Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m O c t O b e r 2 0 1 4 9 RegionAl wRAp-up i n certain areas like family law, alter- native dispute resolution has been part of the Quebec legal landscape for at least 20 years. However, it is mostly limited to the margins. Those familiar with ADR observe that Quebec's legal cul- ture remains dominated by the adversarial process in the courts. The alternatives to the increasingly expensive tug-of-war dynamics are unknown or misunderstood by most people. That is about to change with some major institutions taking action. At least one big law firm is implementing inside and outside ADR training programs and the legislature has achieved a major reform of the province's Code of Civil Procedure that promotes ADR. Article 1 of the new code could not be clearer: "Parties must consider private prevention and resolution processes before referring their dispute to the courts." "Justice is not limited to going to court anymore," says Pierre Grenier, a partner at Dentons and head of the Montreal office's litigation and dispute resolution group. With the new code, "we're going through a cultural change of our legal system," he told Canadian Lawyer. He says it is high time for Quebec to catch up with other jurisdictions. Dentons has been integrating ADR in its practice since 2006 when it decided to invest in it at the national level. In 2008, Grenier completed the advanced negotiation train- ing program at Harvard University. He is now president of the Institut de médiation et d'arbitrage du Québec (IMAQ) which is affiliated to the ADR Institute of Canada. Like many, he thinks the profession will hit a wall if it doesn't broaden its horizons. ADR is "widening the practitioner's field of competence," he adds. The idea is to go "beyond the simple legal positioning of a party." The process, he explains, increases the size of the pie. Mediation, for example, will bring rewards that would not have been anticipated in a traditional win-or-lose liti- gation, which is a zero-sum game. Salvaging a business relationship with the other party, for example, can be worth much more than a financially pyrrhic victory in court. "One of IMAQ's strategies is to base its training of professionals on the first seven articles of the new code, which frame the whole ADR approach," says Grenier. In association with the University of Sherbrooke, the institute has put together two 40-hour training programs that lead respectively to arbitrator and mediator qualifications. They are offered to lawyers and other professionals (IMAQ member- ship includes a long list of professional organizations: doctors, nurses, engineers, accountants, etc.) and to private enterprises. The goal is to spread this new culture at every level of society, including the public at large, says Grenier. The civil procedure reform will not be implemented before the fall of 2015 however, since the demand for trained arbitrators and mediators risks exceeding the supply. He points out that Dentons itself offers training programs to its professional staff and clients. — PAsCAL eLIe pascalelie636@gmail.com NEW CODE GIVES ADR A BOOST IN QUEBEC A DIFFERENT PATH Y ou are a young enthusiastic law student, freshly graduated from the faculty, and you want "to make a difference." What do you do? Where do you begin? Whoyagonnacall? Well, first, you are going to visit the Progressive Lawyer web site (progressivelawyer.com), which launches this fall. the brainchild of Mark Boudreau, a 50-year-old Western university law alumni and non-practising lawyer living in his native Montreal, the site presents itself as "a digital hub connecting lawyers and law students with socially progressive organizations and law firms active in social justice and public interest advocacy." After many discussions with lawyers who were frustrated by the constraints of corporate and commercial law practice, Boudreau decided to create a site where you could find all the information you need about a career in areas of the law such as environment, human rights, animal rights, and the like. Boudreau says in addition to being a connecting channel, it will also inform users about organizations they might not have heard of and law schools that have alumni whose prac- tices are in social justice. there will be a career service featuring a job board and information as to where to go for internship. the goal is to "energize the social side of legal practice" he told Canadian Lawyer. All existing law sites of this type concern only corporate and commercial law, he says. He has nothing against this type of practice, but it leaves many wanting more in terms of personal reward. It could also be a tool for experienced lawyers who are willing to donate their time for pro bono work, he adds. A few months ago, when he started his twitter feed (@ProgLawyer), through which he recruited several contributors across North America, he says the response was significant and unanimous in endorsing the need for such a site. Boudreau says this is his way of making a difference. — Pe Central

• Cover