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 J U L Y 2 0 1 7 37 Montreal city report Montreal has long been Canada's capital of chic and cool. But high unemployment, crumbling infrastructures and front-page corruption cases have in recent years tarnished the city's image as a world-class place to live, work and do business. But suddenly, with little fanfare, Mon- treal has bid adieu to the bad times. One indicator is the city's jobless rate. It fell to 7.3 per cent in 2016, the lowest level since Statistics Canada started tracking numbers in 1987. Similarly, more than one million people were working in la métropole in December, an all-time employment high in the city's 375-year history. Economists credit a perfect storm of factors for the sudden turnaround. They include a low dollar, affordable housing and a slew of major publicity campaigns and public works projects tied to Mon- treal's milestone birthday celebrations this year. The result has been upswings in pub- lic confidence, private investment and demand for the services of lawyers and other white-collar professionals in several sectors, including manufacturing, finance, technologies, culture and construction. "There is clearly a buzz in the city that is being driven by all kinds of things," said Karl Tabbakh, managing partner of McCarthy Tétrault LLP's operations in Quebec, which revolve around the 140 lawyers who work in the firm's flagship office in downtown Montreal, next to the Bell Centre. In addition to the positive attitude and decisive actions of Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre, which he says have helped city residents "turn the page" on the widespread corruption at city hall that was exposed by the Charbonneau Commission of Inquiry on the Awarding and Management of Pub- lic Contracts in the Construction Industry, Tabbakh says the many major infrastruc- ture projects going on across the city have electrified entrepreneurs. "There is an energy among them, and we feel it," said Tabbakh. "The city skyline is filled with highrises and cranes. That's a good barometer of the economic activ- ity. And it's not just construction. We're very bullish on Montreal and the Quebec economy as a whole. "We're very optimistic," he adds. "Things have been going very well since 2016, which was an excellent year for the firm. And 2017 has started exceptionally well, and the firm is extremely busy. Mon- treal is a great place to be in 2017. It's more promising than ever." Carolena Gordon, a partner in Clyde & Co's Montreal office, has a front-row view of all the action from her office on the 17th- floor of a highrise that overlooks the city centre and the McGill University campus. "The downtown is alive and full of energy," says Gordon. "Looking out my window, I can see three cranes working right now. There are many P3 infrastruc- ture projects and condo projects going on. It's driving work for a lot of lawyers." A commercially minded problem solver with extensive experience in both litigation and dispute resolution in complex cases, Gordon says Montreal's building boom is notably driving her firm's professional liability practice "both here and on the international platform." She adds that Montreal's flourishing life sciences sector is also driving demand for a whole slate of legal services involving trademarks, intellectual property, employ- ment and labour law. Gordon believes the city's current hot economic climate has also been stoked by a clearer vision of political and corporate governance in Quebec as a result of the Charbonneau Commission. "I think it served as a wake-up call," says Gordon. "It made people realize that the old ways of doing things are no longer acceptable. I think that's had a big impact on the confidence of investors." For his part, Jean-François Gagnon, chief executive officer of Langlois lawyers LLP, is equally upbeat about Montreal's economic performance of late. "Things are extremely dynamic right now and will remain like that for many years to come," says Gagnon, who moved to Montreal from Quebec City in 2006 when his firm merged with Langlois. He notably credits the city's burgeoning construction industry for driving demand for construction law services. In addition to condo and other resi- dential projects, he pointed to several multi-billion-dollar projects, including the building of the McGill and Université de Montréal mega hospitals and the construc- tion of the new Champlain Bridge. He called the latter "a veritable bene- diction for many law firms" in everything from contract writing, litigation and arbi- tration to negotiations and even expropria- tions. Like Montreal's skyline, Gagnon says the city's legal landscape is also undergoing a renaissance of sorts these days. "The legal scene in Montreal is extreme- ly effervescent and dynamic, but it is also changing," he says. Unlike a generation ago, when a dozen national and big regional firms ensconced in marble- and leather-laden offices that occupied several floors of downtown high- rises monopolized big transactions and litigation, Gagnon says the Montreal legal market has become far less stratified. "Big national firms are less adapted for the Quebec market, which is less sophis- ticated than other big Canadian cities, though that is changing," says Gagnon. He says the political- and economic- inspired departures of several large com- pany headquarters have resulted in fewer large commercial transactions taking place in la Métropole. "That impacts on the positioning and competitiveness of big firms that charge $600 an hour compared to a regional firm like ours that charges $400 for the same services," says Gagnon. "We're seeing the rise of boutiques that are small and agile yet high quality with competitive services. Big firms no longer have a monopoly on big contracts and skills." The result, says Gagnon, is a readjust- ment that is resulting in a more competitive landscape among lawyers in Montreal. "Big firms will feel the fee pressures from their higher rates and costs and more competition from smaller firms, and the smaller firms will become bigger and recruit away from the big firms," says Gagnon. "That's our plan anyway. "We're living the best period of our exis- tence right now," he adds. "We're positioned

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