RSS - Robinson Sheppard Shapiro

RSS’ Managing Partner named first Canadian Member of prestigious Appellate Institute

abasili — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:41:12 +0000

Richard Kraus, Chair of the American Institute of Appellate Practice (“AIAP”) announced today that Me Charles E. Flam of Montreal law firm Robinson Sheppard Shapiro (“RSS”) has been nominated as the first Canadian Member of AIAP.

The mission and purpose of the AIAP is to foster a nationwide, but limited, network of highly skilled and experienced appellate attorneys to: a) engage in professional development, through programs and publications, in cutting-edge and other critical issues relating to appellate law; b) become an established resource for those desiring to retain appellate representation at the highest level; and c) promote collegiality, networking and professional cooperation amongst its members.

Mr. Kraus extended to RSS’ CEO his congratulations on this important recognition of his unique skills as an appellate pleader. As an appellate lawyer, Me Flam has handled difficult cases before the Quebec Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada, with recognized expertise in the written and oral advocacy necessary for success in appeals.

Minister of Justice announces appointment of another RSS partner to Superior Court

abasili — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 21:42:20 +0000

On March 8, 2013, The Honourable Rob Nicholson, P.C., Q.C., Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, announced the appointment of the Hon. Karen Kear-Jodoin as a puisne judge of the Superior Court of Quebec, District of Montreal.

Madame Justice Kear-Jodoin has been a partner at RSS for many years and played an important role in obtaining recognition for RSS’ Family Law practice group as the best in Québec.

Once again, the legal community has recognized the abilities, integrity and effectiveness of RSS’ trial advocates who have represented clients for several generations in commercial, civil, family and other litigation. Madame Justice Kear-Jodoin is the fifth RSS partner to be appointed to the Superior Court bench in recent years. She joins her former partners Justices Francine Nantel, Lucie Fournier, François Duprat and France Dulude, all of whom currently serve as judges of the Superior Court.

Congratulations Madame Justice Kear-Jodoin!

COMMUNIQUÉ – 2012 IN REVIEW

abasili — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 21:49:32 +0000

In this edition, read about:
- Some of the RSS Business Law Practice Group’s noteworthy transactions and commercial litigation
- RSS in the news
- Economic hardship and termination of employment
- The importance of negotiating in good faith
- Venting your frustrations on Facebook? Think twice…
- Website user comments: to monitor or not?
- Address of directors under the Canada Business Corporations Act

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WEBSITE USER COMMENTS: TO MONITOR OR NOT?

abasili — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 17:07:18 +0000

In January 2012, the Québec Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal from a Superior Court decision awarding damages against a website owner for defamatory content on its website (Canoë inc. v. Corriveau, 2012 QCCA 109). In that case, a journalist running a blog on a website owned by Canoë inc. (“Canoë”) published a blog post regarding the conduct of a certain criminal lawyer in the defence of her client, who was accused of sexual assault of a minor. The blog post elicited various defamatory and injurious comments from the website’s users targeted at the lawyer. The website’s terms and conditions for the blog prohibited the posting of defamatory content and provided that Canoë could remove messages from its blog that violated its policy, implying supervision over content.

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VENTING YOUR FRUSTRATIONS ON FACEBOOK? THINK TWICE

abasili — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 16:44:50 +0000

In April 2012, the Superior Court of Québec rendered a decision (9080-5128 Québec inc. v. Morin-Ogilvy, 2012 QCCS 1464) that has a direct impact on the use of social media applications to which both adults and children are growing more accustomed.

In this case, one of the defendants used Facebook to vent her frustrations concerning one of the plaintiffs, a former friend. Following the deterioration of relations between the parties, including a disagreement over the repair of the defendant’s car at an automobile repair shop owned by the plaintiff, the defendant published comments on her Facebook Wall and sent messages privately through Facebook regarding the plaintiff, her daughter and her conduct surrounding the car repairs.

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THE IMPORTANCE OF NEGOTIATING IN GOOD FAITH

abasili — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 16:27:22 +0000

Article 1375 of the C.C.Q. states that parties must generally interact in good faith. Under Québec law, the duty to act in good faith is implicit in every contract and is defined as the absence of malicious intent in a prudent and diligent contracting party. As such, the contracting party’s behaviour must be compatible with the achievement of the parties’ common goal. The parties must abide by this obligation as soon as pre contractual negotiations begin, even if such an obligation is not expressly provided for in the pre-contractual documents. A party acting in bad faith can be found liable for any harm caused to the other party by such behaviour.

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ECONOMIC HARDSHIP AND TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT

abasili — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 16:16:28 +0000

A recent judgment of the Québec Court of Appeal (CMP Advanced Mechanical Solutions Ltd. v. Snow, 2012 QCCA 1692), reiterated that even if an employer is going through unexpected economic hardship and must terminate an employee, the employer must still give him notice under Article 2091 of the Civil Code of Québec (“C.C.Q.”) which has to be of a reasonable length considering, among other factors, the length of the relationship, the nature of the work, the age of the employee and his level of education and skills.

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A MESSAGE TO FRANCHISORS: “MIND YOUR BRAND”

abasili — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 22:32:00 +0000

An expensive lesson for a large franchisor operating in Quebec was learned earlier this year. In the decision Bertico Inc. et al v. Dunkin’ Brands Canada Ltd. (2012 QCCS 2809), the Superior Court of Quebec emphasized some of the consequences that might be faced by a franchisor which let its brand “slide” or failed to protect and enhance it.

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COMMON LAW SPOUSES : THE SUPREME COURT RULING

abasili — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 22:58:09 +0000

The highly publicized case known as Eric v. Lola reached its pinnacle on January 25, 2013. In a Judgment rendered by a divided bench, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered judgement in favour of “Eric”, recognizing the constitutional validity of the existing legal treatment of “de facto” or “common law” spouses in Quebec (Quebec (Attorney General) v. A, 2013 SCC 5).

Contrary to all other Canadian provinces, common law spouses in Quebec do not enjoy the legal protections afforded to married or civil union spouses upon the breakdown of their relationship, such as the partition of the family patrimony and partnership of acquests, the right to claim a compensatory allowance, and most notably to request spousal support. Historically, the Quebec legislature justified this distinction under the guise of respecting the freedom of choice of non-married spouses who did not wish to be subject to the rights and obligations associated with marriage (or civil union).

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Me Patrick Henry, the only Quebec attorney nominated as Charter Member of Insurance Litigation Institute of America

abasili — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 20:45:14 +0000

RSS’s CEO announced today that Me Patrick Henry has been nominated as a Charter Member of the recently created Insurance Litigation Institute of America (“ILIA”). Me Henry is one of only three Canadian attorneys nominated as a Charter Member and the only Québec Charter Member.

The mission and purpose of the ILIA is to foster a nationwide, but limited, network of highly skilled and experienced insurance law attorneys to: a) engage in professional development, through programs and publications, in cutting-edge and other critical issues relating to insurance law; b) become an established resource for insurance law-related information, and for those desiring to retain representation in insurance-related matters at the highest level; and c) promote collegiality and professional cooperation amongst its members.

Congratulations to Patrick on this important recognition of his unique skills in the area of insurance law and litigation.