FEATURES * FAITS SAILLANTS 24   Bringing home the gold: Lawyers climb aboard the Team Canada trade missions

     Canadian manufacturers and service firms of all sizes are looking for offshore opportunities in today's global economy. And for every Canadian firm looking out, many more foreign firms are looking in at the prospects here. It adds up to a whole lot of deal-making, and plenty of opportunity for law firms of all sizes with the right mixture of money and skill.
By John Chenier and John Rainford

Premier Bouchard and Mitchell Brownstein

But friendly interaction only goes so far. It's not just quantity, but quality. Here, Team Canada missions are in a league of their own: "You have remarkable access to the politicians," says Mitchell Brownstein, Managing Partner of Brownstein & Brownstein in Montreal. "The PM is very protected but the premiers just mingle with the business people."

GETTING A PLACE ON THE TEAM

"The government can't invite every lawyer", says Mitchell Brownstein. Indeed, to ensure the continued success of the trade missions, efforts are made by the government to invite the right kind of participants. And just what does that involve?

"They have to demonstrate a track record in the region, they have to show the capacity for partnerships," says Sanjeev Chowdhury of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Chowdhury says that lawyers are evaluated like the businesses, which essentially means that they are checked out to be bona fide and "export ready."

Names of potential participants are found by contacting the embassies and trade offices in the region to identify active firms, as well as speaking to provincial departments, industry associations and development authorities.

"The difficult thing is being invited in the first place," says Brownstein. "Once you're on the list it's no problem."

Brownstein says that there was considerable groundwork before that initial invitation arrived. "We worked hard to establish a presence in India, building up and demonstrating a knowledge of the area. We participated in related seminars with Canadian officials and they were made well aware of our efforts".

PRECIS

Equipe Canada : une occasion en or pour les cabinets juridiques

De ait, explique Mitchell Brownstein, du cabinet Brownstein & Brownstein a Montreal, "nous allons seulement la ou nous avons un bureau regional ou un representant. Nous ne boulons pas simplement prender place a une conference. Nous rencontrons des clients et des representants gouvernementaux avec des objectifs precis."

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