Practising in Montreal

Michèle Denis, Stikeman Elliott LLP

Pros:
• Montreal is a cosmopolitan, bilingual, and multicultural city with a bi-juridical law system offering a wide range of professional opportunities.
• Among various benefits of living and working in Montreal: affordable housing, less time commuting, great quality of life, vibrant culture, easy access to recreation, sports, and the surrounding countryside, etc.
• As for professional reasons, the city offers a tremendous range and breadth of legal work. It is an important centre for business in the aerospace, finance, pharmaceutical, technology, and cultural sectors. Many leading multinational corporations are headquartered here, and the city is a short flight away from a number of major east coast cities in the United States. Montreal is the ideal place for engaging in private practice at a high level, with major clients in and outside Canada, while still enjoying a wonderful quality of life.
• In addition, lawyers who want to join the public sector and contribute to social justice have many opportunities to do so in Montreal, home to several not-for-profit organizations and NGOs. For many, it’s not just about a job. It’s about the career you’re building and the ties you form, as well as the responsibilities you develop within your local community.

Cons:
• Montreal remains a smaller business centre than many larger cities worldwide.
• Compensation and benefit packages offered to lawyers in Montreal are generally more modest than those offered in larger markets, commensurate with a lower cost of living, etc.
• Quebec is governed by a separate legal system and, consequently, lawyers who embrace a law practice in Montreal must be trained in civil law and be members of the Barreau du Québec.

Gabriel Granatstein, Ogilvy Renault LLP

Pros:
• Montreal is an amazing city to live and work in — it is both culturally and linguistically diverse.
• Being an anglophone lawyer is very rewarding and gives you a certain cachet given that we are in the minority and that there is definite demand from multinational clients to have work provided to them in English.
• Being exposed to common law and civil law is very interesting.

Cons:
• For an anglophone (born and bred in Montreal) without much French education, pleading in French can be daunting at first.
• Given all of the festivals and parties in Montreal, it can be hard to focus on work. . . .