Lucie Joncas, BA, LLM, obtained her law degree in 1991 from the Universite de Sherbrooke and her MA in health law in 2001. She has been in private practice for twenty years, mainly in the field of criminal law and mental health law. Ms. Joncas sits on the board as past president of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (2007–10). She is the past president of the Quebec Defence Attorneys Association (2005–07) and was a director of the Montreal Defence Attorneys Association for several years. Ms. Joncas is also on the board of directors of the Canadian Council of Criminal Defence Lawyers. She has been involved in many Quebec bar committees and also teaches criminal advocacy at the bar admission course. She was the president of the Haute-Yamaska Suicide Prevention Centre and has lectured at several conferences in Canada and abroad in the criminal and mental health fields.