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CCCA_V4No4_Global-FIN.qxd:CCCA_V1No1_DriversSeat-FIN.qxd 10/27/10 3:08 PM Page 23 Feature reputation as being open-minded, good listeners, non-political, might be a good place; it’s a common-law jurisdiction like hard-working, efficient and trustworthy. None of us deserve each Canada,” he says. of those attributes at all times, but it can open doors, too.” Lalonde and his wife then moved to British Columbia for his articles, but the couple wanted to return to Asia. Lalonde respond- ed to an advertisement in the South China Morning Post from a ince Lalonde, general counsel of Westlead Capital Inc. in law firm looking to hire an immigration lawyer or consultant for V Taipei, Taiwan, helps business and investors immigrants its satellite office in China. He got the job and the couple moved from Taiwan and China who want to come to Canada, the U.S. to Guangzhou in southern China, a city of 10 million people.. and Singapore. After several years and a son who arrived in 2003 (the couple As corporate counsel, Lalonde is in an unusual position. Most also has a daughter, born in 2006), they decided to move back to immigration companies hire external counsel on a case-by- Taiwan to be near family members. Lalonde soon found a job as case basis for their legal needs, so Lalonde doesn’t know of any corporate counsel with PriceWaterhouseCoopers, practising cor- other corporate counsel in an immigration company in Taiwan porate law, mergers and acquisitions. But his real interest still lay in or China. immigration law. But Lalonde, 37, a native of North Bay, Ont., possesses an array Then in 2007,Westlead owner Raymond Ku, whom Lalonde of skills that might be unique in his position.He’s a member of the had met in China several years before, approached him with an British Columbia Bar, he speaks Mandarin, he has a deep under- offer: would he like to become the company’s first ever in-house standing of both Taiwanese and Chinese culture, and his prime lawyer? And the rest is history. legal interest is immigration law. Asked about Canadian lawyers interested in corporate counsel And he understands the needs of his clients. As an immigrant positions inTaiwan or China,Lalonde notes the local legal market, himself,Lalonde has experienced the challenges and opportunities while still relatively small,is growing fast:“There are lots of oppor- in making a successful transition to life in a country other than tunities over here.” Canadian-trained lawyers are a rarity, especially your homeland. in China.“As such, business people are curious; they are eager to Lalonde's work is remarkably diverse, even for corporate coun- find out what services you can provide for their company.” sel. “In many ways, my daily activities do not mirror those of the One way for Canadian lawyers to improve their prospects is to more traditional in-house counsel role,whereby they directly serve pass a state bar in the U.S.As Asian business becomes more sophis- business units within an organization,” he notes. ticated and global, the issue of where lawyers have been called to Lalonde works directly with clients inTaiwan,helps the compa- the bar can influence their employment prospects. “It can make ny’s immigration agents in China, reviews immigration applica- you seem much more international,” Lalonde says. tions, corresponds with government immigration authorities in Canada as well as Singapore and the U.S., and supervises the Westleads document processing centre and staff. Alyson D’Oyley In addition, Westlead has set up several immigrant investor Company secretary funds for jurisdictions that still allow private investment under African Rainbow Minerals Limited their investor immigration programs, such as the U.S. and Johannesburg, South Africa Singapore. Lalonde was very active in the design and preparation of those funds. n 2004, Alyson D’Oyley was a senior associate at Fasken In 1994, Lalonde, armed with a freshly minted undergraduate IMartineau Dumoulin LLP’s Toronto office when the oppor- degree from McGill, set off for Taiwan to teach English. There tunity arose to move to Johannesburg, South Africa, as the firm he met and married his Taiwanese wife, Rita Su, and together, opened an office there to increase its international presence. the couple moved to Canada to further their education. D’Oyley, who has always been interested in travel and experi- Lalonde graduated with a law degree from the University of encing new cultures, took the opportunity and hasn’t looked Ottawa, while his wife earned a computer degree from back since. Algonquin College. D’Oyley had been with Fasken Martineau for less than a year, During Lalonde’s second summer at law school, he did an but she had more than six years of legal experience that included internship at the Department of Justice in the human rights sec- mining, securities, competition and trade law.A 1995 graduate of tion, completing his last semester of law school in Singapore. “I UBC Law School,she also studied at the University ofAmsterdam was interested in coming back to Asia, and I thought Singapore and holds a masters of law fromTemple University in the U.S. HIVER 2010 CCCA Canadian Corporate Counsel Association 23