AREAS OF PRACTICE
Commercial Arbitrator, Mediator, Barrister and Solicitor
INTERNATIONAL LAW PRACTICE
In addition to an extensive practice involving international investment and international business transactions of various kinds, Mr. Lalonde has been retained by the World Bank in advising two Arab countries on the development of capital markets. Between 1995 and 2007, he was the Director General of a major consulting project to the Government and the National Assembly of Vietnam, relating to administrative and economic reforms and financed by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). Mr. Lalonde has also acted as an advisor to the Parliament of Ukraine and to the Government of (then) Czechoslovakia.
EXPERIENCE IN ARBITRATION
Mr. Lalonde has participated as arbitrator, mediator or counsel in a large number of international commercial arbitration cases under the International Chamber of Commerce, the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes of the IBRD, the American Arbitration Association, the London Court of International Arbitration and the North American Free Trade Agreement. He has also acted as arbitrator in several ad hoc commercial arbitration cases under the UNCITRAL Rules.
His arbitration and mediation experience covers the fields of energy, oil and gas, electricity, nuclear energy, insurance, financing, foreign investment and Sate and international organization responsibilities, construction, commercial services, mining, technology, telecommunications, public utilities, transportation, distribution and manufacturing contracts, and the aviation industry. Mr. Lalonde was appointed in two cases as ad hoc judge at the International Court of Justice in the Hague (Spain v. Canada, 1995-1998), (Yugoslavia v. Canada 1999-2005).
Mr. Lalonde was actively involved in 1986, in the adoption by Canada of the UNCITRAL Model Law as its standard international arbitration law, at the national level and in every province.
He was named, on a basis of an international peer evaluation, as one of the twenty best international commercial arbitrators in the world by Euromoney Legal Media Group's The Best of the Best 2001 and 2003. He is included in the 2006 edition of the Lexpert/American Lawyer Media publication, A Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada. In 2005, he was ranked amongst the Top 10 Arbitrators in the world by the American Lawyer. He is also in the 2008 edition of The Best Lawyers in Canada in the specialty of international arbitration.
EDUCATION
Mr. Lalonde holds a master's degree in law from the Université de Montréal, as well as a master's degree from Oxford University (M.A.OXON.) and a Diplome d'études supérieures en droit (D.E.S.D.) from the University of Ottawa.
In December 1989, he was awarded a Doctorate (LL.D.) honoris causa by the University of Limburg (Maastricht, Netherlands) in 1992 and in 2005, by the University of Western Ontario (London, Canada).
Mr. Lalonde was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1989 and Queen's Counsel in 1971.
He is a certified arbitrator of the Arbitration and Mediation Institute of Canada and a certified arbitrator of the Canadian Commercial Arbitration Centre.
MEMBERSHIPS
- Appointed as mediator for the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) by the International Council of Arbitration for Sport (ICAS).
- Quebec Bar Association
- Ontario Bar Association
- Canadian Bar Association
- International Council on Commercial Arbitration (ICCA) (Advisory Member)
- Arbitration and Mediation Institute of Canada (C.Arb., C.Med.)
- Member of the arbitration panel under Chapter 20 of the NAFTA
- Member of the International Advisory Committee of the International Center for Dispute Resolution
- Canadian Arbitration Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce
- Corresponding Member of the Institute of International Business Law and Practice of the ICC
- Member of the Board of Directors of Citibank Canada, Sherritt International Corporation and The Trudeau Foundation.
- Member of the Board of Directors (Advisory) of ADR Chambers International
PUBLICATIONS
Mr. Lalonde has written a number of articles on public law issues and has also been a frequent speaker at domestic and foreign seminars on the U.S. - Canada Free Trade Agreement and the subsequent North America Free Trade Agreement as well as international commercial arbitration. He is also the contributor on Canada to the International Handbook on Commercial Arbitration.
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES & ASSOCIATIONS
- Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, 1967-1968
- Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Pierre E. Trudeau, 1968-1972
- Minister of Health and Welfare, 1972-1977
- Minister Responsible for Sport, 1972-1976
- Minister Responsible for the Status of Women, 1974-1979
- Minister of State Responsible for Federal-Provincial Relations, 1977
- Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, 1978
- Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources, 1980
- Minister of Finance, 1982
Mr. Lalonde is fluent in English and French and has a reading knowledge of Spanish.
