Canadian Lawyer

www.canadianlawyermag.com 21 Core practice areas and notable mandates: mergers and acquisitions; labour and employ- ment; wealth management, commercial liti- gation; intellectual property, real estate Acted as legal counsel for Prevtec Microbia Inc. in its sale to Elanco Animal Health Acted for Hydro-Quebec in a successful judgment and dismissal of a claim against Hydro-Quebec Represented Allied REIT in two major acquisitions in Montreal Represented Trudel Alliance in its acqui- sition of seven shopping centres around Quebec City 4 CAIN LAMARRE LLP CAINLAMARRE.CA This firm has more offices in Quebec than any other firm, and it climbed a rung to fourth place from fifth place, in this year's rankings. Cain Lamarre is the result of the merger in 1999 of three well-established firms. Cain Lamarre Wells, founded in 1928 in Chi- coutimi, was the oldest law firm in Saguenay/ Lac-Saint-Jean. Gauthier Nepveu Leblanc Brouillette, which opened its doors in Sept- Îles in 1951, was a player in the development of the North Shore; and Casgrain Desrosiers Lévesque Bujold Villeneuve, founded in Ri- mouski in 1877, was one of Canada's oldest law firms. The new firm that emerged set up shop in Montreal and Quebec City before opening offices across Quebec, positioning itself to serve all clients working in various sectors in the province. Now with 220 lawyers and 17 offices throughout Quebec, one survey respondent described the firm as the "only true regional firm, which serves clients locally throughout Québec, including Montréal and Québec City. . . . [It is] able to compete with national and in- ternational firms, because of its expertise and size of the practice groups and local teams." ondary offering of approximately $95 million Key clients: La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Bank of Montreal, Hydro-Qué- bec, National Bank of Canada Star alumni: Chief Justice of Canada Rich- ard Wagner was in private practice at the firm for 24 years before being appointed to the bench in 2004. 3 BCF LLP BCF.CA Business law firm BCF LLP numbers 171 law- yers and more than 500 employees in total, with offices in Montreal, Quebec City and Paris, and it has held its spot for a second con- secutive survey. "BCF is the go-to firm for business lead- ers, growing companies and well-established global enterprises who have chosen Qué- bec and Canada as a steppingstone for their growth and success and also the only law firm ranked as one of Canada's Best Managed Companies for the 12th year in a row," read one survey comment. "For legal firms serving entrepreneurs [par- ticularly], all areas are strong," says managing partner Pierre Allard. "Almost everything has been good." Allard says "the baby boomer impact" has been a boon to the firm's practice in recent years. The first of the baby boomer cohort is now more than 70 years of age, and many are entrepreneurs and shareholders of their own companies. "Maybe they fear that the econo- my won't be as good in future years," and the increase in their companies' value "has been so great in past years that they think it's time to sell," says Allard. "I've never seen as many transactions in the owner-manager field, in private enterprise," he adds. "Baby boomers are monetizing their value, and there can't be a better time to do it." maternity leave. "Quality of the work done by the lawyers, great relationship with clients, overall a very human approach," read another survey com- ment. "Their expertise, the diversity of the lawyers and depth of analysis they provide. The level of professionalism they show in their interaction is outstanding as well." Anik Trudel was named CEO of Lavery, de Billy in 2017, and described her role then as transformational, "to support Lavery's vision to be recognized for having transformed the way we deliver legal services," she says. "Over the years, we have found it important to enhance our service offerings by providing expertise that complements the legal advice that our lawyers provide, in particular by in- volving non-lawyer resources in client mat- ters," Trudel says. "As an example, a year ago, we hired a direc- tor of pricing, embedded in our client service department. His main role is to support our partners in proposing and explaining pricing models adapted to our clients' realities and business needs." Founded in 1913, Lavery today has four of- fices covering each of the major Quebec busi- ness centres — Montreal, Quebec City, Sher- brooke and Trois-Rivières — and 198 lawyers. Core practice areas and notable mandates: business transactions/mergers and acquisi- tions; taxation; litigation and dispute resolu- tion (class actions, commercial/restructuring, insolvency and banking/civil); labour and em- ployment; financing and financial services; insurance Advised Camso Inc. in its sale to Michelin Represented Groupe Sélection in the acqui- sition of the Molson brewery site in Montréal Represented TSO3 Inc. in entering into an agreement to be acquired by Stryker Corporation Represented Falco Resources Ltd. in the Silver Stream transaction with Osisko Gold Royalties Represented Osisko Gold Royalties in a sec-

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