Background
Former Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Québec, the Honourable Lawrence Poitras was until recently a senior partner at our Montréal office. Mr. Poitras was admitted to the Québec Bar in 1957 and is a graduate of the Université de Montréal Law School. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from McGill University in 1953.
Areas of Practice
· Mr. Poitras was a member of the firm's Commercial Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution Group in Montréal.
Professional Experience
· Practised law at Duquet, MacKay, Weldon and Associates and at Laing, Weldon, Courtois, Clarkson, Parsons, Gonthier and Tétrault from 1957 to 1975 and chaired their litigation and municipal departments.
· Became a justice of the Superior Court of Québec in 1975 and a member of the Martial Court Appeal Tribunal in 1979. Was appointed Associate Chief Justice of the Superior Court in 1983 and Chief Justice in 1992. Retired from the bench and joined our firm in 1996.
Professional and Community Activities
· Mr. Poitras is a member of the Montréal Bar and a member of the Canadian Bar Association, of which he served as member of council for several years and chaired the Municipal Law Section in 1974 and 1975, and acted as Secretary of the Québec Section in 1975 and 1976. He was a member of the International Bar Association and its Arbitration and ADR Section.
· He is a charter and life member of the Canadian Superior Court Judges Association and served as Vice-president and President from 1979 to 1983. He was a member of the Canadian Judicial Council and of several of its committees from 1983 to 1996.
· Mr. Poitras was a founding member and director of the Conférence des juges des cours supérieures du Québec and is a member of the Québec Society of Comparative Law.
· He was a member of the Royal Commission on the Donald Marshall Jr. Prosecution, at Halifax and Syndey, N. S., from 1987 to 1989. In his capacity as Chief Justice of the Superior Court, Mr. Poitras initiated the Court's Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) program, better known as SoRRèL (Solutions de Rechange pour le Règlement de Litiges) to hasten disposal of lengthy cases in Montréal. He is a certified mediator at the Superior Court, member of the International Academy of Mediators and fellow of the International Academy of Trial Judges.
· He chaired conferences given by the Québec Bar on new developments in Administrative Law in 1993, Mediation in 1995 and Inquiry Commissions in 1998.
· He coorganized a judicial conference given by the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice (C.I.A.J.) on Article 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1985, as well as the Journées Strasbourgeoises lectures at Strasbourg, in France, in 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996 and the Journées Louisianaises lectures at New Orleans, in Louisiana, in 1991.
· He lectured at a Canadian Bar Association, Québec Division, conference on Alternative Dispute Resolution in 1995.
· In October 1995, Bishop's University awarded him a Doctorate "honoris causa" in Civil Law. In November 1996, he received the Award of Merit of the Association des diplômés en droit de l'Université de Montréal and was awarded the Québec Bar's first Medal of Honour the same year. In November 1998, the Canadian Institute for Conflict Resolution presented him with an Award of Merit for his contribution to the field of conflict resolution, in a ceremony held at Saint Paul University in Ottawa.
· Mr. Poitras is an honorary life member of The Lord Reading Law Society since 1996. He was Chairman of a Public Inquiry Commission into the Sûreté du Québec from 1996 to 1998.
· In August 2000, Mr. Poitras received the National Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for law from the Canadian Bar Association for his exceptional contribution to the law and legal scholarship in Canada.
· In August 2002, Mr. Poitras received the Award of the president of the Canadian Superior Court Judges Association for his significant contribution to the Canadian judiciary and the administration of justice.
· Mr. Poitras was a member of ADR Chambers, Alternative MRC and The Canadian Commercial Arbitration Centre (CCAC). He chaired the fifth biennial convention of the Canadian Dispute Resolution Corporation (Québec Division), The Network: Interaction for Conflict Resolution, held at Bishop's University in May 1998.
· On February 25, 1999, the Board of the Bar of Montréal appointed him President of its Standing Committee on Accessibility of the Justice System in the English Language. To this day, Mr. Poitras is a member of that Committee.
· Mr. Poitras is honorary board member of the Montréal Chest Hospital Foundation, past Director and Vice-president of the Canadian Red Cross (Québec Division) and the Montréal Chest Hospital, and past Director of the Boy Scouts of Canada and Hôpital Marie-Enfant.
· He is a member of the Order of Canada and ex-member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sports (CCES).