages 2016. The Journal de l’Assurance quoted him in this regard: “During the Journée de l’assurance de dommages 2016, Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin, a lawyer at Lavery, explained that the legislative and regulatory framework is always slow to catch up. The sharing economy is no exception. He notes that, in insurance law, whether you’re talking about a car or a home, it’s not easy to assess the risk related to shared property. ‘When taking out an insurance policy, the insured’s primary obligation is to declare the circumstances that, to their knowledge, could affect the risk,’ he said.” [Translation – article available in French only] The article in the Journal de l’Assurance titled “L’encadrement règlementaire sera long à se mettre en place” is available here.
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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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Evelyne Verrier and Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin speakers at the Journée de l’assurance de dommages
Évelyne Verrier, a partner at Lavery who holds a degree in actuarial science and coordinates the Distribution of financial products and services group and whose practice focuses primarily on civil litigation and insurance, and Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin, a lawyer in the firm’s Litigation group who practises primarily in insurance law, professional liability, and commercial litigation, were speakers at the 5th edition of the Journée de l'assurance de dommages held on March 15 at Palais des Congrès de Montréal that brought together hundreds of industry participants. They participated in a panel that covered both the regulation of the online sale of insurance and a “share economy” in a digital world. For more information about this event, for which Lavery was one of the main partners, please click here.
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Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin and Léonie Gagné publish an article on waiving the insurer’s right to deny coverage
Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin and Léonie Gagné, lawyers in the firm’s Litigation group whose practice focuses mainly on insurance lawwrote an article entitled “Spoken words fly away, written words remain? Waiving the insurer’s right to deny coverage” published in the Spring edition of La ChADPresse. This free magazine, published four times a year by the Chambre de l’assurance de dommages, is distributed to more than 14 500 damage insurance agents and brokers, as well as claims adjusters. In the article, the authors conclude that: “The claims adjuster’s actions or representations could result in the insurer being deprived of its right to deny coverage or to invoke an exclusion in the insurance policy. It is therefore essential to draw up a clear, comprehensive reservation of rights letter and give it to the insured as soon as possible after the loss occurs in order to avoid an implicit waiver being held against the insurer..” To read the full article, please click here.
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Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin and Odette Jobin-Laberge contribute to LexisNexis book on insurance law
Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin, a lawyer in the Litigation group whose practice focuses in the areas of insurance law, has written two chapters in LexisNexis’ reference book entitled “Le contrat d'assurance de dommages et le contrat de réassurance: sujets choisis” (“Damage insurance and reinsurance contracts: selected topics”): one on the concept of intentional fault in property and liability insurance, and another, written in cooperation with Odette Jobin-Laberge, covers general property insurance principles. To obtain a copy of this publication, please click here.
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Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin comments on a Quebec Superior Court ruling granting $8 million in damages to a minor hockey player injured during a game
Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin, a lawyer in the firm’s Litigation group who primarily practices in insurance law, comments on a Quebec Superior Court decision that awarded $8 million to a minor hockey player left paralyzed by a hit from behind in “Hockey injury award sends sombre message,” an article published in the February 26, 2016 edition of Lawyers Weekly. Me Lacoste-Jobin mentions in this article that although the impact of such a ruling remains to be determined, the courts will certainly keep a close eye on theefforts put forth by sports organizations to improve safety in their sport.
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Bernard Larocque and Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin present an insurance law jurisprudence year in review for 2015
Bernard Larocque, and Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin, both members of the litigation group at Lavery,presented a comprehensive year in review of insurance law jurisprudence for 2015 at four separate events in early February 2016, more specifically on February 3 and 5 at the Lavery Conference Center, on February 4 at the Canadian Bar Association, Quebec Branch, Jean Bélanger Conference and on February 10 before members of the Canadian Insurance Claims Managers Association. The presentations elicited a great deal of interest from the over 200 participants who had the opportunity to attend any one of these events.
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Bernard Larocque, speaker at the Conference on Recent Developments in Insurance Law
Bernard Larocque of Lavery gave a conference entitled “La proposition d’assurance par internet : où en sommes-nous?” (The online insurance application: where do we stand?), on October 2, 2015 at the Conference on Recent Developments in Insurance Law, organized by the Continuing Education Department of the Quebec Bar. Following an overview of the applicable rules, he discussed the impact the application has on the insurer and insured’s obligations. He also covered the issue of proving the application when completed online. A text was also written and distributed to participants of the seminar, authored by Mr. Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin and Ms. Leïla Yacoubi, both lawyers at Lavery, as well as Bernard Larocque. Ms. Léa Pelletier Marcotte, a student at the firm, also took part in its drafting.
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Bernard Larocque and Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin represent Pro Bono Québec before the Supreme Court of Canada
On June 19, 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada confirmed that, in cases of abuse of process, one cannot relieve one party of its obligation to pay the other party extrajudicial fees (lawyers fees) solely on the grounds that the other party is represented by pro bono counsel. Bernard Larocque, a partner, and Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin, a lawyer, both members of Lavery’s litigation group, represented Pro Bono Québec in this case between Réjean Hinse and the Attorney General of Canada. Mr. Larocque stated that he was "happy with this judgment which recognizes the volunteer work of Quebec lawyers in files involving abuse of process."
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Bernard Larocque and Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin to present insurance law year in review for 2014 in memory of Jean Bélanger
On February 11, 2015, before the Canadian Bar Association, Mr. Bernard Larocque and Mr. Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin, both lawyers at Lavery who practice in insurance law, presented an insurance law year-in-review for 2014, in memory of Mr. Jean Bélanger.
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The Pierre-Basile-Mignault competition bears the colours of Lavery's!
Teams mentored by Lavery lawyers win nine of the ten prizes in the 2015 edition. On February 6 and 7, 2015, students from all Canadian civil law faculties gathered at McGill University to engage in debates regarding real rights and the protection of the environment, during the prestigious Pierre-Basile-Mignault Moot Competition. For many years now, Lavery has been involved in this event and the 2015 edition is no exception. Three teams were supervised by our lawyers: Laurence Bich-Carrière and Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin for UQÀM Mary Delli Quadri and our former colleague Marie-Andrée Gagnon for University of Montreal (UdeM) Justin Gravel for University of Sherbrooke The finale pitted the UQÀM and UdeM teams against each other. The former team won (along with the Fasken-Martineau Cup; the Yvon-Blais Cup being handed to the UdeM team), and together, these two teams won almost every prize, which highlights Lavery’s strength in both civil law and oral advocacy. Four individual oratory prizes were awarded, going to Christophe Savoie (UdeM) (Robinson Cup for best speaker), Marie-Pier Lauzon-Raza (UQÀM) and Philippe Moisan-Royal (UQÀM) (Canadian Bar Cup (Quebec division) for 2nd best speakers, ex aequo) and Dominique Samson (UdeM) (Lavery Cup for 3rd best speaker, given by Bernard Larocque). If the Lauzon-Raza and Moisan-Royal pair won the finale, a discretionary prize was awarded to Savoie and Samson as best pair not participating in the finale. The SOQUIJ Cup for second best factum was awarded to Jessica Leblanc, Marylin Ménard et Jonathan Raizenne (UQÀM). Ms. Bich-Carrière and Mr. Lacoste-Jobin are particularly proud that their teams’ efforts were recognized, UQÀM being awarded the President of the Barreau du Québec for best overall team.
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Bernard Larocque and Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin present insurance law year-in-review for 2014 in memory of Jean Bélanger
On January 21 2015, at Lavery’s Montreal offices, and January 22, 2015, before the Canadian Bar Association, Mr. Bernard Larocque and Mr. Jonathan Lacoste-Jobin, both lawyers at Lavery who practice in insurance law, presented an insurance law year-in-review for 2014, in memory of Mr. Jean Bélanger. Both conferences were a great success.