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Shannon says "it was most surreal" when he reached the North Pole, noting that an infection he suffered just before leaving for the journey had led to ques- tions whether he would even be able to attempt the feat. Shannon says the cold took a toll after his adrenaline dropped. "About a day after I got back, I felt like a truck hit me," he says. "Shoulders were sore, arms were sore — it just felt like I had gone 12 rounds and had just been pounded out." After a few days off, he was back in the office though. Watkins suffered some frostbite to his hands, but is expected to fully recover, says Shannon. The journey also raised Shannon's interest in circumpolar law, he says. "I'm getting the sense that it certainly is a file for the Canadian government that is growing ever larger and ever more important. . . . Having been that close to their case, consumer defender is a more accurate description. The trio of young lawyers makes up Standing up for the little guy S téphanie Poulin, Isabelle Durand, and Élise Thériault give new mean- ing to the term public defender. In the legal team for the provincial non- profit consumer-advocate group Option Consommateurs, headquartered in Montreal. The organization is a perfect fit for the three Université de Montréal law gradu- ates whose common goals are for social justice rather than aspiring to become high-paid corporate lawyers. For 27-year-old Poulin, what started out as a two-week contract with Option Consommateurs in 2001 turned into a career and her being put in charge of the legal department in October 2007. "I wanted to do things differently than they are done in big law offices," she recalls. "It's more preventative at Option Consommateurs. It permits us to educate consumers and help resolve their prob- lems by using our experience to bring changes with legislators and enterprises." Durand, 33, made the natural tran- sition from the provincial ombuds- man's office helping citizens to Option Consommateurs in September 2001. "In commercial law, we're told the goal is winning, not being right," she notes. "We can practise law without charging people and still help them." Being interviewed by "big law firms" while studying "confirmed it wasn't what I wanted," says 28-year-old Thériault. The Option Consommateurs rookie, who joined the team in March 2006, stresses how the organization assists the "unfa- vourable, poor, and those with mental problems before judges who sometimes are disconnected with reality." Poulin agrees, pointing out "we're more sensitive to the large population that is illiterate, helping them fill out forms and give them better access to the law." Assisting consumers in better under- standing their rights is a main compo- nent of the legal team's responsibilities, says Durand. "We have our specialties, but work well together," adds Thériault, who says another of their common goals is to see changes to Quebec's "old and antiquated consumer laws." MOVES AND SHAKES IS ONLINE If you or anyone in your firm has made a move, won recent accolades, or done anything else noteworthy that should be shared with your colleagues across the country, let us know. E-mail your moves and shakes to moves@ clbmedia.ca. We'll be updating the web site daily, so keep your eyes on www.canadianlawyermag.com to see what your friends and colleagues are up to. it, I have a sense that it's going to be, for the next couple of decades, incredibly important to Canada," he says. — ROBERT TODD rtodd@clbmedia.ca For videos and more on Shannon and Watkins' North Pole trek visit www.teamindependence.ca. A main component of their jobs is to work with outside lawyers in preparing class action lawsuits against a host of defendants ranging from financial insti- tutions to major corporations. During its 20-year history, Option Consommateurs has been involved in nearly 50 class actions — about 20 of which are still active. Its latest big win was April 2, when the Quebec Superior Court approved a $25-million out-of-court settlement with Maple Leaf Foods for people who ate or bought contaminated deli meats during last year's listeria outbreak linked to at least 20 deaths in Canada. In October 2006, the Quebec Court of Appeal made Household Finance Corp. reimburse more than $4.3 million to nearly 26,000 store credit card holders who had been charged late-payment fees between May 1996 and December 1999. The $2.5 million in exemplary damages remains the most ever awarded in Quebec. One Option Consommateurs vic- tory of which Poulin is most proud — even though she wasn't part of it — is the $28-million out-of-court settlement with U.S. breast implant manufacturer Bristol-Myers Squibb in 1996 on behalf of approximately 5,000 women. What she finds most rewarding about her job: "We can often help peo- ple before there's a problem." — MIKE KING mking@videotron.ca www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com JUNE 2009 9