Charest makes partner at Mccarthy Tétrault

Former Quebec premier Jean Charest has a new job — at a Montreal law firm.

The firm of McCarthy Tétrault announced Thursday that Charest has joined the law office as a partner. He will be based in Montreal.

In a statement, the firm says Charest brings invaluable expertise to the firm’s clients because of his in-depth knowledge and experience with public policy, corporate Canada and international affairs.

McCarthy Tétrault is the same law firm where another former premier, Daniel Johnson, works. A former Quebec Liberal Party president, Marc-André Blanchard, is chairman of the firm.

Charest has not spoken in public since the September election and was not commenting on his appointment. He made an appear- ance Thursday evening in Toronto where he delivered a speech to the conservative Albany Club.

“It is with great enthusiasm that I join the firm and team of McCarthy Tétrault, the first Canadian law firm to establish a national presence and whose history is intimately linked to the development of Quebec and Canada,” Charest says in the firm’s statement.

A Université de Sherbrooke law school graduate, Charest was admitted to the bar in 1981 but only practised briefly because he was elected to the House of Commons in 1984, along with Brian Mulroney.

Charest and his Liberal government were defeated by the Parti Québécois in the Sept. 4, 2012, election.

He had been leader of the Liberals since 1998, when he replaced Johnson.