GERALD LAGIER
Alérion
Partner
Attorney admitted to the Paris Bar since 1998

PRINCIPAL AREAS OF PRACTICE Legal advice and litigation in the areas of Real estate law Construction and town planning law Building and public contracts Commercial leases

Bernard Lette
Managing Partner, Canada

Bernard Lette is the Managing Partner responsible for LETTE's firms in Toronto and Montréal.

Born in Montréal of French and Swiss parents, Bernard was brought up in a multi-linguisitic and multi-cultural environment thanks to daily interaction with friends, relatives, diplomats, business people and academics from around the world.

After graduating with a French Baccalauréat in pure sciences in 1974, Bernard enrolled in McGill University's Faculty of Management for one year before moving to the Faculty of Law's National Programme culminating in Bachelor of Civil Law (B.C.L.'78) and Bachelor of Laws (LL.B. '80) degrees. Bernard also studied at the University of Bordeaux (France), where he obtained a Masters in Business Law (1979).

Sworn in as a member of the Québec Bar and the Barreau de Paris in 1979, Bernard practised law in Montréal and Paris before being admitted to the Law Society of Upper Canada (Ontario's Bar Association) in early 1984. He opened Lette, Whittaker in Toronto that same year.

Bernard's own practice focuses on business law, mainly in mergers and acquisitions, as well as taxation, with an emphasis on international taxation.

Bernard sits on a variety of corporate boards, including the Canadian subsidiaries of a number of large international groups. He has also been active as a director and/or officer (including in several cases President or Chair) of several non-profit organizations such as: the French Chamber of Commerce in Canada, the Swiss-Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the German-Canadian Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the Ontario Club, the Canadian Bar Association-Ontario's International Law Section, the Consular Corps Association of Toronto, and various community groups. He is also a co-founder of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Toronto.

Bernard's other appointments and awards include:

• Consul General of the Principality of Monaco in Toronto;

• Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite (awarded by the French Government);

• Conseiller du Commerce Extérieur de la France (a group appointed by the French Minister of International Trade to advise the government on matters related to international trade);

• Certified by the Paris Bar as a specialist in fiscal and economic law;

• Governor of the Quebec Bar Foundation.

Bernard has written numerous articles on international business and tax issues. He belongs to the Paris, Québec and Canadian Bar Associations, the Law Society of Upper Canada, the German Bar Association (Ausserordentliches Mitglied des Deutschen Anwaltvereins), the Ontario Club, the Canadian Tax Foundation and the International Fiscal Association, as well as the chambers of commerce mentioned above.