Ottawa, Ontario - 19 June 2015
Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced the following judicial appointments in Quebec:
The Honourable Eva Petras, a puisne judge of the Superior Court of Quebec, judicial district of Montréal since 2006, has been appointed Associate Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Quebec. She is replacing Mr. Justice Jacques R. Fournier. The appointment will take effect June 30, 2015.
Prior to becoming a judge, Madam Justice Petras, whose expertise is in the area of family law and litigation, practiced law with MacKenzie Gervais from 1981 to 1986 and Lapointe Rosenstein from 1986 to 1990 before starting her own firm in Montréal in 1990, the Eva Petras law firm.
Madam Justice Petras has also been a lecturer in family law at McGill University’s Faculty of Law and a member of both the Disciplinary Committee and the Professional Inspection Committee of the Bar of Quebec. She is a past president of the Canadian Slovak Professional and Business Association.
She received a Bachelor of Civil Law and a Bachelor of Common Law in 1980 from McGill University. She was admitted to the Bar of Quebec in 1981.
The Honourable Jacques R. Fournier, Associate Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Quebec since 2013, has been appointed Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Quebec. He is replacing Mr. Justice François Rolland. The appointment will take effect June 30, 2015.
Prior to this, Mr. Justice Fournier was appointed as puisne judge of the Court of Appeal of Quebec in 2011. He was appointed a judge of the Superior Court of Quebec in 2002 and was designated as coordinator for the judicial district of Laval for a five-year term beginning in July 2007.
Mr. Justice Fournier was an instructor at the Bar Admission Course from 1985 to 1995 and also an instructor at the Université du Québec à Montréal and the Université de Montréal. He was an active member of the Bar of Quebec, including a term as Vice President from 1997 to 1998, and Bâtonnier from 1998 to 1999. He has previously served as a member of the board of both the Fonds d'assurance responsabilité du Québec and the Corporation de service du Barreau du Québec.
His main areas of practice include real estate law and professional law, and he has previously practiced with Mondor, Fournier as well as Cain Lamarre Casgrain Wells.
Mr. Justice Fournier received a Bachelor of Arts (History) in 1974 and a law degree in 1977 from the Université de Montréal. In 1978, Mr. Justice Fournier was admitted to the Bar of Quebec.
