We are proud to announce the appointment of Yann Bernard, a partner at Langlois Lawyers, as a grievance arbitrator.
Yann is a seasoned lawyer with more than 25 years of experience mainly in labour and employment law, education law and sports law. His broad experience includes more than 20 years in private practice combined with four years as director of legal affairs and secretary general for major anglophone and francophone school boards. Throughout his career, he has particularly distinguished himself by his ability to understand complex labour relations issues and the impact of each grievance arbitration or workplace injury case on employer-employee relations. His media experience was highly valued by his clients, especially in crisis management situations arising from labour conflicts or other high-profile confrontations. Yann is also a renowned conference speaker and training instructor. He is the author of several articles and has collaborated in the updating of the book Le droit du travail du Québec, an indispensable reference manual for understanding the nuts and bolts of labour law.
In parallel to his legal career, Yann has also dedicated himself to fencing. He has represented Canada on several occasions in international competitions as a member of the Canadian fencing team. His professional career was therefore naturally oriented towards high-performance sports, which led him to advise various sports federations and athletes, to represent the Canadian anti-doping authorities, as well as to sit on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s Laboratory Disciplinary Committee. In addition, Yann acted as the ombudsman for the Canadian delegation to the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro and the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, as well as the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, the 2012 Olympic Games in London and the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi. He is the current Chair of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Fencing Federation and a member of the Legal Commission of the International Fencing Federation.
“This nomination is the consecration of Yann’s expertise and rigour. He has long been a reference for many of his colleagues. We will miss his sense of humour, his bow ties and his unique way of doing things. We wish him much success and happiness in his new position,” said Jean-François Gagnon, Chief Executive Officer of the firm.