When Martha Shea summoned up the courage to ask former Madam Justice Claire L’Heureux-Dubé her take on collaborative law in Quebec at a family law conference six years ago, little did the Montreal family lawyer realize that she had sown the seeds to an organization that is now drawing attention from French-speaking nations.
Legal Practice Management
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Medium-sized law firms having a hard time
Grondin, Poudrier, Bernier, a Quebec City law firm that honed its reputation in labour law before branching out in other practice areas, will be disbanding at year end, marking the second Quebec medium-sized law firm to take drastic measures over the past couple of weeks to come to grips with a faltering economy and saturated legal marketplace.
Faced with shrinking business and a growing number of clients absconding to larger law firms, partners at Grondin, Poudrier, Bernier recently decided to cut its losses after 61 years in business, throwing up in the air the fate of more than 30 lawyers. A small group of lawyers is expected to form a new boutique law firm, specializing exclusively in labour law, said Henri Grondin, one of the firm’s partners.
“Not everybody was happy but I believe we could have continued,” said Grondin. “After more than 40 years of a law firm carrying my name, I am faced with a decision that will chuck all that way, and I wasn’t even consulted,” added Grondin, who admitted he was bitter by the turn of events. (more…)
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Quebec Crown Prosecutors overworked and underpaid, says Association
Exasperated that ongoing discussions with the Quebec government to improve working conditions have led to little progress, the Quebec Association of Crown Prosecutors has publicly taken to task the provincial government for the second time in three months.
The association is calling on the provincial government to hire another 220 crown prosecutors in order to halt an exodus of experienced lawyers resigning from their jobs to accept higher-paying positions. Over the past year, seven crown prosecutors quit their jobs at the Montreal courthouse, three of whom became Alberta provincial prosecutors where salaries are 40 per cent higher, says Association president Christian Leblanc.
“We cannot do the work with 430 prosecutors,” said Leblanc, a provincial crown prosecutor for the past 13 years. “We need at least 650 prosecutors in order to be able to adequately prepare our cases, meet with victims and witnesses, and read the jurisprudence. What we are denouncing, above all, is the workload. There is no doubt that it is having a negative impact on the quality of service we are able to offer to the public.” (more…)
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A Quebec judge reflecting on challenges they face
At times, judges publicly muse over the challenges they face. In a discourse given a few years ago, Quebec Court of Appeal Justice Allan Hilton reflected on judges and lawyers grappling with the challenges emanating from Quebec’s unique cultural and linguistic make-up.
Here are some excerpts:
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Media restrictions in courthouses does not obstruct freedom of expression
Rules of practice implemented by the Superior Court of Québec three years ago that prohibit media from using cameras and conducting interviews except in designated areas of the courthouse as well as ban the broadcast of recordings of hearings were recently upheld by the Québec Court of Appeal.