Canadian Lawyer

ministry when she graduated from law school in the spring of 2012. She notably applied for — and landed — a sixmonth position with the legal and parliamentary affairs office at the National Assembly, Quebec's legislative body. Fugère signed a one-year contract with the 10-lawyer office after being called to the Quebec Bar in May. "We're extremely happy to have her," said Ariane Mignolet, the office's general manager since 2007. "She is so dynamic and has such drive. She absolutely bites into life [and] is a first-rate young lawyer." According to Mignolet, there are few things Fugère can't do due to her visual impairment. "She has some problems with document layouts and of course she can't search paper archives. But most of the documents we deal with are accessible electronically, so she can access them and read them and work with them using her programs." For Mignolet, Fugère is "a young lawyer who needs supervision like any young lawyer — but no more than any other young lawyer." She added that as a staff member who is always enthusiastic and who moves around the office like everyone else, Fugère is an inspiration to her colleagues. She also walks to and from work at the National Assembly from her apartment in the gritty St. Roch neighbourhood, a twokilometre hike up and down Quebec City's famously steep hills. "We want and hope to keep her," said Mignolet. "But whatever happens she has a very bright legal career ahead of her." For her part, Fugère said she too would like to continue working at the National Assembly, where she helps to write everything from service contracts and legal opinions to responses to access to information requests and legislative bills for the official opposition. "I love my job," she said. "I find it fascinating to be so close to politics — but not be in politics." Being blind, she added, does not present many problems for a lawyer. "Law is a knowledge-based profession, and most of the information I need to do my job is available on the Internet," said Fugère, who knows of two other blind lawyers in Canada. She added however that some legal information web sites — notably CanLii and Centre d'accès à l'information juridique (CAIJ) — lack accessibility for screen reading programs like hers. "You have to face challenges when you are blind," said Fugère, who continues to lose the little luminosity that remains in her vision, which she expects will go completely dark in a few years. "But you can get around a lot of things and do a lot by being organized." ntitled-2 1 The downside these days, she added, is she has to live apart from her husband, Jean-François, who lives and works in Montreal, as do her friends and family. "It's not easy," said Fugère, who commutes to and from Montreal every weekend. "I'd like to be living in the same city as my partner. But I'm not thinking too far ahead. I love what I do right now and I'm enjoying the moment. I'm young and I've got my whole life ahead of me." NEW EDITION 2013/2014 Lexpert® CCCA/ACCJE CORPORATE COUNSEL DIRECTORY AND YEARBOOK, 12TH EDITION WHERE GREAT BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES AWAIT ORDER NOW AND SAVE 25% Special price $815 (promo code 62519) Market your services. Grow your business. Connect with potential clients on a whole new level. With the Lexpert® Corporate Counsel Directory and Yearbook – you get: all the contact and biographical information you need to network with thousands of potential new clients across Canada insight into the leading legal decisionmakers representing almost 1,500 corporations across Canada feature articles about legal and business issues facing Corporate Counsel to assist you in building deeper connections a cost-effective and time-saving way to market your services a trusted name upon which you can build your practice on Benefit from a wealth of business development opportunities in the 2013/2014 Lexpert® CCCA/ACCJE Corporate Counsel Directory and Yearbook, 12th edition. Order your copy today! Visit www.carswell.com or call 1-800-387-5164. www.CANADIAN L a w ye r m a g . c o m October 2013 25 13-09-11 4:56 PM

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