Canadian Lawyer

CENTRAL have set up a flourishing side business in organizing and packaging continuing legal education courses. Martin Cabanes, Catherine Cloutier, A flourishing side-business in CLE O pportunity became the mother of invention for three enter- prising Montreal lawyers who and David Kellerman, all lawyers with 10 years of practice and big law firm experi- ence behind them, have no intention of giving up their legal business and were under no financial pressure to do so. In fact, the three lawyers are in the process of expanding Cloutier Cabanes Kellerman, the partnership they formed last spring when Kellerman merged his solo practice in family and labour litigation with the two-lawyer shop of Cabanes, who advis- es startups and small- and medium-size business owners and does some litigation, and Cloutier, a commercial litigator with a passion for real estate cases who coun- sels entrepreneurs and individuals. But a sudden flash of inspiration that Quebec must get 30 CLE credits in order to refresh or sharpen their skills over set two-year periods. More than 8,100 dif- ferent activities have been approved for accreditation by the Barreau du Québec in the current period alone as people and organizations jumped on the opportu- nity to make money, or, as many large law firms do when they offer free CLE-credit seminars for in-house counsel, for mar- keting and networking purposes. With the plethora of CLE credit came to Kellerman one day last summer now has the trio swooping in to fill a void in the professional development market with a fresh approach designed to save Quebec lawyers both time and money while offering training tailored to meet specific needs. Since April 1, 2009, all lawyers in options now on offer, and the often hefty fees for some of the learning, lawyers frequently have to scramble to find suit- able courses in their area of practice to meet their compulsory CLE quota, argues Kellerman, sometimes even choosing free accredited webinars on any subject to save time and money. "What we are offering is a consolidated platform — a one-stop solution," says Kellerman. "The idea is we want people to glide through the whole process." Continuum, as the new business ven- ture that went live online on Sept. 27 is called, allows lawyers to mix and match has choices in the categories of com- mercial litigation, labour, property and construction, family, and business law. And the listing of some five-dozen The web site (www.continuum.30.ca) " GOVERNMENT LAWYERS REACH DEAL different stages for different groups in recent months after the parties decided not to continue with proceedings last June before the provincial labour board. "We made some compromises and so did the employer [the Quebec Treasury C lose to 1,200 lawyers and notaries who work in the Quebec public service or government agencies are now benefiting from the terms of new collective agreements that were agreed upon over a year ago but only finally signed in Board] and that is how negotiations should be directed and be concluded," says Sébastien Rochette, president of the Association des jurists de l'État, which repre- sents 904 public service lawyers and notaries, another 166 who work for Revenu Québec, and 88 others who work at government-mandated organizations like the Autorité des marches financiers, the provincial financial markets regulator. Sticking points during the negotiations over signing of an agreement-in-prin- conferences in five traditional areas of law, or from a diverse sixth "related" category, and directly purchase "peace of mind" packages of either 15 or 30 credits in their field of choice or a more diversi- fied program "reflective of the versatility of your practice. ciple reached in July 2011, and retroactive to April 2010, had revolved around attempts by the AJE to secure parity on all of the items obtained by Quebec Crown prosecutors in their separate accord with the government. Rochette says compromises the union made included giving up a demand that all government lawyers and notaries be eligible for the same kind of regular allowed overtime beyond 35 hours per week, bonuses for executing special mandates, and related advantages like allocations for home office expenses. Instead of the five-per-cent extra the AJE calculated Crown prosecutors obtained annually on a global financial basis for different bonuses, consideration that also ultimately tops up their pension plans, Rochette said the union agreed to a four- per-cent addition to the annual salary, with two per cent going directly to all mem- bers and the other two per cent to be accorded to lawyers and notaries involved in special mandates — determination for exact distribution is up to the employer. Those increases are on top of the 17.9-per-cent salary increase the lawyers and notaries working for the public service and agencies obtained for accords that now stretch to the end of March 2015. — KL www.CANADIAN Lawyermag.com N O VEMBER / D ECEMBER 2012 7

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