Board of Directors

In June 2021, Mtre. Caroline Blache was appointed by the Association des avocats et avocats de province to serve as a director on the CAIJ’s Board of Directors.

Mtre. Blache studied at Université de Sherbrooke and has been a member of the Barreau du Québec since 1995.

She began her career practising civil, insurance and family law at the Laval legal firm Beauchamps, Beauvais, Goulet. In 1997, she worked at the Commission des services juridiques in Montreal, with its on-call telephone emergency legal aid service, and in 1999 she joined the Centre communautaire juridique Laurentides-Lanaudière.

Mtre. Blache has worked for the legal aid offices of Joliette and Terrebonne as a lawyer in civil, family and administrative law, and since 2012, she has been the organization’s Executive Director. She takes great pride in coordinating the legal activities of her centre’s nine legal aid offices, in collaboration with experienced professionals and employees, and administering the Act respecting legal aid and the provision of certain other legal services. She maintains close relationships and is in constant contact with various partners in the justice system in order to make justice ever more accessible and to protect citizens.

Mtre. Blache has been involved in her community for many years. She was a member of several issue tables on combatting poverty, and she makes presentations for several organizations in her region. She has been a member of the Board of Directors of Centraide Laurentides for several years, as well as sitting on the organization’s Governance Committee.

Mtre. Blache has also been active in the legal community for many years. She has been President of the Association du Jeune Barreau Laurentides-Lanaudière, Bâtonnière of the Laurentides-Lanaudière section, and a member of the Executive Committee of the Barreau du Québec, the Finance Committee and the Motions Committee. Mtre. Blache had been a member of the Executive Committee of the Canadian Bar Association, Québec Branch and President of the Association des avocates et avocats de province.

Since June 2022, Mtre. Blache has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Centre de justice de proximité Laval-Laurentides-Lanaudière. The CJP-LLL is notable among its peers for providing information services exclusively on separations and small claims.

Mtre. Gina Blanchet has served as a director on the CAIJ’s Board of Directors since 2020. She has also been a member of its Liaison Committee (Québec section) since 2017 and the Committee’s Chair since 2019.

She obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree from Université Laval in 1992 and was called to the Bar in 1993. She also completed a certificate in Human Developmental Psychology at Université Laval in 2017.

Mtre. Blanchet began her practice with the firm Morin, Lemieux Avocats in Montmagny in 1993 before becoming a partner at Avocates Blanchet, Gaudreault from 1994 to 2009. Since then, she has practiced law on her own (Gina Blanchet, Avocate Inc.) in Montmagny. Mtre. Blanchet has been a litigation attorney in family, youth protection and civil law since 1993. She has also been a prosecutor for the Cour municipale commune de la MRC de L’Islet since 1998. In addition, Mtre. Blanchet mediates in civil and family law, as she has been a mediator in the Small Claims Division since 1993 and a family mediator since 2017.

Mtre. Blanchet was a member of the Court of Quebec committee from 2014 to 2017 and of the Barreau’s committee on education and services to members from 2010 to 2013. Since 2014, she has been on the committee that verifies that no impediment exists in educational childcare services (no connection with the practice of law). Mtre. Blanchet was also a member of the Montmagny courthouse rehabilitation committee as part of the process that led to its renovation. She has been a member of the Association des familialistes de Québec (for practitioners of family law) for many years, and of the Association des procureurs de cours municipales du Québec since 1998.

To be added.

In June 2018, the Bar of Montreal appointed Mtre. Alain Ricard to serve as a member of the CAIJ’s Board of Directors. He has been Chair of the Board since November 2019.

Since October 2020, Mtre. Ricard has been a partner at Fasken, where he leads the firm’s Infrastructure and Transportation practice in the Québec region. He has also practised at a major law firm, where he was the Canadian leader of their Transportation team and head of the Business Law Group in their Montreal office. Mtre. Ricard also managed the Business Law Group in the firm’s Montreal office from the spring of 2014 to the fall of 2017.

Drawing on his expertise in commercial law and his management experience, Mtre. Ricard contributes to the CAIJ’s development efforts in a rapidly changing market. He obtained his Bachelor of Laws degree from Université de Montréal in 1999 and has been a member of the Barreau du Québec and the Canadian Bar Association since 2000. Since 1994, Mtre. Ricard has received a series of awards and distinctions. In 2015, he was named a “Rising Star” and recognized as one of Canada’s top lawyers under the age of 40 by Lexpert magazine. Each year since 2017, he has been designated an “Acritas Star,” or standout lawyer, a distinction based on interviews conducted by Acritas with senior in-house counsel in major organizations around the world.

Mtre. Ricard is also recognized by Lexpert magazine as a recommended lawyer in Asset and Equipment Finance, Asset Securitization and Project Finance, as well as by Best Lawyers in Structured Finance and Project Finance. Mtre. Ricard was named by Best Lawyers as the 2022 Lawyer of the Year in Project Finance Law.

Ms. Anne Isabelle Roussy was appointed as a director on the CAIJ’s Board of Directors in June 2018 by the Bar of Montreal, the Barreau du Québec and the Association des Avocats et Avocates de Province. Ms. Roussy, Chief Marketing Officer at AYE3D Inc., draws on her extensive experience as a transformational leader, consultant and marketing manager specialized in digital technology definition, management and implementation. Her approach is engaging, collaborative and focused on solving problems.

The CAIJ is at the forefront of technological and other developments transforming the legal community. Ms. Roussy has 20 years of experience in highly competitive environments and is assisting the CAIJ in its transformation, particularly in terms of customer experience and digital strategies. This is in line with her work as a consultant to various clients and as a manager, notably for Fido (Microcell Solutions), where she set up the company’s first digital team, and for Cogeco, where she worked for seven years, advancing from the position of Web and Interactive Applications Director to that of Vice-President of Marketing and Product Development.

Ms. Roussy holds a Master’s degree in Marketing Management from HEC Montréal and a Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design from UQÀM. She also attended the Cable Executive Management program at Harvard Business School.

Kim Nguyen most recently worked in the litigation group at McCarthy Tétrault in Montreal, where she began her legal career and was appointed partner in 2020. Her practice covers class actions, civil and commercial litigation and medical liability. She has represented various companies and institutions before trial and appeal courts. Ms. Nguyen will soon embark on the next stage of her career, serving the public interest.

Committed to equity and diversity, Ms. Nguyen has been involved in her community to promote women lawyers. She also represented McCarthy Tétrault on the Panorama group, the Quebec Bar’s initiative for ethnocultural diversity in the profession. She also founded the Quebec division of the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (FAACL) to promote the representation of Asian lawyers, as a legal career is not a traditionally encouraged choice within this group.

Prior to her call to the Bar in 2011, Ms. Nguyen worked in international relations and participated in government trade missions in Asia and Africa. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the Université de Montréal and an international diploma from the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris.

Frédéric Pérodeau has been a judge of the Superior Court of Quebec since December 2020. He has been coordinating judge of the civil and family divisions of the district of Montreal since November 2022.

Mr. Justice Pérodeau was admitted to the Quebec Bar in 1998 after obtaining a Bachelor of Laws from the Université de Montréal, where he was awarded the Faculty Medal. He also holds a master’s degree in business law from the same university and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Université du Québec à Montréal. He holds the designations of Certified Corporate Director (CCD) and Certified Corporate Lawyer (CCL).

He began his career with McCarthy Tétrault, becoming a partner in 2005. He practiced in the areas of civil and commercial litigation and professional liability. At the time of his appointment to the Superior Court, he was Superintendent of Client Assistance and Distribution Management at the Autorité des marchés financiers, where he also held the positions of Senior Director of Investigations and Director of Litigation.

Highly committed to his community and the legal profession, Mr. Justice Pérodeau chaired the Quebec Bar’s Professional Inspection Committee and was a member of its Access to the Profession Committee. He was National President of the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association, a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Bar Association and a member of the Executive Committee of its Quebec Division.

Mtre. Laurent Fréchette was appointed in October 2021 by the Chambre des notaires du Québec to serve as a guest member of the CAIJ’s Board of Directors.

Mtre. Fréchette is a Notary Emeritus. Since 2014, he has been authorized to hold the title of TEP as a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). From 2001 to 2014, he also held the title of Financial Planner.

Mtre. Fréchette is an authority on the transfer of assets to vulnerable neurodivergent persons, and his practice is focused on trust law and will and tax planning for their families. He is regularly consulted by the notary community, financial stakeholders and the media about the Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP), the Social Solidarity Program and the Disability Tax Credit (DTC).

He has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Chambre des notaires du Québec since 2014 and is currently the chair of its committee for grants of financial assistance.

Mtre. Fréchette was a member of the group of experts appointed by the Ministère de la Santé to examine whether medical assistance in dying could be applied in the context of incapacity. This led to the tabling of Bill 38 to amend the Act respecting end-of-life care and other legislative provisions.

Mtre. Fréchette was invited to speak at the Joint Conference of the European Commission and HCCH on the Cross-border Protection of Vulnerable Adults, held at the European Parliament in December 2018.

For nine years, he was a lecturer in the graduate program in notarial law at Université de Sherbrooke.

Mtre. Fréchette is a senior partner at Étude Hogue, Fortier, Fréchette inc.