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 The offices of the Ministère de la Justice in Québec are located at 1200, route de l’Église, in the Louis-Philippe-Pigeon building, named in honour of the eminent Québec jurist who died in 1986.
Louis-Philippe Pigeon was born on February 8, 1905 in Saint-Georges d’Henryville, in the Haut-Richelieu. He studied law at Université Laval where he obtained a Licentiate in Laws as well as the Governor General’s gold medal. Following his admission to the Bar in 1928 at age 23, he practised law with the St-Laurent, Gagné, Devlin et Taschereau firm, headed by future Prime Minister of Canada Louis St-Laurent. He remained with the firm until 1935. During this period, he was elected secretary of the Jeune Barreau du Québec in 1935 before becoming president of the association the following year. In 1936, he also became bencher of the Barreau du Québec as well as delegate to the Conseil général du Barreau.
 In 1938, ten years after having received his degree, Université Laval asked him to teach civil law at the university’s social sciences faculty. He later returned to teaching on a few occasions, first in 1942 and 1943 at Université Laval’s faculty of law, then in 1980 as visiting professor at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law, Civil Law Section, and as Director for the Graduate Studies Program in drafting legislation.
As a lawyer, Pigeon in turn became Law Clerk of the Québec legislature from 1940 to 1944, President of the Société d’études juridiques de Québec in 1947-1948 and legal advisor to the Premier of Québec from 1960 to 1966. He also held the positions of chairman of the National Council on the Administration of Justice from 1963 to 1967, Vice-President of the Canadian Bar Association (1965-1966), Vice-President of the Uniform Law Conference of Canada (1966-1967) and President of the in 1966-1967.
In 1967, he became puisne judge of the Canada Supreme Court, a position that he occupied until his retirement in 1980 at age 75. The same year, he became a Companion of the Order of Canada.
As a jurist, Pigeon is the author of several major works in the legal field. His research work spans over 50 years, and his writings still serve as reference material for legal practitioners.
Université Laval, the University of Ottawa and Bishop’s University officially acknowledged his remarkable contribution by each offering him an honorary doctorate.
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