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FEATURE 56 www.canadianlawyermag.com REAL ESTATE jurisdictions abroad. Some might invest in platforms in a particular place, such as Europe, for logistics, looking to develop sites for users such as large internet companies, says von Hahn. The process often includes the creation of a joint venture structure where the Canadian investor may serve as the equity partner and relying on the local knowledge of the other partner, who is often a developer or prop- erty manager based in that country. The local partner may also have a good pipeline on deals that may result in a joint venture agree- ment exclusive to that jurisdiction. "What we try to do is help clients, who are navigating unfamiliar territory, under- stand they can be properly protected in a want to have everything more buttoned down so that you spell out stuff like exit strategy and timelines for return of money, etc., so that there's no surprises, and document it all in detail, taking nothing for granted," says MacFadyen, adding that the familiarity with the judicial system at home doesn't translate when working on deals abroad. Peter Tolensky, leader of Lawson Lundell LLP's real estate practice group in Vancouver, which has been involved in five international transactions during the past two years through the firm's long-term rela- tionship with a large Canadian pension fund, says that, after it developed a level of matu- rity at home, the fund turned more to the world real estate market to meet its needs. "It's getting harder and harder for pension funds in Canada to find the right size of deal here in Canada. They need to do large trans- actions and the ability to find those large transactions is very limited in our relatively small market," he says. Paul Greven, Canadian chief counsel for international real estate property consul- "The importance of networking internationally has never been as important for a little dirt lawyer as it is today." Thomas von Hahn, Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP jurisdiction that is not their home turf. That comes with a bunch of challenges," says von Hahn. "The legal is one side but also the practice of the trades are different in different jurisdictions." There are several issues to consider when buying property in different jurisdictions that do not arise when buying property at home, says Fraser MacFadyen, a partner with Stewart McKelvey in Halifax, who has been involved in transactions involving property in the United States. The commercial client is often quite familiar with the process and the documents involved when purchasing real estate in Canada, but that sense of comfort disappears for transactions abroad. "When working in another country, you