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 M A R C H 2 0 1 6 31 1 LAVERY DE BILLY LLP LAVERY.CA Total lawyers: 198 Lawyers by office: Montreal, 138; Quebec City, 26; Sherbrooke, 24; Trois-Rivières, 9; Ottawa, 1 Core practice areas: Business transactions/mergers and acquisi- tions; taxation; litigation and dispute resolution (commer- cial/restructuring, insolvency, and banking/civil); labour and employment; financing and financial services Key clients: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.; National Bank of Canada; SigmaSanté Notable mandates: Lavery successfully represented Pharmaprix Inc. (Shoppers Drug Mart Inc.) before the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, which sought certification to represent employees at postal out- lets at Pharmaprix franchise stores. The union argued Canada Post Corp. was the employer of the postal outlet employees, or that Canada Post, Pharmaprix, and its franchisees were a single employer. The firm also represented Delastek Inc. in a renewal of a collective agreement, a case made complex by a variety of legal proceedings that were initiated. It was counsel for GDI Integrated Facility Services Inc. in an arrangement agreement with Medwell Capital Corp., the listing of the company's securi- ties on the Toronto Stock Exchange, and a prospectus distribu- tion for gross proceeds of $161.7 million. It represented the Busi- ness Development Bank of Canada and Investissement Québec in the restructuring of the Pascan Companies, which they had financed for more than $21,000,000. Star alumni: Supreme Court of Justice Richard Wagner; Qué- bec Court of Appeal justices Jacques Chamberland and Lorne Giroux; Eric Stevenson, superintendent of client services and distribution oversight at Autorité des marchés financiers; Sean Finn, executive VP of corporate services and chief legal officer at CN; Caroline Ferland, head of trade, AIT and excise counsel- ling at British American Tobacco; Anne-Marie Papineau, senior legal counsel at Cirque du Soleil Inc.; François Lavallée, senior VP of legal affairs, financial markets and wealth management at National Bank Financial; Isabelle Gosselin, associate GC at Labatt Brewing Co.; Patrick Buchholz, VP of legal affairs and assistant secretary at Gesca Ltée. Affiliations: World Services Group The firm: Lavery's roots go back to 1913, when Onésime Gagnon and Maurice Dupré founded Dupré & Gagnon in Quebec City. The firm was to evolve and later merge into Lavery de Billy. Two of Lavery's other predecessor firms were Audette and Lorrain, founded in 1926 in Montreal, and Tansey de Grandpré & de Grandpré, founded in 1949. In 1979, these two firms merged to become Lavery O'Brien, before joining Gagnon de Billy Cantin Beaudoin Lesage & Associés of Quebec City in 1991, becom- ing Lavery de Billy. In 2007, 34 lawyers and 60 staff members of Desjardins Ducharme's Montreal office joined Lavery, and in March of 2014, it integrated more than 50 lawyers from Heenan Blaikie's Sherbrooke and Trois Rivières teams. Survey respon- dents lauded the firm's customer service, quality of services, and firm culture. One respondent said the lawyers are "learned, effective, and responsive." Total lawyers: 104 Lawyers by office: Montreal, 58; Quebec City, 46 Core practice areas: Litigation and arbitration; class actions; employment and labour law; insurance; corporate governance Key clients: Bombardier Aerospace; Fédération des caisses Desjardins du Québec; Intact Insurance; Maritime Employers Association; Nova Bus and Prévost, divisions of Volvo Group Canada; Professional Liability Insurance Fund of the Ordre des architectes du Québec Notable mandates: Langlois represented one of the concrete sup- pliers involved in a major manufacturer's liability case. The case involved defects in concrete foundations in residential and com- mercial buildings due to the presence of pyrrhotite. The 77-day trial covered approximately 815 buildings and has been appealed. In another case, the firm acted for Iron Ore Co. of Canada and its affiliates in defence of their interests in the CCAA insolvency filing of Cliffs Quebec with respect to the Bloom Lake and Wabush iron ore mines. It also represented Jien Canada Mining Ltd., a Chinese mining company with assets in Quebec, in connection with the negotiation and securing of a $100-million credit facility granted by Ressources Québec Inc. Last May, the Quebec Court of Appeal agreed with Langlois' client Yellow Pages Digital & Media Solutions Ltd. that certain changes it had made to its pension and benefits plan did not contravene Quebec's Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms or s. 87.1 of the Labour Standards Act regarding differ- ences in treatment. The firm was also lead counsel for the Fédéra- tion des caisses Desjardins du Québec in a series of class actions in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Quebec regarding credit card acceptance fees and alleged infringements to the Competition Act brought against credit card networks and financial institutions. Star alumni: Former Quebec chief justice Michel Robert; former Quebec Court of Appeal justice René Dussault; Quebec Supe- rior Court justices Chantal Chatelain and Michel Beaupré; Yan Paquette, secretary general of the Ministry of Justice of Quebec and director at the Office of the Deputy Minister of Justice of Quebec; Nathalie Clark, VP and GC (Canada) at Capital One; Fabrice Vil, co-founder and CEO of Pour 3 Points Affiliations: N/A The firm: On Jan. 1, 2016, 100 years after its foundation, Langlois Kronström Desjardins LLP became Langlois lawyers LLP. "Rooted in a distinguished past and geared for the future, our new brand identity is a faithful reflection of who we are," the firm says. A full-service firm, Langlois says it's at the cutting edge of the law, focused on legal services of the highest quality, passion for the profession, and superlative client service. One survey respondent praised Langlois lawyers' "expertise, creativity, and energy." 2 LANGLOIS LAWYERS LLP LANGLOIS.CA

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