With almost four decades of legal practice under his belt, Francis Meagher, general counsel and VP Legal of Mitsubishi HC Capital Canada (a subsidiary of Mitsubishi HC Capital America), has honed a keen understanding of the intricate balance between risk management and creative problem-solving. He now imparts this balance to his team.
"My first bankruptcy case was in 1984... a big flop when the city of Quebec announced the arrival of old boats and sailboats for its 350th anniversary, which led to a major bankruptcy. I did something like 10 years in litigation, insurance law... I wanted to go to court as much as possible. It gives you an idea of what are the fundamental questions. Sometimes we forget about the fact that all issues are not fundamental issues."
At Mitsubishi HC Capital Canada, Meagher's role involves mentoring his colleagues across the company, a dynamic team of 250 individuals, predominantly young professionals.
“The mission is to try to mentor our team... to emulate creativity," he says. His focus is on distinguishing between tangible issues and less critical concerns, an approach he believes is crucial in lending, a field he describes as "a risk management business."
Meagher stressed the importance of experience in deciphering real issues from less tangible questions: "Everything is possible, but not everything is a problem, and what is probable is something else. When you've lived some experience in real life and on the field, it's possible to get to that."
One notable transaction Meagher discussed involved a major institutional financial institution.
“We worked on documentation negotiation for many months," he says. Despite the initial goal to sell a portfolio share to a particular partner, the team decided to pivot, ultimately finding a more favourable partner.
"At some point, the lesson from that is... if you concentrate on the process, you basically will get good results.”
Meagher's ability to navigate complex transactions is further illustrated by an experience with a concrete supplier plant facing bankruptcy.
“The company made a proposal under the Bankruptcy Act... and never was able to convince its creditors. My client... was able to lend money to the eventual buyer, who was an international conglomerate, and tripled their credit. Figures are not everything. Being an insolvent party does not necessarily mean being a worthless party. Sometimes, if you dig enough, just like a woodpecker, you find the soft spots."
Legal technology is another area where Meagher sees potential for significant impact, despite his self-described "old school" approach. Canada’s bilingual and multi-jurisdictional legal landscape necessitates extensive contract translation and adaptation.
“The likes of Deepl and GPTs are the type of application that we use," he adds. While the company does not frequently change contracts, they do translate many documents due to legal requirements. "There are many laws that oblige us to translate documentation."
Meagher mentioned several legal tech applications being considered or implemented at Mitsubishi HC Capital Canada.
“There’s Luminance that uses a machine process documentation to review due diligence," he says, though the current transaction volume has not yet justified its full implementation. Other tools like Ross Intelligence for legal research and Legal Sifter for contract review are also on the radar.
“What we are using... is Veriff and Flinks," Meagher says. "Veriff is a fraud protection application. It analyzes the information that the client gives you, and you're able to decipher whether the person you are dealing with is who they claim to be. ‘Know your client’ is the first principle in lending, so that application is very useful. Flinks analyzes the data that the client gives you but also tells you if the data has been tampered with."
Meagher also touched on the evolving nature of legal tech, acknowledging that advancements over the past few years have significantly impacted their potential utility.
"Two years ago, the quality of ChatGPT was not the one that we have today. This is evolving, and it's going to change," he says.
In an analogy to Olympians focusing on the process rather than the outcome, Meagher underscored the importance of methodical, process-driven approaches in achieving successful legal and financial outcomes. His career, marked by both courtroom litigation and strategic corporate finance, exemplifies the value of diverse experiences and creative problem-solving in navigating complex legal landscapes.
"If you concentrate on the process, you basically will get good results.”