Expert in international mobility

"Whether we’re dealing with an SME or a multinational, the challenge is the same,” says lawyer Julie Lessard, who after co-founding her own practice in 1998, decided in 2007 to merge with BCF, where she is now a partner and in charge of the strategic business immigration team. In both cases, the challenge is to be effective, since people – often an entire family – are directly involved and the consequences always have an impact in human terms.
“For a company, a work permit must always be obtained in the very short term and the result must be quasi-immediate,” she explains, displaying the reflex reactions of an entrepreneur as well as a lawyer. “I well remember the case of thirty workers from Quebec travelling to the airport to take a flight to China, but without the necessary permits. Something had to be done – and quickly! We had them land in Hong Kong, where they were able to go to the border checkpoint and obtain valid papers without wasting too much time.”
Such lack of forethought is a regular occurrence, sometimes endangering the entire company. “If you acquire a company abroad that mainly employs illegal workers and you haven’t shown due diligence, you have not acquired very much,” she states baldly, adding that “there are countries where you need a work permit to work for two hours.”
Clearly happy to be working in a team doing pioneer work in this field and in a practice which has become the biggest international mobility firm in Quebec, Lessard presents the fact that BCF has offices in Montreal and Quebec, but nowhere else in the world, as a advantage. “We are living in a virtual world. We want to maintain the same standards all the time and be able to talk to our people, which is why our team of professionals is present solely in Quebec. We are members of an international network, we can call on when we need specialist expertise abroad.” From Montreal to Quebec, the BCF team has more than 120 professionals covering every sphere of business law. Julie Lessard’s team is also proud of its international assistance service available round-the-clock, seven days a week.
Increasingly in demand, expertise in the international mobility of workers is nonetheless not widespread in Quebec’s law firms. “It is very demanding both on a professional and human level. You need many good qualities: to be a good lawyer, able to deal with several cultures, dedicated and ready to listen.” For Julie Lessard, the three keywords in her profession are obvious, “dedication, dedication and dedication!”