Disponible en anglais seulement
Linda provides high calibre, independent, contract lawyers to clients to support their short-term legal services needs through an alternative legal service provider within McCarthy Tétrault.
Linda Beairsto is a partner of McCarthy Tétrault and President of MT>Align, a wholly owned division of the firm. As President of MT>Align, Linda leads the firm’s MT>Align division which has over 180 independent contract lawyers across Canada serving our clients. In 2018, Linda launched her “dream initiative” to advance the legal services industry by delivering cost-effective, alternative legal services to clients through the engagement of top tier contract lawyers, deployment of innovative solutions and utilization of technology. Drawing on her extensive legal and C-Suite experiences as Special Counsel, Chief Legal Counsel and Chief General Counsel at several companies in various sectors (including financial services, science, chemicals, packaging, automotive manufacturing, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, renewable energy, power and utilities) from start up businesses to Fortune 500 companies, Linda successful pairs MT>Align lawyers with clients to meet their short-term or temporary legal needs.
« I am fortunate to be part of the MT>Align community since its inception in 2018 as I have been presented with great opportunities. I consider Linda’s role, acting as an intermediary between, on one side, McCarthy lawyers and their clients, seeking legal assistance (and counting on Linda to fill their needs) and, on the other side, a host of very different MT>Align lawyers expecting her and her team to come with up interesting opportunities that match their skills and desire, as a crucial one. Linda is fulfilling this role with great expertise, dedication, and passion. The result might look seamless but let's not underestimate the master juggling exercise of making all this happen for real. Linda is simply excellent. In fact, I consider that a good part of my personal success with MT>Align is the result of Linda’s talent at skillfully matching the right people for the right needs and at doing what she does. »
Prior to joining the firm, Linda was an executive member of the C-Suite of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (APUC) where she was Chief General Counsel, Corporate Secretary and Chief Compliance Officer of APUC. Prior to APUC, Linda held various senior legal positions including, among others, Executive Vice-President, Chief Legal Counsel for ABC Corporation (Tier 1 auto parts manufacturer), Special Counsel for Allergan Inc., and Special Counsel for DuPont Canada. Linda also has significant private and public M&A experience in Canada, US and India.
Linda holds a Chartered Director designation for publicly traded companies’ governance from The Directors College, McMaster University. Linda serves on the Board of Directors of Food Banks Canada, a non-profit organization representing and supporting more than 3,000 food banks and community agencies across Canada. She is also a founding member of the Steering Committee of Women in Energy Canada (WIECAN). She is a certified compliance & ethics professional (“CEEP”) granted by the Compliance Certification Board. As a CEEP, Linda successfully designed and implemented an enterprise-wide compliance and privacy program for APUC in Canada and the United States.
Linda earned a LLB from the University of New Brunswick and a B.A. (Asian Area Studies) from the University of British Columbia. She was called to the bar in Ontario in 1990.