Canadian Lawyer

20 www.canadianlawyermag.com Represented a client in a constitutional challenge of the jurisdiction of the Provincial Court of Quebec, before both the Superior Court and Court of Appeal, where it was heard by a panel of seven justices. The Que- bec Court of Appeal partially agreed with the client's position and five parties (including Langlois's clients) filed appeals before the Supreme Court in October 2019 Obtained intervenor status for clients in a constitutional challenge of Bill C-14, which introduced the medically assisted dying regime into the Criminal Code Represented a client in connection with a multi-jurisdictional class action alleging col- lusion and anti-competitive practices in the credit card industry before the Court of Appeal of Quebec, British Columbia and Ontario Represented Université de Montréal in the context of judicial and quasi-judicial reme- dies associated with the strike of the station- ary engineers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 4338 Acted as lead counsel for Victoriaville & Co Inc., one of the largest wood casket manufac- turers in North America, in its acquisition of all the shares of Alliance St-Laurent Casket Corporation, a subsidiary of Matthews International Corporation, a NASDAQ-listed company Successfully defended an OEM of industrial equipment in an ICC arbitration related to alleged underperformance of the equipment and associated production losses. The ICC issued an award dismissing the claim in its entirety 2 LAVERY, DE BILLY LLP LAVERY.CA Survey respondents likewise praised Lavery for its relationships with clients and for a pos- itive culture, with one pointing out that the firm had hired a lawyer who was about to take business." That attitude is extended to the firm's clients, too. "We want the best for our clients and for the members of our firm." Seven years ago, Langlois numbered 70 lawyers, says Gagnon, who became managing partner 15 years ago. Today, that number has more than doubled, to more than 150. And 56 per cent of those are millennials, says Perreault. "We're ahead because we make it possible for younger lawyers to have a life," she says. "It's important to the younger generation and that [the] younger generation remains with us, and that's key to our clients." "Langlois is giving the best services on multiples levels: Lawyers from Langlois are competent, rigorous, honest and trustworthy," read one survey commendation of the firm. "Capacity to attract and retain talents from major national or international firms," read another comment. "Therefore, you have big law firm quality at [a] regional firm rate. The best deal in the province!" Core practice areas and notable mandates: litigation, arbitration, class action and dis- pute resolution; insurance; employment and labour law; insolvency; business law (M&A transactions, construction, including mining, energy, environment and cannabis); corpo- rate governance 1 LANGLOIS LAWYERS LLP LANGLOIS.CA Langlois came up from second place in the 2018 survey to take the No. 1 spot this year. "Langlois Lawyers has been known not only for providing excellent services but also because of its values and the efforts it puts into making its working environment one of the best," read one survey comment regarding the firm. "This is probably why the firm has doubled in size over the last five years." The firm prides itself on its values. Partner Sophie Perreault describes managing partner Jean-Francois Gagnon's philosophy as "Every- thing is possible." But at the heart of the firm's growth in the past five years is how it treats its lawyers and their clients, Perreault and Gag- non both say. The firm aims to be as accom- modating of their lawyers as possible, offer- ing an unrestricted work-from-home policy, and ready-made meals for home (its parents pressés program) to meet the needs of busy parents. It also emphasizes a team approach, with members supporting each other when one might be struggling. "We think we can build a law firm that is high performing, efficient and kind," Gagnon says. "Each member of the firm is valued and considered important. That's how we run the FEATURES TOP 10 QUEBEC REGIONAL FIRMS 1

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