A French Lawyer
by Maxence Jaillet, L'Aquilion
Translated by Alain Chiasson
"It was a big deal," said Alain Chiasson, when he talks about moving to the Northwest Territories. Stimulated by the downsizing of his former firm, he left New Brunswick and moved to Yellowknife as a lawyer, at McLennan Ross. The "big deal" refers more to the various boxes and the challenging search for a place to live than the decision or how he was recruited. "I saw an ad. I interviewed for about 90 minutes on the phone with Glenn Tait, and he then made an offer I could not really argue with", says Alain Chiasson.
"This is not a large national firm" he adds. "We are in a smaller city than Calgary or Edmonton, but I like the contact that practicing in a smaller town creates with people. I find the North has much to offer. It is the best kept secret in the country. "
After working at McLennan Ross for three months, Mr. Chiasson realizes that there is much potential for him to develop a prosperous and challenging practice in this city. He currently describes his time at work as very busy and he is happy with the way things turned out. If he works almost exclusively in English, Yellowknifers will certainly take advantage of this New Brunswicker's perfect fluency in French. "Many Francophones may function in both French and English in their everyday life. However, when the time comes to make a big decision like buying a house, for example, Francophones will prefer to deal with someone who can explain the fine point of a transaction in their own language. The documents of a transaction may be drafted in English because we are in the Northwest Territories, the legal advice and the explanations about the legal consequences of a transaction may be given in French. "
With the Francophone community, he believes extremely active, Alain Chiasson is not worried to have work referred to him from several members of the community. After earning his Bachelor in Business Administration in Fredericton, then his LL.B. in Toronto, he completed his Masters in Taxation at the Université de Sherbrooke. Mr. Chiasson attests to having no problem with the legal terminology in French or English and he considers it a rare accomplishment among lawyers to be able to practice in both official languages. He said that McLennan Ross is excited to be able to offer services to the French community in their own language. Mr. Chiasson also finds that providing legal services is especially a good opportunity to speak French. "I feel I share affinities with other Francophone and they appreciate that I can give them advice on complex legal issues in their own language. It makes them feel at ease and more comfortable with the advice they receive.”
Mr. Chiasson practices in the areas of corporate, commercial , securities and real estate law . He also practices in the area of estate planning and excels in taxation. Mr. Chiasson also advises entrepreneurs who want to incorporate a company, finance its operations or enter into all types of business agreements. He has also advised owner-managed family business in tax efficient business succession planning reorganizations and provides general legal advice to his corporate client in many areas.
Mr. Chiasson and his three colleagues from the Yellowknife office of McLennan Ross provides services in all areas of the law except for criminal and family law.
This new Francophone in the Northwest Territories states that he and his spouse , Carole, Yellowknife is synonymous with good quality of life and he does not feel that isolation is a problem. "Coming from the Acadian Peninsula, I am used to have to travel ling distances before reaching major centres. " Before I left for Moncton to fly from Montreal or Ottawa, now I'm flying from Yellowknife to Calgary or Edmonton, it is about the same."