News

Droit-inc. quote Marie-Hélène Jolicoeur in an article regarding lawyers' time management.

Marie-Hélène Jolicoeur, partner and Judith Houle-Couture, lawyer, attended this annual celebration of entrepreneurship in Montréal. Thanks to participants, the Soirée Montréal Inc. raised $200,000 that will be redistributed in grants and services in the form of advice to young Montréal entrepreneurs. Martin Roldan of Phazon also received the Prix Montréal Inc., awarded to the most outstanding entrepreneur. Fondation Montréal Inc. is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to encourage the success of a new generation of Montréal entrepreneurs through donations and volunteers from the business community. Lavery is very active in this organization and has contributed $25,000 ($5,000 annually for five years) in addition to providing the services of seven lawyers who volunteer as coaches (Louis Charrette, Judith Houle-Couture, Marie-Hélène Jolicoeur, Nicolas Joubert, Tereza Kristic, Guillaume Lavoie and Guillaume Synnott). Tom Little, President of Bell Business Markets, and Marie-Hélène Jolicoeur, a partner with Lavery, at the Fondation Montréal Inc. benefit soirée.

The February/March 2016 edition of Avantages magazine features an article by Marie-Hélène Jolicoeur, a partner at Lavery with expertise in the fields of labour and employment lawand occupational health and safety law, and Christiane Legault, director of business development at Cyclone Santé, entitled “Alcool et drogues en milieu de travail: Agir pour éviter le pire !” (“Alcohol and drugs in the workplace: Actions to avoid the worst-case scenario !”). In the article, the co-authors describe the issues and present several strategies to remedy them. They underscore how important it is for employers to consult experts regarding drug and alcohol use, to thoroughly document and investigate cases in order to determine which situations require drug testing and to put in place a unambiguous and detailed policy regarding substance abuse. 

On January 27, 2016, Marie-Hélène Jolicoeur, a partner with expertise in the fields of labour and employment law, health law as well as occupational health and safety law, spoke at a lunch conference hosted by the Comité Femmes et Droit of the University of Montreal’s Faculty of Law entitled “Integrating status of women issues in big law firms” (“L’intégration des enjeux de la condition féminine dans le milieu des grands cabinets”). The conference was a great success with around 50 attendees. 

Lavery, through its Lavery GO inc. Program and Lavery Capital group makes an aggregate $25,000 donation ($5,000 annually over five years) to Fondation Montréal inc., while supplying the services of five volunteer-lawyers to act as coaches over the same period. In addition to Guillaume Lavoie, a business law partner, and Louis Charette, a litigation partner at Lavery, both long time volunteers at the Fondation, the following lawyers will lend a hand to the Fondation’s initiatives, which include supporting start-up businesses and awarding grants to new entrepreneurs: Nicolas Joubert, labour, employment and immigration law partner; Marie-Hélène Jolicoeur, labour and employment law partner; and Judith Houle-Couture, business law associate. This donation and this volunteering follow a well-established tradition of Lavery of support to the development of entrepreneurship. While the Lavery GO inc. Program provides start-ups with a unique, personalized and affordable program allowing them to access a full range of legal services at competitive prices taking in account their reality, the Lavery Capital group is a key partner of venture capital fund managers who allow these start-ups to achieve exceptional growth. Through their support to the Fondation, the Lavery GO inc. Program and Lavery Capital are therefore able and proud to expand further their contribution to the development and growth of Québec start-ups.

Lavery is pleased to announce the appointment of Étienne Brassard, Marie-Hélène Jolicoeur, Guillaume Lavoie and Jonathan Warin as partners of the firm. Étienne Brassard practises business law with the firm and is a member of the Private Financing Group. His main areas of practice are business finance, banking law and commercial law and, in particular, the negotiation and drafting of credit, the related movable and immovable security agreements, as well as the documentation required for lease financing and installment sales. He has also acted in several major crossborder syndicated and non-syndicated financings during his practice, or relating to specific assets such as aircraft financing, rolling stock and heavy machinery. He is also the Lavery Go inc. Program Coordinator. Marie-Hélène Jolicoeur has particular expertise in the areas of labour and employment law, health law and the law of occupational health and safety. She pleads before administrative tribunals and courts of law, particularly the Commission des lésions professionnelles. She also acts as an employer spokesperson for collective agreements. Guillaume Lavoie practises in private equity, venture capital and securities law and mergers and acquisitions. He acts as a legal advisor to various Canadian and foreign corporations and private equity and venture capital funds in connection with asset purchases and sales and the acquisition of public and private corporations. He has extensive experience with respect to international transactions. He also advises Canadian issuers and their boards of directors on corporate governance issues and advises some clients on competition law, foreign investment and regulatory matters. Jonathan Warin is a member of the firm's Commercial Litigation Group and specializes in bankruptcy and insolvency, extraordinary remedies and realizing on security. He regularly intervenes in various insolvency cases, whether to represent institutional lenders, trustees or debtors in a restructuring and liquidation context. He also handles commercial litigation cases of all kinds, particularly shareholder remedies and injunctions. “We are very pleased to welcome Étienne, Marie-Hélène, Guillaume and Jonathan as Lavery partners. Being named partner undoubtedly represents an important milestone in their career as well as a recognition of the quality of their work in representing our clients. Over the years, they have all acquired comprehensive expertise in their respective areas of practice, making them among the best lawyers in their field”, said Don McCarty, Managing Partner of the firm. Étienne Brassard Marie-Hélène Jolicoeur Guillaume Lavoie Jonathan Warin

On November 26 and 27, Mr. Pierre Marc Johnson, a senior advisor recognized for his expertise in international trade negotiations and cross-border business partnerships, and Ms. Marie-Hélène Jolicoeur, a lawyer specializing in Labour and Employment Law, both from Lavery, made presentations at Stratégies PME 2015, a unique, multiple-speaker event that seeks to contribute to the success of small-business leaders for the coming year. Mr. Johnson’s talk was entitled “Exporting to Europe: Why Take the Plunge Now?” while Ms. Jolicoeur’s presentation focused on “Dealing with a Problem Employee: Putting an End to the Frustration”. Stratégies PME 2015 was a great success, attracting over 5400 participants. To learn more about the Stratégies PME event, please click here.