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regional wrap-up CentraL Women on top T wo venerable and storied Montreal law firms now have women in the top posts. McCarthy Tétrault LLP, one of the country's largest firms, and Lavery de Billy LLP, Quebec's biggest independent firm, had female lawyers become manag- ing partners at the beginning of the year. Kim Thomassin, who in 2007 became the first woman in the prov- ince to run a regional law office when she was appointed managing partner of McCarthys' office in her native Quebec City, now oversees operations in both Kim Thomassin Élise Poisson the capital and Montreal. Over at Lavery, Élise Poisson succeeds Richard Dolan, who had directed the ROUSSIN BACK IN PRISON C laude Roussin, a Quebec lawyer disbarred for life in 1999, is now serving a 30-month prison sentence after being convicted of defrauding a relative of nearly $1.2 million by usurping the identities of a former premier and a senior government civil servant over a 12-year period. Roussin was found guilty in November of fraud, impersonation, and breach of order for violating a court order last May forbidding him to enter into contact with his victim — a cousin who was a pharmacist. Pretending to have been the victim of a crime for which the Quebec government was preparing to compensate him, Roussin asked her for money to help pay his legal and medical costs in the meantime. To give credibility to his lies, Roussin claimed to be represented by former premier Lucien Bouchard and had even created letters supposedly signed by the former Parti Québécois leader. He repeated the same trick by using the identity of Gérard Bibeau, Quebec's secre- tary general of the executive council, on behalf of whom he had sent his cousin e-mail messages from a Hotmail account. Roussin also claimed to be suffering from cancer and sought money to be treated at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. The scam lasted from January 1997 to April 2009. In January 1999, the Barreau du Québec's disciplinary committee imposed a per- manent disbarment on Roussin after he was found guilty of 25 infractions between November 1996 and March 1998. The charges ranged from producing false judgments and abusing the trust of his clients to appropriating sums of money and negligence in relation to mandates his clients had entrusted him with. Roussin was sentenced to two years less a day in 2000 on 24 charges, including drafting two false Quebec Superior Court judgments in order to demonstrate his efficiency to a dissatisfied client. — MK 8 FEBRU AR Y 2010 www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com firm for the past 10 years. That makes her the first woman to occupy that position in the company's 96-year history. Leaders of the two firms heaped praise on their selections in their respective announcements, both made Dec. 8. "Kim is an exceptional lawyer whose career is driven by excellence, passion for her work, respect for her colleagues and clients, and an unparalleled team spirit," said W. Iain Scott, McCarthys' for- mer chairman and CEO. "Whether she heads a multi-million-dollar client proj- ect, undertakes business development activities, or participates in fundraising for charitable organizations, Kim is one of the best ambassadors the firm could have — and a wonderful role model for professional women." Dolan, who remains on Lavery's board of directors while having returned to his mergers and acquisitions practice full time, noted Poisson's "professional dedi- cation and the high quality of her work on the management team over the past five years fully prepared her to take on her new functions." In accepting the position, Poisson vowed to help "continue strengthening the firm by consolidating our expertise so that we remain in tune with our cli- ents, understand their business realities and anticipate their needs while also focusing on recruiting and developing the best legal talent and highlighting our firm's distinctiveness." She was instrumental in getting Desjardins Ducharme LLP to merge part of its business law practice with Lavery's in the summer of 2007. That expanded team allowed Lavery last year to spear- head the estimated $575-million pur- chase of the Montreal Canadiens, the Bell Centre arena, and its related businesses from the Gillett Entertainment Group by a consortium of investors led by the Molson brothers of brewery fame. — MIKE KING mking@videotron.ca