Canadian Lawyer InHouse

and we're looking for more business there and in Malaysia next year as well as Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Middle East. We're really striving to increase the business and signaling will increase significantly in the next few years. About 75 per cent of our signaling business is for export now but signaling last year and this year will be focused domestically. We are also looking to increase business with the U.S. on the aerospace side. We will be increasing our footprint in Canada but we are really focused internationally. So we need staff that can juggle many types of legislation and bid requirements that are different from one place to another. How will you manage the added workload from this activity? In our industry we feel outside counsel don't really have the expertise we have. Everybody on our team has a specialty in tax or anti-bribery, ethics, and negotiating contracts. We use outside law firms but we go to them on very specific issues and sometimes for India and Malaysia we need to have an opinion from local counsel over there. In the defence business, essentially it's government terms and conditions which are rarely negotiable, but we need to know how to maneuver. When we do business in China it's different than in India and the Middle East is a completely different ball game. Singapore is really tough and by the book. We're lucky to have hired someone born in China and trained in Canada and China who has an accounting background and an MBA. She is focused on the Chinese files but now she's working on other files from Brazil — we had two big wins in Brazil to be finished for the World Cup and Olympics. Is diversity of staffing on files an issue you discuss with your external counsel? Within the company diversity is essential and in my department it's very important especially because we do business all over the world. We have two people from Asia and the Middle East and Canada who have different backgrounds. With respect to outside firms, if I don't like the service I'm getting from outside counsel I'm going to go somewhere else but I don't see it as my position to tell them, 'Guys, you have to this and that in terms of staffing.' In terms of service I'm very direct and they know what I want and how I want to be billed and structured. But whether they hire 10 females or people from different cultural backgrounds — I don't think it's my mission in life to tell them to do that, frankly. COMING TO www.canadianlawyermag.com/ Canadian-Lawyer-TV/InHouse-videos.html Canada's leading CLOs explore their challenges for the year ahead Alaine Grand, Mirko Bibic, AstraZeneca January 28 BCE February 18 Daniel Marion, Anna Fung, Thales Canada Inc. February 4 TimberWest Forest Corp. February 25 Geoff Creighton, Jane Fedoretz, IGM Financial Inc. February 11 VIEW 2013 BROUGHT TO YOU BY w w w. c a n a d i a n law y er m a g . c o m / i n h o u s E BlakesView_CL_Feb_13.indd 1 CEDA International March 4 February 2013 25 • 13-01-18 11:20 AM

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