People Mentioned
Montreal Managing Partner, Montréal
In a recent interview with Montréal-based newspaper Les Affaires, Sandra Abitan, Osler’s Montréal Managing Partner, discusses the plans underway for the office’s work space — the current lease expires in November of this year.
“I’m a bit against the grain,” Sandra tells journalist Philippe Jean Poirier. “I signed a long-term lease and took on more space. Unlike the majority of other firms — which have reduced their work space — we have decided to increase our square footage by approximately 23%.”
Before coming to this decision to set up new offices on three full floors of their existing building, the firm surveyed lawyers and employees in the Montréal office to determine their preferred work environment as well as attitudes towards hybrid work. The plan to expand the office space reflects both the results of the survey and the firm’s approach to returning to in-person work post-pandemic.
“Presence in the office is part of our philosophy,” Sandra explains. “It’s important to have a certain amount of face-to-face work to succeed as a lawyer. And it’s critical for supervising young lawyers, providing mentoring, helping them manage the challenges and stress of their practice.
“Law is learned at school and in court, of course,” she continues. “But it is also learned around a boardroom table, seeing how those who have a little more experience than us react to particular situations. Taming silence, not always trying to have the last word, is important for a lawyer. And it’s learned in person, through non-verbal language.”
To learn more, read Philippe Jean Poirier’s full article “Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt bets on face-to-face” in Les Affaires from May 8, 2024.
People Mentioned
Montreal Managing Partner, Montréal
