These were Montréal, Quebec’s best workers’ compensation lawyers based on the 2021 survey. Click the link for the current list of Montreal, Quebec's best workers compensation lawyers.
In our survey, workers’ compensation practice covers matters involving workplace safety and insurance, including advising on rate classifications and calculations, cost containment and claims management and providing representation at hearings and appeals.
Consistently recommended workers’ compensation lawyers
Don J. Alberga
Law firm: Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG)
Year called to the bar: 2001
Don J. Alberga is a partner at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. He devotes his practice to employment and labour law, with a focus on workers’ compensation and occupational health and safety matters. Alberga acts as legal counsel to several safety groups in Québec, particularly in the manufacturing, food and retail sectors. He defends management interests in matters of occupational injuries, financing and prevention-inspection. Alberga represents employers in cases under the jurisdiction of the Tribunal administratif du travail and in hearings of the Commission des Normes, de l'Equité, de la Santé et de la Sécurité du Travail (CNESST) penal offence prosecutions in the criminal and penal division of the Court of Québec. He is also regularly called upon to act in employment disputes before labour arbitration tribunals. Alberga is often invited to speak on occupational health and safety topics and write articles on that subject. He has also lectured on that area at the École du Barreau du Québec. Alberga speaks fluent English, French and Italian.
François Côté
Law firm: Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP
Year called to the bar: 1989
François Côté is a senior partner at Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP, practicing management-side employment and labour law. He advises employers on grievance arbitration, labour standards, administrative law and safety law and labour relations in the construction industry. He regularly acts as spokesperson at the negotiation table. Côté regularly represents employers before the Tribunal administratif du travail and in occupational health complex financing and prevention matters. He also represents employers before administrative tribunals and the courts of civil jurisdiction, regarding provisional, interlocutory and permanent injunctions in the context of labour disputes or in connection with the judicial review of decisions of administrative tribunals. Over the years, Côté has gained an extensive knowledge in crisis management, drug and alcohol policies and management of problems arising from drug and alcohol use. He lectures at Université de Montréal on labour relations in the construction industry. Côté was Montréal chair of the firm’s employment and labour law group from 2013 to 2014.
Guy Lavoie
Law firm: Lavery, de Billy, L.L.P.
Year called to the bar: 1986
Guy Lavoie is a partner at the labour and employment law group at Lavery, de Billy, L.L.P. He boasts more than 30 years of experience in labour relations, employment law and occupational health and safety. Lavoie also works with the firm’s business law group on the labour and employment law aspects of mergers and acquisitions. A journalist before embarking on his legal career, Lavoie helped establish a company dedicated to transporting people with restricted mobility and an adapted work centre for adults with disabilities. His strong communication skills were honed during his years as a journalist and through his business ventures. Lavoie is a fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers.
Francine Legault
Law firm: Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP
Year called to the bar: 1993
Francine Legault serves as of counsel at Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP. She devotes her practice to occupational health and safety. Legault represents clients before the conciliation and decision-making officers of the CNESST and Administrative Labour Tribunal (ALT). She also represents employers before arbitration boards. Legault taught Législation en santé et sécurité du travail (occupational health and safety legislation) at the University of Sherbrooke from 2000 to 2010. She has also been sitting on the board of directors and executive committee of the Canadian Mental Health Association since 1996. Legault is the co-author of Le congédiement en droit québécois and 14 Questions Frequently Asked in Québec Labour and Employment Law. Her professional career also includes eight years working as a graduate nurse in a hospital.
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Éric Thibaudeau
Law firm: Lavery, de Billy, L.L.P.
Year called to the bar: 1999
Éric Thibaudeau is a partner at Lavery, de Billy, L.L.P. He is an expert in occupational health and safety, particularly regarding issues within the jurisdiction of the ALT and penal infractions prosecuted by the CNESST that are heard in the Court of Québec’s criminal and penal division. Thibaudeau also acts for employers in grievance arbitrations, labour-relations matters and collective agreement decrees. He advises construction contractors and project owners on all matters within the jurisdiction of the construction industry regulatory authorities, including the Commission de la construction du Québec, Régie du bâtiment du Québec and Autorité des marchés financiers. Thibaudeau also advises various corporate entities in the private sector and organizations in the public. Before joining the firm, he practised at a large national firm where he was also a partner. His professional career includes a term at the Association provinciale des constructeurs d’habitations du Québec (APCHQ), where he worked as coordinator of legal services. Thibaudeau also worked as a labour relations attorney in the legal department of the Association de la construction du Québec (ACQ).
Repeatedly recommended workers’ compensation lawyers
Alexis-François Charette
Law firm: Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP
Year called to the bar: 1999
Alexis-François Charette is a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP. He devotes his practice to employment and labour law. Charette advises employers on collective and individual labour relations, particularly regarding labour standards, individual disputes, grievance arbitration, certification process, orders and injunctions in labour disputes and drafting of contracts of employment and company policies. He also advises clients on criminal liability in occupational health and safety matters, protection of personal information and discrimination and human rights in the workplace, including workplace harassment and employment injuries. Charette regularly represents employers before the Tribunal administratif du travail (CRT), Commission des lésions professionnelles (TAT), grievance arbitrators, and civil, penal and criminal courts.
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Maude Grenier
Law firm: Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP
Year called to the bar: 2007
Maude Grenier is a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP. She advises businesses under provincial and federal jurisdiction on employment law and labour relations matters. Grenier represents clients before administrative tribunals and civil courts, particularly in matters pertaining to interpreting and applying collective agreements, dispute resolution by arbitration, dismissals, harassment, rights and freedoms, injunction based on restrictive covenants or related to illegal picketing and contempt of court. She also assists employers in routine management of their employment and labour relations, including the use of disciplinary and administrative measures, dismissals and drafting various policies. Grenier often acts as a spokesperson at the bargaining table when collective agreements are renewed. She is also regularly invited to speak to various employer associations and groups on a range of topics, including diversity management, reasonable accommodation, the use of drugs and alcohol in the workplace and psychological harassment. Grenier sits on various committees of other organizations, including the labour relations committee of the Conseil du patronat du Québec, Québec Bar’s Liaison Committee with the Conférence des arbitres du Québec and the Canadian Bar Association’s labour relations committee.
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Marie-Hélène Jetté
Law firm: Langlois Lawyers, LLP
Year called to the bar: 1995
Marie-Hélène Jetté is a partner at Langlois Lawyers, LLP’s Montréal office, where she also heads the labour and employment law group. She has more than 20 years of experience in labour and employment law, human rights and freedoms and administrative law. Jetté has a deep knowledge of the pharmaceutical and arts industries. She also boasts extensive experience in psychological harassment, a topic on which she has given many presentations. Jetté frequently pleads before the civil courts and several administrative tribunals. She also frequently advises and represents employers on matters of harassment, discrimination, occupational health and safety, labour standards and termination of employment. Jetté has extensive experience in reorganizations and sales of businesses. She has also participated in many negotiations either as a spokesperson or special advisor.
Reine Lafond
Law firm: Le Corre & Associés
Year called to the bar: 1993
Reine Lafond is a partner at Le Corre & Associés in Québec. She heads the firm’s occupational health and safety department and practises exclusively in this field. Lafond is considered a leading lawyer in workers’ compensation matters. Her expertise was honed from her early career at the CSST’s legal department (now CNESST). With more than 25 years of experience, she is recognized for her skill as a litigator and legal counsel in issues pertaining to occupational health and safety law. She defends employers’ interests in matters related to employment injury compensation, financing of the CNESST’s compensation regime and prevention-inspection programs. Lafond also provides employers strategic support to private and public sectors clients and in all areas of economic activity. She advises and represents them before the courts and administrative tribunals, including the TAT. Lafond is regularly invited as a speaker on a variety of occupational health and safety topics. She sits on various committees involved in health and safety and is the author of several publications in this specialized field.
Carl Lessard
Law firm: Lavery, de Billy, L.L.P.
Year called to the bar: 1988
Carl Lessard is a partner at Lavery, de Billy, L.L.P. He is an expert in labour relations and occupational health and safety matters. Lessard also possesses broad expertise applicable to cases involving medical issues. Recognized for his mastery of litigation strategy, he orients his approach based on the political and economic issues that are important to his clients. Lessard is frequently called upon to lecture at conferences on topics of current interest relating to labour law.
Katherine Poirier
Law firm: Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG)
Year called to the bar: 2003
Katherine Poirier is a partner at the labour and employment group at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP’s Montréal office. Her practice focuses on workers’ compensation and health and safety. She provides guidance and representation to organizations facing sensitive issues and crisis, including severe workplace accidents and complex harassment matters. Poirier also advises clients on a range of issues, including company policies and employment contracts, labour relations and collective agreements, administrative law and fraud, unfair dismissal complaints and non-competition injunctions and grievances before labour arbitrators. She has pleaded nearly 200 cases, including the decade-long landmark human rights case regarding Québec-based employers’ obligations concerning pre-hire medical examinations. Poirier is a chartered human resources practitioner.
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