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law Times • July 11, 2011 FOCUS PAGE 11 Japan-focused lawyers optimistic about recovery Those who work in ravaged country believe it will overcome disaster BY ROBERT TODD Law Times S everal Canadian law fi rms have developed a strong presence in Japan in re- cent decades, which meant the legal community here felt an acute sense of distress follow- ing the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that has devastat- ed much of the country. "We were very concerned for our clients as human beings," says Erik Richer La Flèche, a partner at Stikeman Elliott LLP's Montreal offi ce who has represented Japanese clients since the early 1980s. "Many of our clients, particularly the ones that have ex-pats in Canada, had family in Japan." Th e magnitude 9.0 earth- quake, believed to be the most powerful ever to hit Japan, spurred a massive tsunami that caused meltdowns at three re- actors at the Fukushima nu- clear power plant. More than 15,500 people were killed, while at least 7,000 have been reported missing. More than 125,000 buildings were dam- aged or destroyed. La Flèche notes that while the disaster has had a profound impact on Japan, he has full confi dence in the Japanese people's ability to overcome it. He has seen the country's spirit fi rsthand as he represented Kobe Steel Ltd. in 1995 when a major earthquake hit Japan's sixth-largest city. "Th ey're an extraordinarily resilient people and they're very stoic people," he says. "Th ey dust themselves and pick themselves up like very few people do." With all of this in mind, La Flèche expects a trend that start- ed a few years ago that has seen an increase in foreign investment by the Japanese in new areas of the global economy to continue. He suggests that trend has been spurred by eff orts by China, In- dia, Korea, and Brazil to secure their own raw materials abroad. "I think we're starting to see the Japanese come out and do that," he says. He sees particular interest from the Japanese in rare earth resources. At the same time, the Japanese have become in- creasingly interested in natural gas, specifi cally in resources lo- cated within Canadian borders that are easily transported via the Pacifi c Ocean. La Flèche also believes the country will continue to seek out investment opportunities with smaller companies that produce what he calls "comple- mentary technologies" to their domestic holdings. "Canada has a few of those," he notes. Yet it appears the Japanese aren't looking to Canada for investment in real estate or consumer goods companies. "Th ey're not interested in that," he explains, noting Japan has the world's third-largest economy. "Canada is too small anyway. In advantage in the long term. "Th ey are going to try to focus on alternative energies in a way that they've never done before," he says, suggesting solar energy will be a primary area of specialization. "Th at will mean that they're going to move forward with a new technology and, quite frankly, they're going to create a new industry. "Th ey are truly moving greatly forward, and I think Canadians would do well to pay attention to those areas where Japanese are going to move into renewables." Sandra Appel thinks Japan will recover from this year's earth- quake and tsunami. their minds, Canada is a small market, 33 million people, and frankly is interested in raw ma- terials they can't access anywhere else or for opportunistic plays in the technology fi eld." Unfortunately for Canadian law fi rms — and Japan's do- mestic fi rms, for that matter — Japanese corporations to this point have preferred to dish out their foreign legal work to their U.S. counterparts. "So our competitors, or our allies depending on whether we're getting referrals or not, happen to be the large Ameri- can fi rms," says La Flèche. Sandra Appel of Davis LLP handles fi les for Japanese com- panies doing business in Can- ada with Canadian companies or with their subsidiaries doing business here. A number of her clients supply the automotive industry and other sectors that use supplies from Japan such as high-tech electronic goods. Appel says the general glob- al economic slowdown has cer- tainly aff ected those clients with the added complication of the recent natural disaster further disrupting supply chains. She notes members of Davis' Japan practice group have spoken to various domestic industry asso- ciations to encourage them to continue doing business with the Japanese. "We've had a history of working with Japan for 50- plus [years]," she says of her fi rm. "We have a very deter- mined nation and we've seen it over the years as they focus and do business. I think they will overcome and I think we should do whatever we can to assist them." Appel notes that Davis — which has an offi ce in Tokyo — set up a fundraiser for the Japanese people soon after the disaster struck. "We were feeling a respon- sibility to assist going forward, and I think we'll still feel that way whether it's in business and helping them continue to develop business here or there," she says. "It's going be tough." Meanwhile, La Flèche pre- dicts the Japanese will use the nuclear disaster to their Kuretzky_LT_July11_11.indd 1 www.lawtimesnews.com 7/5/11 3:32:01 PM Untitled-2 1 Let us open right door for you the We specialize in Employment and Labour Law in Canada Kuretzky Vassos Henderson is a leading employment and labour law fi rm situated in the heart of Toronto. We are comprised of eleven lawyers, all of whom specialize in the area of employment and labour law. We act for many prominent public and private sector employers as well as for individuals. 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