Throughout the practice’s history, Lavery’s offices in Montréal and Québec City, and since 2014, in Sherbrooke and Trois-Rivières, have seen a procession of lawyers make outstanding contributions to the firm’s development and reputation before taking on new challenges, such as joining a major company or being appointed to the bench.
Richard Wagner Chief Justice of Canada |
Jacques Chamberland Justice of the Court of Appeal |
A seedbed of judges
In the legal community, Lavery is considered “a seedbed of judges”, since the 20th century saw the firm recruiting and training a large number of trial lawyers who would later be appointed to the bench. They include Richard Wagner, who was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada in 2012, and then Chief Justice of Canada in 2017, and Jacques Chamberland, who was appointed to the Court of Appeal in 1993.
Here are some other influential lawyers in the firm’s history who have been appointed to the bench.
Marie-Claude Armstrong, Judge of the Superior Court of Québec
Anthime Bergeron, Justice of the Superior Court of Québec, District of Montréal
Patrick Buchholz, Judge of the Superior Court of Québec, District of Montréal
Michel A. Caron, Justice of the Superior Court of Québec, District of Terrebonne
Paul P. Carrière, Justice of the Superior Court of Québec, District of Montréal
René W. Dionne, Justice and Associate Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Québec
Christian Drolet, administrative judge at the Commission des relations du travail
François P. Duprat, Justice of the Superior Court of Québec, District of Montréal
Joseph Honoré Gérald Fauteux, Justice and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
Jocelyne Gagné, Justice of the Federal Court
Claude Gagnon, Justice of the Court of Appeal of Québec
Pierre-C. Gagnon, Justice of the Superior Court of Québec, District of Montréal
Marie Gaudreau, Justice of the Superior Court of Québec, District of Montréal
Lorne Giroux, Justice of the Court of Appeal of Québec
Jean-François de Grandpré, Justice of the Superior Court of Québec, District of Montréal
Jean Guibault, Justice of the Superior Court of Québec, District of Montréal
Hélène Langlois, Justice of the Superior Court of Québec, District of Beauharnois
Marc Lesage, Justice of the Superior Court of Québec, District of Québec
Allan Lutfy, Justice and Chief Justice of the Federal Court
Geneviève Marcotte, Justice of the Court of Appeal of Québec
Édouard Martin, Justice of the Superior Court of Québec, District of Québec
Jean-François Michaud, Justice of the Superior Court of Québec, District of Terrebonne
Élise Poisson, Justice of the Superior Court of Québec, District of Montréal
Sylvain Provencher, Justice of the Superior Court of Québec, District of Bedford
Luc Thibaudeau, judge in the Civil Division of the Court of Québec, District of Longueuil
Julie Veilleux, judge at the Court of Québec and Vice-President of the Tribunal des professions
Dominique Vézina, judge at the Court of Québec
Claude Villeneuve, Justice of the Superior Court of Québec, District of Bedford
Michel Yergeau, Justice of the Superior Court of Québec, District of Montréal
From private practice to big business
Throughout our history, some of our lawyers have chosen to join major public or private companies. Their legal skills, knowledge of the business world and thorough understanding of the company’s sector make them prime candidates.
Here are some former Lavery lawyers who are now working in the business world.
François Charette, Vice-President for Legal Affairs and Secretary-General, Commission de la construction du Québec
Marc Dagenais, Vice President, Legal Affairs & Corporate Secretary, Nemaska Lithium
Caroline Ferland, Vice-President, Corporate and Regulatory Affairs, Imperial Tobacco Canada
Sean Finn, Executive Vice-President, Corporate Services and Chief Legal Officer, CN
Stéphane Garon, Director, Legal Services, Société des alcools du Québec
Isabelle Gosselin, Associate General Counsel, Labatt Brewing Company
Hélène Lauzon, President, Conseil patronal de l’environnement du Québec
François Lavallée, Senior Vice-President, Legal Affairs, Financial Markets and Wealth Management, National Bank Financial
Denis Michaud, Vice-President of the Commission municipale du Québec
Janet K. Oh, Legal Counsel, SNC-Lavalin
Anne-Marie Papineau, Senior Legal Counsel, Cirque du Soleil
Catherine Papineau, Director, Legal Affairs, Cascades Tissue Group