Marie-Pierre Robert, the dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Sherbrooke, usurps the title of lawyer
Alexandra Captariu, LL.B.
Source : University of Sherbrooke
Marie-Pierre Robert is a professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Sherbrooke since 2007, where she is the dean (the highest-ranking official) since January 2024.
Ms. Robert became a member of the Quebec Bar in 2002.
She resigned from the Quebec Bar in 2014, without having actually practiced law actively during that period.
Her resignation from the Quebec Bar occurred simultaneously with her taking on management responsibilities within the Faculty of Law of the University of Sherbrooke as Vice-Dean of Teaching, in addition to being co-director of the graduate program in Criminal and Penal Law Practice, thus avoiding the possibility of being subject to complaints to the Quebec Bar, investigations, and disciplinary sanctions based on the Code of Professional Conduct of Lawyers while taking decisions affecting the careers of other professionals, including lawyers who knew their rights, namely the right to file complaints against her with the Quebec Bar.
The curriculum vitae that Marie-Pierre Robert submitted in 2023 in order to obtain the position of dean at the Faculty of Law of the University of Sherbrooke confirms the year of her resignation from the Quebec Bar :
Excerpt from Marie-Pierre Robert's CV, in 2023.
A search on the Quebec Bar's Directory of Lawyers also confirms that Marie-Pierre Robert is not a member of the Quebec Bar.
Marie-Pierre Robert presents herself to the public as a lawyer, when in fact she is not a lawyer
Despite the fact that she was no longer a member of the Quebec Bar since 2014, Marie-Pierre Robert continued to present herself and be presented to the public as a lawyer, under the title of “Maître”, a title reserved for lawyers who are members of the Quebec Bar.
Since 2017, Dean Marie-Pierre Robert has repeatedly presented herself as a lawyer in several publications from various official pages linked to the University of Sherbrooke, the institution where she is a manager.
For example, on January 31st, 2017, on the Facebook page of the Criminal and Penal Law Committee of the University of Sherbrooke, Marie-Pierre Robert was presented as “Me” Marie-Pierre Robert , even though Ms. Robert had not been a lawyer for 3 years :
Source : Criminal and Penal Law Committee of the University of Sherbrooke - CPLC, https://web.facebook.com/cdcp.udes/photos/a.1722320634667338/1937881603111239/
On May 6th, 2024, on the official page of the Master's program in notarial law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Sherbrooke, Marie-Pierre Robert was presented as “Me” Marie-Pierre Robert, even though Ms. Robert had not been a lawyer for 10 years :
On September 5th, 2024, Dean Marie-Pierre Robert was once again presented as “Maître” on the official page of the pro bono students Canada of the Faculty of Law at the University of Sherbrooke :
Source : Pro bono Students Canada of the Faculty of Law of the University of Sherbrooke, https://www.instagram.com/p/C_hKZQQJ82b/
Source : Pro bono Students Canada of the Faculty of Law of the University of Sherbrooke, https://www.instagram.com/p/C_hKZQQJ82b/
The various web pages linked to the University of Sherbrooke are not the only ones where Marie-Pierre Robert presented herself as a lawyer.
In February 2025, on the webpage of the Quebec Forum on Access to Civil and Family Justice, a gathering that brings together several judges from the Court of Quebec, the Superior Court of Quebec and the Court of Appeal of Quebec, the Administrative Tribunal of Quebec, representatives of the Government of Quebec, and other institutions or organisations of the Ministry of Justice, the Human Rights Commission of Quebec, etc., professional associations such as the Quebec Bar, the Chamber of notaries, etc., Dean Marie-Pierre Robert presented herself to the public and her colleagues as a lawyer, using the professional title of “Maître”, in its classic abbreviated form “Me” :
Source : Quebec Forum on Access to Civil and Family Justice, https://forumaccesjustice.quebec/membres/
In 2026 still, Marie-Pierre Robert continues to present herself to the public with the abbreviation of the professional title of lawyer, “Me”, on the Forum’s website :
Source : Quebec Forum on Access to Civil and Family Justice, https://forumaccesjustice.quebec/membres/
The Quebec Bar presents or designates Marie-Pierre Robert to the public as a lawyer, even though she is not a lawyer
The Quebec Bar also presented Marie-Pierre Robert to the public over and over again as a lawyer, following her resignation from the Quebec Bar in 2014.
For example, the 2018-2019 annual report of the Quebec Bar published by the Quebec Bar on the official website of the Quebec Bar announces or designates Marie-Pierre Robert with the abbreviation of the title of lawyer “Me”, reserved for lawyers, even though Marie-Pierre Robert was no longer a lawyer :
Source : Quebec Bar, https://www.barreau.qc.ca/media/pt0bsukz/2018-2019-rapport-annuel.pdf
The 2019-2020 annual report of the Quebec Bar published by the Quebec Bar on the official website of the Quebec Bar announces or designates Marie-Pierre Robert with the abbreviation of the title of lawyer “Me”, reserved for lawyers, even though Marie-Pierre Robert was no longer a lawyer :
Source : Quebec Bar, https://www.barreau.qc.ca/media/xxkpleme/2019-2020-rapport-annuel.pdf
The 2020-2021 annual report of the Quebec Bar published by the Quebec Bar on the official website of the Quebec Bar announces or designates Marie-Pierre Robert with the abbreviation of the title of lawyer “Me”, reserved for lawyers, even though Marie-Pierre Robert was no longer a lawyer :
Source : Quebec Bar, https://www.barreau.qc.ca/media/5gshp4ds/4-rapport-annuel-2020-2021.pdf
The 2021-2022 annual report of the Quebec Bar published by the Quebec Bar on the official website of the Quebec Bar announces or designates Marie-Pierre Robert with the abbreviation of the title of lawyer “Me”, reserved for lawyers, even though Marie-Pierre Robert was no longer a lawyer :
Source : Quebec Bar, https://www.barreau.qc.ca/media/j5chvly0/2021-2022-rapport-annuel.pdf
After 2024, the Quebec Bar continued to present Marie-Pierre Robert to the public as a lawyer, using the abbreviation of the title of lawyer “Me”, still on the Quebec Bar’s official website, even though she had not been a lawyer for 10 years :
Source : Quebec Bar, https://www.barreau.qc.ca/media/aqflxr2c/signataires-declaration-bien-etre.pdf
Illegal conduct, severely punished by the law in Quebec (Canada)
In Quebec, allowing oneself to be announced or designated by an abbreviation of a reserved professional title or by the initials of said reserved professional title constitutes a penal offence severely punished under the Professional Code of Quebec. This law applies to the legal profession as well as other professions such as doctors, engineers, architects, etc.
This offence is provided for in Section 188.1 of the Quebec Professional Code :
Article 188.1 of the Professional Code of Quebec : Every person is guilty of an offence and is liable, for each offence, to the fine prescribed in section 188 who knowingly
1° without being a member of a professional order, allows himself to be announced or designated by a title, an abbreviation of that title or initials reserved for members of the order, or by a title, an abbreviation or initials that may lead to the belief that he is a member of the order;
This offence, heavily sanctioned under Section 188 of the Professional Code of Quebec, is punishable by a fine of up to $125,000 in the event of a subsequent offence:
Article 188 of the Professional Code of Quebec : Every person who contravenes a provision of this Code, of the Act or letters patent constituting an order or of an amalgamation or integration order is guilty of an offence and is liable to a fine of not less than $2,500 nor more than $62,500 in the case of a natural person and of not less than $5,000 nor more than $125,000 in other cases.
In the case of a subsequent offence, the minimum and maximum fines are doubled.
The institutions that announced or designated Marie-Pierre Robert as a lawyer have also violated the law
The Quebec Bar, the University of Sherbrooke and the Quebec Forum on Access to Civil and Family Justice, composed notably of judges and chief justices, have themselves repeatedly violated the Professional Code of Quebec by announcing Marie-Pierre Robert as a lawyer when she was not a member of the Professional Order of Lawyers of the Quebec Bar.
The offence perpetrated by third parties who present a non-member of a professional order as being a member of that professional order is provided for in Section 188.1, paragraph 1, subparagraph 2 of the Professional Code :
Article 188.1 of the Professional Code of Quebec : Every person is guilty of an offence and is liable, for each offence, to the fine prescribed in section 188 who knowingly
2° announces or designates a person who is not a member of a professional order by a title, an abbreviation of that title or initials reserved for members of the order, or by a title, an abbreviation or initials that may lead to the belief that the person is a member of the order;
In such a case, the Quebec Bar, the University of Sherbrooke and the Quebec Forum on Access to Civil and Family Justice, which announced or designated Marie-Pierre Robert as a lawyer, under the abbreviation of “Me”, are liable to penal convictions and a fine of up to $125,000 or double that amount in case of a subsequent offence.
The perpetual and prolonged failure over a long period of time to correct such an unlawful situation can constitute an aggravating factor of the offence.
The Dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Sherbrooke, Marie-Pierre Robert, had the proactive obligation to correct this illegality or to request that this false information that was misleading the public be corrected. Marie-Pierre Robert knows or should know this; she is a law professor, she knows the “rule of law” as well as her legal obligations, which she has chosen not to respect or to neglect.
It should also be noted that the act of presenting herself, being presented, or allowing herself to be presented as a lawyer without being a member in good standing of the Quebec Bar, led to the belief that Ms. Robert was authorised to perform the functions of a lawyer, in violation of Section 133 paragraph (c) of the Act respecting the Barreau du Québec :
Article 133 of the Act respecting the Barreau du Québec : Any person other than a member of the Bar practises the profession of advocate illegally within the meaning of section 132 and in each of the following cases, who :
(c) acts in such manner as to lead to the belief that he is authorized to fulfil the functions of or to act as an advocate.
The Quebec Bar, the offender against the Professional Code of Quebec in this case, designates itself as the “protector of the public” against such violations. To quote them :
“The Quebec Bar , whose mission is the protection of the public, exercises its duty of oversight at all times, both regarding the practice of the profession and in cases of alleged illegal practice.”
However, on which “evidence” and “official sources” do you think Google indicates to the public, still at the time of the publication of this article in 2026, that Marie-Pierre Robert is a member of the Quebec Bar when, in fact, she is not? On the false or inaccurate official publications of the Quebec Bar.
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* The author, Alexandra Captariu, LL.B., is a jurist and legal researcher. She has extensive and diverse professional experience.
Holding a bachelor’s degree in law (LL.B.) from the Faculty of Law of the University of Sherbrooke (Québec, Canada), she was a lawyer in Canada from 2020 to 2026. She began her career practicing in-house law, specialising in contract law, business law, privacy law, labour law, and intellectual property law.
Trilingual and versatile, she also possesses a certificate in private international law from the University of Salzburg, Austria.
Prior to her calling to the Quebec Bar, she has worked in the legal field since 2008, namely in Europe and in Canada. She also worked as a research assistant for a university professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Sherbrooke and held the position of editor and editor-in-chief for the student newspaper of the Faculty of Law.
She is currently the deputy director of the LEAGUE OF ACADEMIC RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS.