Chouinard is a judge for the 2024 Canadian Law Awards
A good general counsel should strive to be strategic and thoughtful about risks, while still considering the needs of the business at all times, according to Roger Chouinard, chief legal officer and corporate secretary at QuadReal Property Group.
“You have to balance this innate nature of most lawyers to be thoughtful about risk with the need to also be commercial,” says Chouinard. “It’s about finding that balance in how you do the work, negotiate agreements and execute the legal rights and obligations that support a business, but also in the way you communicate those things to your peers. Those are all important skills for a general counsel.”
Chouinard joined QuadReal Property Group in 2017, just a few months after the start-up had launched. As the first lawyer to join, he built a legal department from scratch to support all legal matters around the world for the rapidly growing company. Having previously honed his general counsel skills for seven years at real estate company First Capiral REIT, Chouinard was well positioned to build a strong legal department for QuadReal.
Chouinard now runs a 24-person legal department consisting of 10 lawyers as well as paralegals, law clerks and support staff. The Vancouver-headquartered Canadian company now has around 1300 employees in offices around the world including New York, London, LA and Tokyo.
“When I joined QuadReal we had approximately $25 billion under management, and we have more than doubled that so it has been very rapid growth, and my team has been at the centre of it,” says Chouinard. Not only does the legal team support the investment teams on all their transactions, but they also provide support to the board, and they manage compliance matters and regulatory matters of all kinds.
“I have to be strategic and forward-thinking in my role, and always looking around corners to see where we may bump into sharp objects,” says Chouinard, who is a judge for the 2024 Canadian Law Awards.
With higher interest rates affecting the economic environment, Chouinard noted a decline in new investments in 2023, and an increased focus on looking after existing real estate investments to ensure they are performing well. His team is also focused on supporting service providers.
QuadReal has always been a leader in the environmental, social and governance space, having won awards for its focus on ESG matters – both in North America and globally. Most recently, the company was recognized in Oct. 2023 by global sustainability benchmarking organization GRESB for its continued commitment to ESG transparency. QuadReal’s diversified Canadian portfolio of office, industrial, retail and residential assets was awarded third place in Canada and sixth in the Americas in this year’s Real Estate Assessment. The legal department supports the ESG team with managing existing contracts and building rights and expectations surrounding ESG into new contracts.
“With the global focus on ESG, it has been really rewarding to me and my team to see the results that we’ve already achieved on that front, and we’ll strive to continue to achieve,” says Chouinard.
Helping his team to develop their skills and achieve their personal career goals and promotions is also very important to Chouinard, so that will be one of his key priorities for 2024.
“I like to push people beyond what they think they are capable of, so it really gives them opportunities to grow and do the things they like, and once I give them those opportunities, I’m still there for them as a safety net,” he says.
Nominations for the 2024 Canadian Law awards are open until February 2.
