TIMMINS - It’s hard not to have roots in the community after five decades.
The Riopelle Group is celebrating its 50th anniversary in Timmins this year, and the roots go deep for many of the people working there, including Matthieu Lambert-Belanger, a senior partner at the firm.
“It’s special that people still want to come here after 50 years,” he said. “It means a lot.”
The Riopelle Group’s Timmins office offers litigation support, real estate law, estate law, and the family law part of the firm runs out of the Orleans office, which opened in 2007.
Senior partner Robert Riopelle, along with Lambert-Bélanger, Eleanor Baccega, and Mélaine Nylund, staff the Timmins and Orleans office near Ottawa, with Riopelle and Nyland in Orleans. There are three associate lawyers and an articling student with the firm as well.
“The fact that we’ve been here for 50 years, makes us part of the community,” said the firm’s office manager Elaine MacKenzie.
Their strong history feels like a support structure to do the work, said Lambert-Belanger.
“It inspires confidence,” he said. “When people come in to hire us for our services, it’s nice to know that we have that experience and background and we’ve been around a long time, so we’re obviously doing something right.”
Their offices serve many communities in the northeast along the Highway 11 corridor and up the James Bay Coast.
Despite covering a lot of ground, growth for the firm is something Lambert-Belanger says it’s something the firm is looking forward to doing as they move forward from this milestone.
“The idea is to continue to grow,” he said. “We’re always looking for anyone looking to come to the north.”
MacKenzie said they’re always looking for young lawyers and articling students to take on.
“We provide a very unique opportunity here because of the federal crown work that we do,” she said.
The group has a contact with the federal government to prosecute cases under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
“We’ve had that for a number of years, so that keeps at least three of our lawyers here busy,” he said.
