Being Management-Side Labour and Employment Lawyer…

First of all, I’d like to thank Simon Fodden for inviting me to contribute to the site. It really is an honour to be able to contribute to such a well-rounded and popular blog.

Like my colleague Genevieve Lay (who also blogs on the site), I am a labour and employment lawyer at Ogilvy Renault LLP in Montreal. As a firm, we generally only represent employers. In thinking about how to introduce myself to the Slaw.ca community with my first post, I thought it best to talk about what I do and why I do it. Part of that is explaining the role of a management-side labour and employment lawyer.

When I was at law school, many students were polarized when it came to employment choices. Some either wanted to work at “biglaw” firms or argued that going to work for them was akin to “selling out” and working for the “man” (to use an expression my parents are fond of). When I introduce myself to people and explain what I do, they often believe that our job is to fire people and make sure they get as little money as possible. To some people, we are seen just as George Clooney was portrayed in Up in the Air – heartless “downsizers” and legal assassins.

I don’t see my job in that way at all. In fact, I love what I do and see a lot of humanity in the work. First of all, hiring and firing are part of life. Many people identify on a very personal level with their work and losing their jobs can be intensely difficult and emotional. However, whether due to corporate downsizing or performance issues, some employees simply can’t be retained. Employers need advice from specialized lawyers on how to handle this kind of issue. This is where we help. Of course, we also do a number of other things, including developing HR policies, negotiating with unions and advocating for our clients before various labour relations boards.

However, a fair portion of my time is spent advising clients on how to best handle difficult situations before they turn into serious (and expensive) problems. Employees who are treated with respect and are compensated fairly don’t sue. Firing people without cause and without notice will generally lead to a lawsuit of some kind. Given the costs and time involved, nobody wants to litigate a termination. For most people, litigation is and should be the last resort. Accordingly, I always advise clients to err on the side of being generous when terminating employees and negotiating severance. A few extra weeks of pay pales in comparison to the cost of going to trial or arbitration.

Simply put, in my relatively short time as a lawyer, I’ve learned that the “right” thing to do is also most often the “legal” thing to do and the best strategy.

At the end of the day, people are going to be hired and fired regardless of what kind of law I practice. By doing what I do in the way that I do it, I feel I can help bring some humanity and fairness to the process, all the while serving the best interests of our clients. Suffice it to say, I am an eternal idealist and optimist… even though I work for the man.

I look forward to continuing to blog here and thank you for reading. If you’re interested in more Québec-specific labour and employment law content, please visit my blog.