This section keeps you up-to-date on the latest news and upcoming public appearances of Lavery professionals.
News
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Brittany Carson and Raphaël Bacal join Lavery as associates
Lavery is pleased to announce that Ms. Brittany Carson and Mr. Raphaël Bacal recently joined the firm as associates after completing their articles with Lavery. A graduate of McGill University in political science and law, Ms. Carson will be practising in the Labour and Employment Law Group.A graduate of McGill University’s Faculty of Law, Mr. Bacal will be practising in the Business Law Group, particularly in the areas of business transactions and securities law.
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Josiane L’Heureux and Valérie Korozs of Lavery, speakers at the Conférence sur le congédiement au Québec
Ms. Josiane L’Heureux, a Labour and Employment Law partner at Lavery, and Ms. Valérie Korozs, a Labour and Employment Law associate at Lavery, acted as conference speakers at the 4th edition of the Conférence sur le congédiement au Québec that took place in Montreal on December 9-10, 2013.Entitled “Contrat d’emploi ou contrat de services ? Tout ce qu’un employeur devrait savoir”, the conference of Ms. L’Heureux focused on the differences between a contract of employment and a service contract, the applicable case law and the process of entering into a contract. In her conference, entitled “Le congédiement déguisé : développements récents et considérations pratiques”, Ms. Korozs examined various issues such as the recent case law with respect to constructive dismissal, an employee’s right to give a notice of modification and an employee’s right to keep his/her job by invoking constructive dismissal.
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Daniel Bouchard of Lavery, speaker on Quebec’s housing stock management at the 2013 UDI/SMI Conference
On December 3, 2013, Mr. Daniel Bouchard, Managing Partner of Lavery’s Quebec City office, gave a presentation entitled “Ce que tout gestionnaire d’immeuble doit savoir aujourd’hui … en plus de tout le reste !” at a conference jointly organized by the Urban Development Institute of Québec and the S.M. Group International Inc. under the theme “La nouvelle législation quant à la sécurité et la vétusté des bâtiments”.The presentation of Mr. Bouchard focused on the management of Quebec’s housing stock following the coming into force of new regulations pertaining to façades, multistorey garages, building safety and water cooling towers. Mr. Bouchard also made reference to Bill 49 that was introduced recently in the National Assembly and includes provisions that will impose additional obligations upon building owners with respect to housing stock management. Mr Bouchard discussed these various issues from a municipal standpoint, particularly by mentioning the growing role that municipalities will play over the coming years with regards to building safety.
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Véronique Morin of Lavery leads a webinar on last chance agreements in the workplace
On December 5, 2013, Ms. Véronique Morin, CIRC, a Labour and Employment Law associate at Lavery, led a webinar focused on last chance agreements in the workplace, as part of the professional development activities organized by the Ordre des conseillers en ressources humaines agréés (CRHA).During this webinar, which was intended for human resources management professionals, Ms. Morin discussed various issues of interest, such as the negotiation and content of a last chance agreement, the administrative and disciplinary sanctions related to last chance agreements as well as the recent case law in that regard.For more information about the webinar (in French), click here.
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Jean-Simon Deschênes of Lavery appointed Bid Director for Quebec City’s bid as host city of 2016 JCI World Congress
Mr. Jean-Simon Deschênes, a Business Law partner at Lavery, was recently appointed Bid Director for Quebec City’s bid as host city of the 2016 Junior Chamber International (JCI) World Congress. As such, he will be leading the Organizing Committee that will officially submit Quebec City’s candidacy to host the 2016 JCI World Congress.If Quebec City were to win the bid, more than 3,500 young leaders from about 150 member countries would gather in the Capital during this congress. The mission of JCI is to represent the interests of young businesspeople by promoting entrepreneurship, leadership, management and training.
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Guillaume Lavoie of Lavery gives a one-day training session to the laureates of the Fondation Montréal inc.
Mr. Guillaume Lavoie, a Business Law associate at Lavery, gave a one-day training session to the laureates of the Fondation Montréal inc. on November 28, 2013. Entitled “The respective duties of business partners and investors”, Mr. Lavoie’s training workshop focused mainly on the duties of the officers, shareholders and directors of a corporation as well as on the level of involvement and the different investment products that can be offered to a potential investor.As part of such training, Mr. Robert Brouillette, President of Anges Québec, was invited by Mr. Lavoie to share with the participants his different experiences as an investor.The Fondation Montréal inc.’s mission is to facilitate the start-up of new businesses in Montreal, promote Montreal’s economic development and provide young business people with professional advice offered by business volunteers. This organization offers among other things training sessions in the form of practical workshops that allow the laureates of the Fondation to acquire knowledge and develop skills alongside other entrepreneurs experiencing the same challenges.
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Lavery’s expertise in mining law is recognized in a special issue of the Engineering and Mining Journal
Ms. Katia Opalka, Mr. René Branchaud and Mr. Sébastien Vézina, partners at Lavery, are mentioned for their mining law expertise in the November 2013 special issue of the Engineering and Mining Journal, which is entitled “Mining in Québec, Newfoundland and Labrador”. The E & MJ is an international publication with two-thirds of subscribers working for multinational mining companies in more than 120 countries.In an article entitled “Mine (pronoun)”, Ms. Opalka examines a few provisions contained in Bill 43, which proposed a new Mining Act for Quebec and was voted down by the Official Opposition at the National Assembly on October 30, 2013. The provisions included extending environmental requirements, consulting the public with regards to mining projects and filing ore processing feasibility studies to enter into a mining lease.On this latter issue, Mr. Branchaud points out that the obligation for mining firms to conduct feasibility studies for the transformation of minerals would prove unnecessarily costly for mining corporations. Mr. Vézina mentions that Lavery is seeing the rise of market practices wherein some assets, which might have been core assets a couple of months ago, are monetized in order to get additional liquidities.To consult this special issue, click here.
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Four Lavery partners featured in Who’s Who Legal 100 2013 issue
In its 2013 issue, the renowned legal directory Who’s Who Legal 100 has acknowledged the expertise of four Lavery partners in their respective areas of practice: Mr. Pierre-L. Baribeau – Management Labour and Employment Mr. Yvan Biron – Environment Mr. René Branchaud – Mining Mr. Ian Rose – Insurance & ReinsuranceSince 1996 Who's Who Legal has identified the foremost legal practitioners in 34 areas of practice. Drawing on an independent and thorough research that includes thousands of hours of interviews with leading lawyers and their clients, this publication features about 16,000 of the world’s leading private practice lawyers in over 100 countries, including Canada.For more information, click here.
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Jean Saint-Onge of Lavery, speaker at the Ontario Bar Association Annual Class Actions Colloquium
Mr. Jean Saint-Onge, Ad. E., a Litigation partner at Lavery, was a guest speaker at the Ontario Bar Association’s 5th Annual Class Actions Colloquium that was held in Toronto on December 2, 2013.Mr. Saint-Onge discussed recent developments in class actions in Quebec and changes introduced to the Code of Civil Procedure with respect to class actions.
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Evelyne Verrier of Lavery takes part in the 2013 Insurance and Investment Convention
Ms. Evelyne Verrier, a Litigation partner at Lavery, was a panelist at the 2013 Insurance and Investment Convention that was held at the Palais des congrès de Montréal on November 27, 2013. As partner of this event organized by The Insurance and Investment Journal and that drew more than 500 participants, Lavery enjoyed broad exposure among the different players from the industry. Moreover, the firm was well represented with the participation of Jean Martel, Ad. E., Marc Beauchemin, Josianne Beaudry, Mary Delli Quadri and Leïla Yacoubi.The panel discussion that included Ms. Verrier, “Battle Royale of advisors vs. compliance: fact or fiction?”, was well attended. More than 150 people showed up to hear the panelists address a host of issues, such as the most frequent violations committed by advisors, designing a guide to good practices intended for clients and the best way to boost sales in full compliance with regulations.
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Jean Saint-Onge recognized as leading litigation lawyer by Lexpert
Mr. Jean Saint-Onge, Ad. E., a Litigation partner at Lavery, was recognized among “Canada’s leading litigation lawyers” in the Lexpert special supplement that was included in the November 29, 2013 issue of The Globe and Mail.Mr. Saint-Onge’s expertise as a leading litigation lawyer was acknowledged particularly in the areas of class actions and product liability. He is also listed in other Lexpert publications, such as The Canadian Legal Lexpert® Directory and the Lexpert Guide to the Leading US/Canada Cross-Border Litigation Lawyers in Canada, as well as in Chambers Global and Best Lawyers in Canada.
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Éric Gélinas of Lavery, author of an article on the rules pertaining to “market-to-market property”
Mr. Éric Gélinas, a legal counsel practising in Lavery’s Business Law Group, is the author of an article entitled “Règles sur les "biens évalués à la valeur du marché" détenus par les institutions financières : Comment s’y retrouver”, which was published in Vol. 33, nº 4 of the Revue de planification fiscale et financière, a publication of the Association de planification fiscale et financière.In this paper, Mr. Gélinas reviews the specific tax rules set out in sections 142.2 to 142.6 of the Income Tax Act that pertain to “market-to-market property” held by financial institutions. The author also addresses the various exceptions under the Act which are applicable to certain financial institutions or to certain property held by financial institutions.