![\"images\/Photos\/2009-%20MedailleEmee\"](\"https:\/\/www.barreaudemontreal.qc.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009-MedailleEmee.jpg\")
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R\u00e9f\u00e9rer le bon avocat<\/strong><\/em> (Referring the right lawyer)<\/strong> \u00c9m\u00e9e Landry, who is in charge of the Referral Service, was initially very surprised to be designated as recipient of the M\u00e9rite of the Bar of Montr\u00e9al. \u201cI didn\u2019t even know that you could be given that award without being a lawyer!\u201d she responded when interviewed.\u00a0 And yet she was unanimously selected by the members of the Council.\u00a0 \u201cSome 40 years ago the Bar of Montreal created the Referral Service, whose mission is to provide anyone who doesn\u2019t know a lawyer the name of a colleague willing to provide an initial 30-minute consultation for $30,\u201d explained Mtre Nicolas Plourde. Since October 15, 1984, this service has been managed by that rare jewel, Ms. \u00c9m\u00e9e Landry.\u201d<\/p>\n Initially, Ms. Madame Landry handled 2,500 requests annually, by telephone, mail or even in person.\u00a0 She sometimes found herself sharing her office with whole families or people out of work and homeless, needing the services of a lawyer. She remembers the enormous Cardex file she would use to find a lawyer available to respond to requests.\u00a0 Because of technological progress, she can now respond by telephone or email to more than 12,000 requests for referrals each year.<\/p>\n B\u00e2tonnier Plourde noted her never-failing professionalism, empathy and courtesy. \u00a0\u201cShe has always deeply felt the pain and the distress of those seeking her help.\u00a0 And yet, despite the sadness often generated by those consulting her to obtain justice, she always succeeds in performing her duties in a remarkable way.\u00a0 She leaves the office at the end of the day with a smile on her lips and the true feeling of having helped,\u201d declared Mtre Plourde.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel a little like a psychologist,\u201d Ms. Landry reveals. \u201cI try to listen as if it was my own brother or sister at the other end of the line.\u201d\u00a0 Before taking her position in the Referral Service, \u00c9m\u00e9e Landry taught for ten years in an elementary school in a village in New Brunswick.\u00a0 She then moved to Montr\u00e9al, where she became a legal secretary.\u00a0 \u201cI consider myself very spoiled by working for the Bar of Montreal for all these years,\u201d the recipient concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":463,"parent":1077,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","inline_featured_image":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1374","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nOriginal French version written by Lisa Marie No\u00ebl<\/em><\/p>\n