In Montreal, Jean-Pierre Des-
rosiers has joined Fasken Marti-
neau Dumoullin LLP as a partner
and business advisor. For the
past 30 years, Jean-Pierre
worked with KPMG in Montréal
as an auditor and as a participant
in countless public issues and
mergers and acquisitions trans-
actions. He also played an active
role in KPMG’s leadership team
as its managing partner in Mont-
real as well as leading the quality
control practice, serving on the
partner nominating committee,
and serving as a board member
for its operations in Canada and
the Americas.
In Toronto, Marlene Legare
has joined Osler, Hoskin & Har-
court LLP. Legare’s practice is pri-
marily focused on commodity
taxation, customs and related
cross-border matters, including
all aspects of the GST and HST,
customs duty and provincial sales
taxes. As part of her extensive
background in these areas,
Legare has held senior positions
with Finance Canada, including
chief of legislation in the sales tax
division, where she was intim-
ately involved in all aspects of
policy development and drafting
of the original GST legislation,
subsequent amending Acts, and
the legislation that introduced the
HST. With Finance Canada, she
also oversaw the development of
legislation in other areas of com-
modity tax, including federal
excise taxes, the Air Travellers
Security Charge and the First
Nations Goods and Services Tax.
In Vancouver, Parveen Karsan
and Alexander Coombes have
joined Lawson Lundell LLP’s taxa-
tion group as associates.
Jennifer Maron was taken
aback when a friend suggested she
become a Consultant for Arbonne
International’s skin care and
health and wellness products. “I’m
a lawyer. I’m not going to sell lip-
stick and foot cream.” Neverthe-
less she accepted her friend’s invi-
tation to Arbonne’s National
Training Conference in Las Vegas.
“I planned to skip the sessions,
lounge around by the pool and
play in the casino,” Maron says.
But when she attended the open-
ing sessions she was “enthralled.”
She had never been so
impressed with a corporate man-
agement team. She was especially
impressed with the fact that both
the president and CEO of the
company were women. Coming
from a previously male dominated
profession this was a refreshing
change. Although the sales force is
predominantly female, men are
starting to enter the business
lured by the large income poten-
tial and flexible hours. In fact, the
first Canadian male was promoted
to the national vice president level
this past year.
Arbonne is a direct sales company similar to The Pampered
Chef, Ltd. and Mary Kay Inc.
Arbonne’s sales consultants are
their own boss, work from home,
put in as many or as few hours as
they like and potentially earn a
large income. Arbonne’s sales consultants not only earn commissions on the sales they make
through hosting Arbonne parties
and tapping into their networks,
but also earn commissions on the
sales of those they recruit. Arbonne
is a 30-year-old company and one
of the world leaders in botanicals.
The brand has been available in
the U.S. since 1980 and has only
recently come to Canada.
Although Maron liked her colleagues at the Toronto office of
Miller Thomson LLP and enjoyed
her work as a litigator eventually
she became disillusioned with the
practice of law. She didn’t like the
long hours and the constant strug-
Jennifer Maron
Law school:
University of Windsor
Called to the Bar:
1997
Career highlights:
1996 Articled at Holden
Day Wilson
2009 Began career in direct
sales at Arbonne International
2010 Set to be named a
regional vice president at
Arbonne International
Kay Napierm CEO of Arbonne International, Jennifer Maron and Rita Davenport, president of Arbonne, at a conference.
APPOINTMENTS
In Alberta, Shirley Heafey,
the public complaint director at
the Calgary Police Commission
and former chair and CEO of the
Commission for Public Com-
plaints Against the RCMP has
recently been appointed as a
part-time member of the Alberta
Human Rights Tribunal.
gle of balancing work and life.
After four years working in law on
Bay Street she says she began to
feel “like a cog in a machine.” She
recalls one lawyer who worked on
a factum at her desk while in
labour, trying frantically to complete it before being rushed to the
hospital to deliver her baby.
After the birth of her second
child, Maron continued to practise
law from home. She considered
going back to work part-time, but
was told 35 hours per week was
considered part-time for law.
Although she says she “never
imagined” a career in direct sales,
the conference in Las Vegas had
changed her mind. She was
already sold on Arbonne’s prod-
ucts, which she had started using
during her third pregnancy. She
had recommended the company’s
products to friends and family,
many whom became purchasers.
As her friend told her, “You already
are selling Arbonne products, you
just aren’t getting paid.”
In April 2009, Maron took the
plunge and hosted her first
Arbonne party. At first she was
uncertain of whether or not she
would tell her former legal col-
leagues of her new profession. She
decided not to keep her new job a
secret and one of her first clients
was a friend from law school at the
University of Windsor.
Got news?
Contributions to
Names in the News
can be e-mailed to
names@lexisnexis.ca
Publisher
Anand Ablack, LL.B.
Managing Editor
Tim Wilbur, J.D.
Focus Editor
Natalie Fraser, LL.B.
Legal Business Editor
Melissa Dunne
Ottawa Bureau Chief
Cristin Schmitz
Art Director
Tammy Leung
Production Coordinator
Pauline Braithwaite
Production/Art Interns
Vanessa King & Krysta McBurnie
® THE LAWYERS WEEKLY
HOW TO REACH US
Phone: (905) 479–2665
Toll-free: 1–800–668–6481
Fax: (905) 479–3758
e-mail: tlw@lexisnexis.ca
Main Office
123 Commerce Valley Drive East
Suite 700, Markham, ON L3T 7W8
Phone: (905) 479–2665
Ottawa Bureau
c/o Parliamentary Press Gallery
Rm 350-N, Centre Block
Parliament Hill, Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
Phone: (613) 820-2794
Fax: (613) 995-5795
Website: www.lawyersweekly.ca
Member, Ontario Press Council
2 Carlton Street, Suite 1706, Toronto, ON
(416) 340–1981; Fax: (416) 340–8724
ADVERTISING
Team Lead, Advertising Sales
Jodie Carrera (905) 415–5805
CIRCULATION
Circulation Controller
Scott Welsh (905) 479–2665, ext. 324
Postal Information: Please forward all
postal returns to: Circulation Controller, The
Lawyers Weekly, 123 Commerce Valley Drive
East, Suite 700, Markham, ON L3T 7W8.
Return postage guaranteed. ISSN 0830-
0151. Publications Mail Sales Agreement
Number: 40065517.
Correspondents
Luigi Benetton, Toronto
Arnold Ceballos, LL.B., Toronto
Thomas Claridge, Toronto
Christopher Guly, Ottawa
Jeremy Hainsworth, Vancouver
Geoff Kirbyson, Winnipeg
Luis Millan, Montreal
donalee Moulton, Halifax
Gary Oakes, Victoria
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
1 year (48 issues): $270, plus tax
2 years (96 issues): $460, plus tax
U.S. and international subscriptions: $375/year
Law student rate: $62, plus tax
Individual copies: $9.50, plus tax
GST/HST/QST No.: R121051767
COPYRIGHT/TRADEMARK
The Lawyers Weekly is published on Fridays,
48 times a year, by LexisNexis Canada Inc.,
123 Commerce Valley Drive East, Suite 700,
Markham, ON L3T 7W8. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any
material form (including photocopying or storing it in
any medium by electronic means and whether or not
transiently or incidentally to some other use of this
publication) without the written permission of the
copyright owner, except in accordance with the
provisions of the Copyright Act. The Lawyers Weekly
is a registered trademark of LexisNexis Canada Inc.
