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38 J U L Y 2 0 1 7 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m as an alternative to big firms at a lesser price with the best lawyers who want to work and live in a great city." Benjamin David Gross, a partner with Lavery Lawyers, the largest regional law firm in Quebec, has an equally sunny forecast for Montreal's legal climate. "I'm definitely seeing a very positive business environment," says Gross, who hails from Montreal and heads up Lav- ery's infrastructure team, which recently added a strategic financial advisor. "The numbers we're bringing in are better and better. We're not getting just a larger share of the market; big contracts are coming our way." In addition to being involved in many of the big construction jobs going around the city, including the super hospitals, the Champlain Bridge and the new Radio- Canada building, century-old Lavery is well positioned to compete on its home turf for all manner of business law work against both national and international firms, says Gross. "We have offices in every major cen- tre across Quebec," says Gross, noting that the firm, with its 200 lawyers (50 of whom joined from Heenan Blaikie after the once-prominent national firm folded in 2014), is running "neck and neck" with Norton Rose Fulbright LLP as the biggest law firm in la belle province. "It gives us a leg up on the competi- tion," says Gross. "We are also nimble and quicker to turn around. Our rates are also highly competitive. We can offer 20 per cent to 40 per cent discounts for some services, depending on who is on the other side." Gross also praises both the quality of lawyers and the practice of law in Mon- treal, a highly multicultural city with a dynamic cultural life, great restaurants, world-class museums, five universities and a relatively low crime rate. "Like probably every other lawyer in this office, I have two law degrees and I'm bilingual," says Gross. "We operate in two different legal systems that work hand in hand here, trying to harmo- nize. I can and do work on deals with pieces all over the world, and because of the situation here, I get a feel for law elsewhere. "There is certain professionalism among lawyers, a real polish that is very nice and is unique, I think, to Montreal," adds Gross. "And there is congeniality. There are maybe 30 top lawyers in the city, and they have lunches and dinners to hammer out deals much the way bankers and litigators do. Montreal is that kind of a place." Montreal * by the numbers 14,481 Number of lawyers in Montreal as of May 9 (7,498 women, 6,983 men) 50.4 52 8.3 39.8 55 38.3 55(of 25,095) Percentage of women among all Quebec lawyers Percentage of all Quebec lawyers with 15+ years in practice Percentage of Quebec lawyers over the age of 65 Percentage of Quebec lawyers in private practice Percentage of Quebec lawyers who are salaried Percentage of lawyers in firms of 2-10 lawyers Percentage of all Quebec lawyers who practise in Montreal 62 9 9 7 23 Percentage of women among lawyers in practice 10 years or less Percentage of lawyers practising in general civil law Percentage of lawyers practising in criminal law Percentage of all Quebec lawyers with less than one year in practice Percentage of Quebec lawyers who practise alone or in partnerships 23 34.6 74 17.2 Percentage of total Quebec population living in Montreal Percentage of lawyers in firms of 50+ lawyers Percentage of Quebec lawyers whose principal working language is French Percentage of Quebec lawyers working for the provincial government $323,505 Average house price Montreal Source: Barreau du Québec Montreal city report