The deal will also bring Novalex's legal clinic Clinique Juste to the firm
The Quebec business law firm Delegatus has acquired Novalex, in what the firms’ leaders call a “match made in heaven.”
Novalex focuses on business law, litigation, intellectual property, and employment law. In addition to Delegatus’ traditional business law practice, it offers in-house legal support and advisory services. Novalex also runs Clinique Juste, a pro-bono legal clinic.
Both Novalex and Delegatus are people- and growth-driven, says Pascale Pageau, Delegatus president, who founded the firm in 2005. They will spend the first part of 2024 combining their distinct business models to find the “best of both,” she says.
“We're both very human-centric firms,” says Ryan Hillier, who co-founded Novalex with Sophie Tremblay and will serve as strategic advisor to the president at Delegatus. The Delegatus company motto is “legally happy,” while Novalex’s is “the right to be bold.”
“These firms have a desire to innovate but always place human beings at the centre of what we do, rather than this relentless pursuit of profit, where everything else takes second fiddle. I think that will be a testament to our success over time.”
“We've each innovated in our own separate ways, and now I guess the way forward will be reinventing the private practice of law together,” he says.
Announced Monday, Novalex’s 21 legal professionals and seven staff will bring Delegatus’ personnel to 92, including 72 lawyers, paralegals, one notary and 20 support staff.
Joining forces positions the firm as a “very strong and serious alternative” to other mid-sized to larger firms in Montreal and across Quebec, says Tremblay, now chief operating officer and head of social impact.
"It was important for the Novalex team to continue practicing in a supportive environment aligned with our values,” she says. “By joining Delegatus, we can pursue our aspirations in an inspiring and human-centric collective. I am especially proud to be appointed the collective's first-ever social impact lead. In this new role, I will infuse my experience and expertise in social and environmental issues to propel Delegatus even further in its mission to change the culture of law.”
The acquisition of Novalex brings Clinique Juste into the Delegatus fold. Hillier and Tremblay founded Clinique Juste in 2016, and it supports social enterprises, non-profits, and pro-bono legal services. Through Juste Nord, the clinic provides free civil, personal, family, and administrative law services to communities in Nunavik in northern Quebec.
“We created Novalex with the idea to be both socially and commercially driven,” says Tremblay. They wanted a legal clinic integrated into the law firm. Following a recent legislative change, which allows non-profits to provide legal services, it became an independent, non-profit law firm. Their aim is to establish Clinique Juste as a self-sufficient and autonomous operation within the next year or so.
“All the work that we were envisioning for the legal clinic is continuing through Delegatus,” she says.
According to Pageau, the marriage with Delegatus will expand the clinic’s reach and provide many more hands for its work.
