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On January 18, 2016, Mr. Raymond Doray, Ad.E., and Mr. Loïc Berdnikoff, both of whom are partners in the firm’s Administrative Law and Constitutional Law group, represented the Conférence des juges de paix magistrats du Québec and its members before the Supreme Court of Canada to obtain a declaration of unconstitutionality regarding various provisions of the Act to Amend the Courts of Justice Act and Other Legislative Provisions as regards the Status of Justices of the Peace (“Act regarding the Status of Justices of the Peace”) which allowed the government, notably, to unilaterally determine the starting treatment and work conditions of the justices of the peace, without having recourse to a remuneration commission. In an important judgment rendered on October 14, 2016, the Supreme Court of Canada declared that since sections 27, 30 and 32 of the Act regarding the Status of Justices of the Peace did not provide for a retroactive committee review of the starting treatment of the members of a new judicial office created within a reasonable time, these sections infringe the institutional financial security guarantee of judicial independence, and are thus contrary to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (“Charter”) and to the Constitution Act, 1867. This infringement of judicial independence is not justified under section 1 of the Charter, because there is no evidence of a dire and exceptional financial emergency. Therefore, sections 27, 30 and 32 are unconstitutional. Mes Guillaume Laberge and Laurence Bich-Carrière also assisted in the preparation of this case. To see the judgment of the Supreme Court of Canada, click here.

Laurence Bich-Carrière, a lawyer in the firm’s Litigation group has become a member of the Barreau du Québec’s Comité sur la procédure civile for a four-year mandate that began on September 1st, 2016. The committee is called upon to examine various issues regarding legislative or regulatory changes to civil procedure as well as all changes to Quebec court regulations pertaining thereto.

Good things come in threes! Winner of the Young Bar of Montreal's Prix de l'orateur in June 2015 and the oratory competition at the 30th Conférence internationale des barreaux de tradition juridique commune held in Cotonou, Benin, in December 2015, Laurence Bich-Carrière took home top honours at the first edition of the Tony-Pemmers international public speaking contest organized as part of the solemn reassembly of the Luxembourg Bar. The eliminatory round of this speaking contest was held on June 2, 2016, at the Superior Court of Justice of Luxembourg before a five-member jury composed of European and Luxembourgian magistrates and lawyers. The winner of the finals, held the following day, was decided by popular vote, so it was an audience of 250 jurists that Ms. Bich-Carrière had to convince and delight to win first place. The competition focused on eloquence, soundness of argument, and strength of conviction, but also on the speaker’s charisma, sense of humour, and ability to make a connection with the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. A member of the Quebec Bar and the Law Society of Upper Canada, Ms. Bich-Carrière is part of Lavery’s litigation group. She has worked as a law clerk at the Supreme Court of Canada and received numerous merit-based scholarships during her years of study. Her practice includes all aspects of civil and commercial litigation, among other things.

In an important judgment rendered on June 3, 2016, the Supreme Court of Canada declared certain provisions of the Income Tax Act (ITA), which allowed the Minister of National Revenue to require notaries or lawyers to provide documents or information which could be useful for the application or enforcement of the ITA and which excluded their accounting records from the protection of the duty of professional secrecy of legal advisers, to be unconstitutional. The Court concluded that several deficiencies caused the requirements sent to notaries or lawyers to be unreasonable and contrary to s. 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It also concluded that the exception to the professional secrecy set out at s. 232(1) of the ITA is unconstitutional and of no force or effect with respect to notaries and lawyers. Raymond Doray and Loïc Berdnikoff, two partners practising administrative and constitutional law at Lavery, represented the Chambre des notaires du Québec before the country’s highest court. Guillaume Laberge and Laurence Bich-Carrière also assisted in the preparation of this case. To see the judgment of the Supreme Court of Canada, click here.

Lavery is pleased to announce that Laurence Bich-Carrière, one of its promising young lawyers, has won the international oratory competition of the “Conférence internationale des barreaux de tradition juridique commune (CIB)”, on December 3, 2015. Winner of the Young Bar of Montreal Oratory Competition in June 2015, Ms. Bich-Carrière was invited to represent the Bar of Montreal at the CIB which was held in Cotonou, Benin, from December 2 to December 5, 2015. On this occasion, she participated in an oratory competition against lawyers from all over the French-speaking world, where she took 1st place!  Member of the Quebec Bar since 2009, Me Bich-Carrière is part of the Litigation group and focuses her practice on all aspects of civil and commercial litigation. Her academic record is replete with frequent appearances on the Dean’s List as well as the receipt of graduate-level scholarships, in particular the MacDonald Travelling Scholarship. “We are delighted to recognize Laurence’s outstanding success at this event. Her knowledge of the law, her wit, and quick repartee are remarkable. We are pleased to count her as one of our own”, said Don McCarty, Lavery’s Managing Partner. 

On November 3, 2015, Raymond Doray, Ad. E., and Loïc Berdnikoff represented the Chambre des notaires du Québec before the Supreme Court of Canada to obtain a declaration of unconstitutionality regarding various provisions of theIncome Tax Act (ITA) which authorize the Minister of National Revenue, by means of a simple letter, to require that any person provide information or documents that might be of assistance in the administration or enforcement of the ITA, including lawyers and notaries. According to the Chambre, the provisions in question, when applied to a notary, violate the right to “solicitor-client privilege” and restrict the freedom of notaries in a manner that is not in accordance with the principle of fundamental justice relating to the legal counsel’s duty of committed representation. Mr. Guillaume Laberge and Ms. Laurence Bich-Carrière actively took part in the preparation of this case. To read a summary of the case, please click here. 

On June 19, 2015, Julie Cousineau and Laurence Bich-Carrière, respectively partner and associate in Lavery’s Litigation Group, were speakers at the Annual Canadian Association of Paralegals Convention, which took place at Montreal’s Palais des Congrès. Their conference, entitled « Les grands aspects de la réforme de la procédure civile québécoise » (The key aspects of the Quebec civil procedure reform), discussed both theoretical and practical concerns regarding the coming into force of the new Civil code of procedure, S.Q. 2014. c. 1. The global trends relating to access to justice, participatory justice and alternative dispute resolution methods were addressed, as well as concrete illustrations of the new legislative strategies in case management, discovery, expertise and legal fees. 

Laurence Bich-Carrière, a litigation lawyer at Lavery, claimed the highest honours by winning the Young Bar of Montreal Oratory Competition at the Quebec Court of Appeal on June 9, 2015. This competition  highlights the qualities of eloquence, rhetoric and general knowledge of each candidate. Ms. Bich-Carrière will now have the privilege of representing the YBM at the Paris-Montreal Award Competition, which will take place during the opening of the Montreal judicial ceremonies in September, as well as the ConférenceInternationale des Barreaux de tradition franconphone (CIB) in Africa in December. Lavery also wishes to congratulate Zeïneb Mellouli on her excellent performance in this competition, as well as all of the other participants. 

Ms. Laurence Bich-Carrière, litigation lawyer at Lavery, is the author of an article entitled « Le détissage juridique: étude de l’obsolescence des citations électroniques dans les décisions de la Cour suprême du Canada (1998-2014) » [Legal Citations Unweaving: a Study of the Obsolescence of Electronic Citations in the Supreme Court of Canada Decisions], published on January 16, 2015 in the Supreme Court Law Review. By reviewing the electronic references used by the Supreme Court of Canada in its decisions, Ms. Bich-Carrière seeks to assess how the dematerialization of sources and the paradigm shift of the Internet impact the legal profession’s relation to the notion of sources, on which rests the very principle of precedent. From an exhaustive empirical study arises the alarming conclusion that a third of the referenced hyperlinks are broken, and that the link rot phenomenon increases with time. Ms. Bich-Carrière then takes a two-fold approach to try to alleviate the issue: in addition to trying to discern potential factors which could help predict which links will rot, she suggests some preventive measures by drawing on both research methodology and archiving norms. To read the article (in French only), click here.

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.

On November 5th, 2014, Julie Cousineau, Jean-Philippe Lincourt and Laurence Bich-Carrière of Lavery discussed the reform of the Quebec Code of Civil Procedure. More than fifty damage insurance professionals participated in the event, which provided a good overview of the main changes introduced by the new Code which should become effective in January 2016.  Julie Cousineau and Laurence Bich-Carrière