Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP (FMC), one of Canada’s leading business and litigation law firms, is pleased to welcome Jean H. Gagnon, Ad.E., F.C.Adm., a prominent legal franchise expert who was most recently the Vice-President, Legal Affairs for The Jean Coutu Group Inc., as counsel and strategic advisor in the firm’s Montreal office. Jean will join the commercial law group, specifically the franchise and distribution law team.
“We are thrilled to have a lawyer of Jean’s calibre join the firm,” says Claude Morency, Managing Partner of FMC’s Montréal’s office. “The firm’s franchise and distribution law group is an industry leader in Québec, and Jean’s arrival will strengthen our team’s dominant position, while enhancing our excellent reputation.”
Jean has more than 35 years of experience in the legal industry, both in private practice and as corporate counsel, as well as working as a negotiator, mediator and commercial arbitrator. He pioneered franchise law in Québec and Canada and, amongst other things, is one of the founders of the Québec Franchise Council, where he has served as a director, chair (for over seven years) and governor.
Jean has authored 18 books, numerous papers and articles on franchising, business law, negotiation and mediation, including La franchise au Québec, Comment lancer votre réseau de franchise, Les pièges du franchisage : comment les éviter and La négociation stratégique : mieux négocier en 12 étapes. Not only was he the first person inducted into the Franchise Hall of Fame for his outstanding contribution to the advancement of the franchise industry. He is an Advocate emeritus, a Fellow Chartered Administrator, and has also received many other distinctions and prestigious awards. He has delivered many speeches in Québec and Canada, and is the former editor-in-chief of a specialized publication, Franchise & Distribution.
“His broad experience and highly specialized abilities have led him to touch on every aspect of the management and development of franchise systems and to play a key role in numerous complex transactions,” said Stéphane Teasdale, Head of FMC’s National Franchise and Distribution Law Section. “With Jean aboard, FMC will maintain its leadership position in franchise law in Québec and will strengthen its presence in the franchise market in Québec and other parts of Canada.”
Jean has been Vice-President and a member of the Managing Committee of the ADR Section of the Canadian Bar Association’s Québec Branch, a member of the board of directors of the Institut de médiation et d’arbitrage du Québec and a member of the Québec Bar’s Participatory Justice Committee.
He pursued postgraduate studies in the fields of franchising, dealerships, banners and groups, notably at the University of London, and completed specialized studies in negotiation and mediation, including three intensive sessions at Harvard University in 1987, 1991 and 2005.
For further information, please contact:
Kendra Keaney Finnessy
Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP
416 361 2342
kendra.keaneyfinnessy@fmc-law.com
Kelly Olive
MAVERICK Public Relations Inc.
416 640 5525, ext. 230
kellyo@maverickpr.com