Julie Forest
Counsel and mediatorQUEBEC BAR 1989
Prior to joining Novalex, julie has been a partner with two prominent law firms. she has also acted as executive director of public affairs for various cultural organizations.
Julie is a lawyer with extensive experience practising primarily in labour and employment law, as well as administrative law, construction law and civil and commercial litigation. Julie is also an accredited mediator with the Quebec Bar in civil, commercial and labour law.
Julie has developed a strong experience before administrative and civil courts in matters of individual and collective labour relations. She represents both employers and senior executives subject to both federal and Quebec jurisdictions, both before administrative and common law tribunals. She has also negotiated several collective agreements.
Her expertise encompasses collective agreements, individual employment contracts, restrictive employment clauses, psychological harassment, occupational health and safety, pay equity, protection of personal information, human rights and freedoms, and employment insurance. She also represents her clients in litigation matters in civil, commercial and construction law.
Her practical knowledge of the entertainment and arts sector, copyright and the inner workings of production enables her to advise, represent and defend the interests of renowned producers and artists. She also acts in cases relating to image rights and privacy protection.
“You need to know the limits of what’s possible. Not to stop yourself but to aim at the impossible in the best conditions.”
ROMAIN GARYPractice areas
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Professional activities and initiatives
Education
Practice areas
- Labour and employment law
- Administrative law
- Construction law
- Civil and commercial litigation
- Entertainment law and copyright
Select experience
Julie has notably:
ACTED for MWW Enterprises Inc. in a case involving employment insurance eligibility for television production workers, belonging to various trades and covered by various working conditions. It led the Court to adopt a holistic view of the qualification of the contractual relationship between the parties, going beyond the rules of the Civil Code on employment contracts alone to encompass the entire legislative context;
ACTED for Collège Laval in defense of a claim for a two-year notice of termination from a professor dismissed for false statements about his state of health and facing a surveillance;
ACTED for Cafétéria Communautaire MultiCaf and obtained the dismissal of a grievance by which the union contested the abolition of an employee’s position, invoking the obligation to consult the union and to ensure that the use of persons participating in the employer’s various social programmes was not exercised to the detriment of unionized staff;
ACTED for Groupe 3G Inc. and Air 2G Canada Inc. in connection with a complaint under section 122 of the Act respecting labour standards, rebutting the presumption in section 123.4 of the Act;
ACTED for a municipality with respect to the dismissal of an executive with more than 30 years’ seniority. The Superior Court dismissed the employee’s application for judicial review;
ACTED for the Association des entrepreneurs en maçonnerie du Québec and several players in the construction industry: general contractors, formwork and electrical companies, etc.;
NEGOTIATED and DRAFTED agreements and documents on human resources management for construction companies (employment contracts, employee guides), and conducts training on these subjects;
NEGOTIATED the first three collective agreements in the private theatre sector;
ADVISED several municipal and paramunicipal employers, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises in the communications, retail, restaurant and hospitality sectors, in all matters relating to labour and employment law;
NEGOTIATED artists’ contracts under the Act respecting the professional status and conditions of employment of performing, recording and film artists;
NEGOTIATED and DRAFTED of software license agreements;
DRAFTEDco-production, production and broadcasting contracts and a contract to acquire the rights to an important television production to produce a live performance.
Professional activities and initiatives
Association des juristes pour l’avancement de la vie artistique (AJAVA)
Fondation Montréal inc., Volunteer lawyer with various entrepreneurs
Director, Centre culturel Georges-Vanier (2017-2018)
Director, Les Ateliers d’Antoine (2009-2014)
Education
Course in civil and commercial mediation, Quebec Bar – 2014
DESS degree in management consulting, ESG UQÀM – 2003
Certificate in public relations, Université de Montréal – 1998
LL.B., Université de Montréal – 1987