Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Adam Ngan

Adam's practice covers all aspects of pensions, benefits and executive compensation law, including plan administration, governance, investment, design and taxation. Adam regularly advises jointly sponsored and single employer pension funds on their real estate, infrastructure, private equity and other investments in Canada and abroad. He also advises on the pensions and employee benefits aspects of corporate transactions. Adam provides legal services to both public- and private-sector pension plan sponsors and administrators.

Aimee Yee

Aimee's practice focuses primarily on domestic and cross-border financing and restructuring transactions. Aimee has advised lenders, borrowers, underwriters and issuers on asset-based financings, acquisition financings, equipment financings, inventory financings, warehouse financings, project financings, high yield offerings, debtor-in-possession financings and exit financings. Aimee has been involved in a number of financing and restructuring transactions and high-yield offerings in a variety of industry sectors, including forestry, telecommunications, transportation, manufacturing, aviation, construction and power and energy. A selection of Aimee's representative transactions includes acting for: the administrative agent for the DIP lenders in the Eastman Kodak Company restructuring proceedings; the administrative agent for the lenders in the exit credit facilities to Resolute Forest Products Inc. (formerly, Abitibibowater Inc.) and certain of its subsidiaries; and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), as agent, on its $400-million revolving credit facility to Manitoba Telecom Services Inc.

Alain Massicotte

In addition to general business law, Alain specializes in project financing, construction law, infrastructure and P3s projects. He has been involved in all major infrastructure projects, including P3 transactions in Quebec and heads Blakes' Montréal Infrastructure-P3 Group. He has acted as counsel for the governments or for agencies of Morocco, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the Solomon Islands, Ivory Coast, Congo (Brazzaville), Chad, Cameroon, Senegal, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, India and Guinea.

Alexandra Luchenko

Alexandra has expertise as lead counsel in complex commercial and transactional matters before all levels of Court in Canada, a number of administrative tribunals and arbitration proceedings. She utilizes her litigation experience to lead internal investigations and to guide companies through crisis management situations, including assisting clients experiencing a data breach or cybersecurity incidents, with a view to proactively mitigate litigation risk. A considerable amount of Alexandra’s experience involves multifaceted legal and reputational issues that require coordination of numerous areas of specialization, including regulatory compliance, forensic investigation and media relations. She has significant experience working on behalf of private equity clients and financial institutions as well as mining, resource, health sciences and technology companies. At all times, Alexandra’s goal is to develop creative solutions and execute legal strategy with a view to advancing client objectives. Alexandra serves as the chair of the Equity and Diversity Committee of Blakes’ Vancouver office, serves on its Associate Committee and is the co-Chair of the Vancouver Chapter of the Women’s White Collar Defence Association. She is also a Certified Fraud Examiner.

Alyssa Duke

Partner

Alyssa Shivji

Alyssa has over 10 years of experience practicing exclusively in the areas of public procurement, infrastructure, and construction law. She regularly acts for procuring entities on complex procurements and provides advice on procurement planning and structuring, trade agreement compliance, best practices for conducting a successful procurement process, fairness issues and conflicts of interest and often leads the drafting of all procurement and contractual documentation. She has also helped numerous organizations with the development of template procurement documents, standardized commercial and construction agreements and the delivery of associated training and implementation tools. She also acts for bidders, providing advice on avoiding compliance issues and strategies for success. Alyssa acts for clients in a wide range of sectors, including transit and transportation, civil infrastructure, roads and bridges, water and wastewater, health-care services, information technology, gaming, energy and mining. Alyssa has extensive expertise in the procurement of mega infrastructure development projects and alternative finance and procurement projects across multiple jurisdictions and has been at the forefront of many municipal PPP projects across Canada. Alyssa has played a key role on numerous high-profile procurement and infrastructure projects across Canada, including VIA Rail’s acquisition of a new fleet, the Toronto Transit Commission’s Bloor Yonge Capacity Improvements Project, Marine Atlantic Inc.’s Ro-Pax Vessel procurement and the City of Calgary’s Green Line LRT Project.

Andrea York

Andrea is the Practice Group Leader of the Blakes National Employment & Labour group and Co-Chair of the Firm's Privacy group. Andrea is an experienced advocate with over 20 years of practice devoted to advising corporations and other employers on employment and privacy law matters. With a practice that predominantly focuses on providing practical day-to-day advice and defending employers when employee disputes arise, she works with clients in a variety of sectors, including banking and financial services, retail, manufacturing, health-care products, technology, and marketing and advertising. Andrea also advises on the employment and privacy law aspects of commercial transactions, reorganizations, insolvencies and outsourcing transactions.  

Andrew Skodyn

Andrew's practice is focused on intellectual property and commercial litigation. As an IP litigator, Andrew is best known for his tenacious approach to patent and trademark litigation in the life sciences and information technology areas. His commercial litigation experience spans complex commercial disputes, class actions and product liability defence. Across his diverse litigation practice, Andrew has conducted numerous significant and precedent-setting trials, applications and appeals. He has represented clients in a wide range of industries, from pharmaceuticals and life sciences to information technology, oil and gas, manufacturing, agriculture, banking and professional services. He also has significant experience preparing opinions and advising clients with respect to regulatory issues, intellectual property portfolios and litigation strategy. Andrew has been counsel at all levels of the Ontario and federal courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada, as well as in numerous mediations and arbitrations.

Andrew Spiro

Andrew regularly advises on complex transformational transactions for public and private companies, and is a trusted Canadian tax advisor to domestic and foreign clients alike. Andrew is particularly well known for his expertise in matters involving REITs and other real estate investment vehicles, linked notes and other structured products, mandatory disclosure and tax insurance. Andrew is a member of the partnership committee and legal personnel committee at Blakes, and the Regional Vice-Chair, North America for the Lex Mundi Tax Practice Group.

Anne Drost

Anne Drost is a Partner in the Business Law Group with over 30 years of experience in working with clients in the railway and energy industries. Anne’s practice focuses on commercial transactions, project development and regulatory compliance matters and proceedings before administrative tribunals. She has been involved in significant and complex transactions including cross-border rail acquisitions and mergers. Anne provides legal and practical advice to clients at all stages of project development, including obtaining regulatory approvals and permits, and devising and implementing land acquisition strategies. She also advises clients on matters relating to Indigenous law, such as consultation requirements, as well drafting and negotiating agreements with Indigenous communities. Anne represents clients in regulatory proceedings before the Canadian Transportation Agency and the Canadian Energy Regulator.

Ariane Bisaillon

Ariane's practice covers various aspects of civil and commercial law, with a particular focus on commercial litigation, class actions, product liability and consumer contracts. Her practice also covers shareholders' disputes, arbitration and extraordinary proceedings. She advises national and foreign clients, including pharmaceutical companies, manufacturers, banks, transportation companies, and local businesses. Ariane is fluent in French and English and has a practical knowledge of Spanish.

Auriol Marasco

Auriol’s expertise on aircraft finance, aviation commercial and regulatory law matters has made her the “go-to” trusted counsel to the leading lessors and financiers who support the Canadian commercial aircraft and airline industry. She regularly advises on related matters including in respect of airline work-out and loan restructuring and insolvency and bankruptcy related matters. Auriol also has considerable experience with regulatory issues relating to UAV operations and airport privatization and is the Co-Chair of the Blakes Drone Group. Auriol gained industry experience while working for a Canadian airline and is heavily involved in the Canadian aviation industry, including as the Chair of the Board of Directors for Hope Air, a Canadian charity which arranges free air transportation for Canadians travelling for medical reasons who have a financial need.

Ben Rogers

Ben is Office Managing Partner of Blakes Calgary office and Co-Practice Group Leader of the Energy - Oil & Gas group, and acts for energy companies on all types of commercial matters across Canada and internationally. He has considerable experience in a diverse range of energy-related matters, including acquisitions and divestitures, mergers and acquisitions, the structuring of joint venture agreements, midstream matters, project development, and the management of the legal aspects of day-to-day oil and gas and commercial matters. Ben also has considerable experience in both conventional and non-conventional oil and gas development, as well as in the East Coast offshore.

Bernard Boucher

Bernard is the Head of the Restructuring & Insolvency Group in Montréal. Over the years, Bernard has acted for several financial institutions and trustees in bankruptcy, pleading numerous cases on their behalf before the Québec Superior Court, the Québec Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. Bernard has acted for several companies as business counsel regarding any issues that might arise on a day-to-day basis. He also practises commercial litigation, and is fluent in French and English. He has represented many different parties affected by the insolvency process in both domestic and cross-border cases. Bernard is the author of a book entitled Faillite et Insolvabilité, une perspective québécoise de la jurisprudence canadienne (Bankruptcy and Insolvency: A Quebec Perspective on Canadian Jurisprudence), considered by many as being the most authoritative book on this topic in Québec.

Birch Miller

Birch practises employment, privacy and cybersecurity law. She is the Practice Group Leader of the Blakes Employment and Labour group in Calgary, Alberta. Birch has established a known and respected profile among clients and peers through her extensive transactional experience; practical advisory work; civil and administrative (human rights, privacy and labour) litigation; executive positions with the Canadian Bar Association, including a four-year term as Chair of the Privacy and Access Law section; mentorship of junior lawyers in the employment, labour and privacy law sphere; involvement in the mentorship and support of women in private practice; and pro bono work with women's shelters and related organizations. Birch provides advice to clients in respect of all laws relating to workplace issues, including recruiting, hiring, discipline, terminations, employment and labour standards, human rights, disability and benefits, and alcohol and drug testing. She also advises on the collection, use and disclosure of personal, health, sensitive, technological and other types of information. Birch is a member of Blakes’ cybersecurity group and has extensive experience advising clients with respect to cybersecurity privacy guidelines. Birch has extensive transactional experience, regularly advising on the privacy, labour and employment aspects of high-profile transactions.

Bob Wooder

Bob practises in the areas of mergers & acquisitions and corporate finance with a focus on the mining sector. He advises public and private companies and financial institutions. Bob has extensive expertise in advising on take-over and issuer bids, private equity financings and as independent counsel to board of directors.

Bonny Murray

Bonny’s practice is focused on the financial services industry. She provides regulatory advice to Canadian and foreign financial institutions and service providers on all aspects of their business. She specializes in insurance and banking, payments and payment technologies, and merchant acquiring Bonny has significant experience liaising with federal and provincial regulators on behalf of clients on regulatory approval applications, compliance issues and questions of statutory interpretation. She advises on transactions involving financial services clients including corporate mergers and acquisitions, reinsurance transactions and pension de-risking, including longevity insurance transactions.

Bradley Berg

Brad brings a broad perspective and practical approach for our clients. He is widely recognized as one of Canada’s leading litigators with experience in courts and arbitrations across the country and appearing regularly at the Supreme Court of Canada. Brad's practice includes both complex commercial cases and precedent-setting public interest litigation. He was the practice group leader for Blakes Litigation in Toronto for 11 years (2010-21).

Brian Facey

Brian is one of the world's most highly regarded lawyers and a trusted advisor to senior counsel, management and CEOs. He is sought after for his judgment, experience, connections and ability to execute on complex matters. Recognized at the top of all the major ranking services, including as one of Canada‘s 25 most influential lawyers and as Competition Lawyer of the Year, Canada. Competition and Antitrust Laws in Canada: Mergers, Joint Ventures and Competition Collaborations; Competition and Antitrust Law: Canada and the United States; Investment Canada Act: Commentary and Annotation; Competition Act: Commentary and Annotation. Repeatedly cited by the Supreme Court of Canada and other leading Courts.

Brock Gibson

Brock is Chair of Blakes and practises in the area of corporate commercial law with a focus on mergers & acquisitions, corporate finance, and private equity transactions. He has advised on some of the largest commercial transactions in Canada. Brock is also a member of the advisory board of the Canadian General Counsel Awards. He is recognized as one of the leading lawyers in Canada by all major legal directories and ranking publications.

Bryson Stokes

Bryson is the Practice Group Leader of the Firm’s national Gaming group and also serves as the Firm’s National Managing Partner. Bryson has been advising clients in the Canadian gaming sector for 30 years and has extensive industry experience and knowledge. He regularly advises gaming operators, governmental organizations/crown corporations and other businesses operating in or servicing the gaming industry (such as payment processors, financial institutions and suppliers) in both land based and online markets on a wide range of commercial, operational, and transactional matters. Bryson has extensive experience dealing with gaming regulatory matters, including gaming registration, licensing and compliance issues, responsible gaming programs and advising on the application and interpretation of federal and provincial legislation affecting the gaming sector. In the energy sector Bryson’s work includes power M&A, JVs, development work PPAs, and providing regulatory and strategic advice. He also has specialized expertise in the area of district energy and cogeneration, having advised district energy companies and customers in respect of all aspects of district energy developments, projects, operations and energy supply agreements. He has acted for key stakeholders across the country, including power producers and investors and has also advised government on transformative legislation and is at the forefront of legal developments in the power industry.

Cassandra Brown

Cassandra is a Partner in the Competition, Antitrust & Foreign Investment Group at Blakes. She advises on all aspects of competition law, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, distribution practices, criminal and civil investigations, compliance, as well as foreign investment transactions under the Investment Canada Act. Her clients span a variety of industries, including energy, mining, technology, pharmaceutical, consumer products, agricultural, telecommunications, transportation, aviation, financial services, manufacturing, automotive and real estate. She has completed secondments to Coca-Cola Limited, a major international law firm based in London and the Blakes New York office. Cassandra is co-author of leading treatises including Competition Act: Commentary and Annotation; Competition and Antitrust Laws in Canada: Mergers, Joint Ventures and Competitor Collaborations, and The Foreign Investment Regulation Review (Canada Chapter), Third Edition. Cassandra is recognized as a leading lawyer in Chambers Canada: Canada's Leading Lawyers for Business 2022; Who’s Who Legal: Competition 2021 (Future Leaders – Partners) and The Legal 500 Canada 2021 (Next Generation Partner).

Catherine Doyle

Catherine advises project proponents in the transportation, social infrastructure, alternative energy, power and health-care sectors on their Canadian and, in a growing number of cases, global infrastructure projects. A former banker, Catherine brings a rare combination of skills to an infrastructure deal — a thorough understanding of the public-private partnerships and infrastructure landscape, combined with top-tier project financing capabilities, which clients value deeply as they look to access capital for their projects. She also represents a variety of financial institutions in the financing of infrastructure assets, including bond underwriters, institutional investors, and both Canadian and international banks. She has extensive experience in operating and term credit facilities, asset-based financings, lease financings and structured financial products, and in structuring, negotiating and documenting domestic and cross-border financing transactions in the bank, private placement and public markets.

Catherine Beagan Flood

Cathy is the co-Practice Group Leader of the Toronto Litigation group and also leads Blakes National Cybersecurity Working Group. Cathy has appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada in 18 appeals and has appeared before the courts of every province, the Federal Courts, the Competition Tribunal and other tribunals. She litigates complex commercial and regulatory cases and defends class actions with a regulatory component. In particular, she is currently defending clients in multiple privacy, antitrust, product liability and consumer protection class actions. Cathy previously served on the Blakes Executive Committee.

Céline Poitras

Céline practices commercial and regulatory law with a focus on the technology, communications, media and life sciences sectors. She guides communications companies in connection with their Canadian regulatory obligations and provides advice in relation to technology-driven commercial arrangements. Céline routinely assists telecommunications, data service, broadcasting, digital media and satellite companies navigate Canada’s communications regulatory regimes. She provides practical compliance advice to communications companies and interacts with the relevant regulators in connection with licensing matters, regulatory proceedings, and annual filings. Céline also advises on a range of other regulatory matters, including in relation to online sales, product labelling, advertising and language requirements. As part of her commercial practice, Céline assists companies with the drafting and negotiation of complex commercial agreements for the licensing, distribution, commercialization and transfer of technology. She also provides support to clients in the context of corporate transactions involving significant technology, communications or intellectual property assets. Céline is fluent in French and English.

Chad Schneider

Chad focuses on corporate and securities matters, particularly in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, private equity, restructurings, corporate governance, continuous disclosure compliance. Chad has assisted buyers and acquired companies in M&A transactions involving domestic and foreign parties and complex joint venture and similar arrangements, and has extensive experience representing public issuers listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the New York Stock Exchange and the TSX Venture Exchange, as well as private companies and private equity investors. He has acted on behalf of underwriters and dealers in domestic and foreign public and private offerings of equity and debt. Chad also assists clients with general corporate and commercial matters and his practice involves a variety of industry sectors, including the oil and gas industry.

Chris Hewat

Chris practises securities and business law, with focus on mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and private equity transactions. He also advises on securities regulatory and corporate governance matters. He has particular expertise in advising issuers, investment dealers and investors in the technology sector. Chris has also been involved in the development of securities regulation in Canada, having advised the Ontario Securities Commission in connection with its rules reformulation project, and the Toronto Stock Exchange in its review of rules governing listed companies.

Chris Harris

Chris is a corporate lawyer with a practice focused on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and complex commercial arrangements. He primarily advises strategic clients and private equity investors, with a particular emphasis on all aspects of the energy value chain, including upstream oil and gas, pipelines, midstream, downstream and marketing, power and renewables, and carbon capture, storage and utilization. A substantial portion of Chris's work involves cross-border transactions. He also has significant experience in other industries and markets including technology investment, agribusiness and industrial services.

Chris Hunter

Chris is the Practice Group Leader of the Intellectual Property group. He represents clients in the acquisition, enforcement and exploitation of all forms of intellectual property, including patents, trademarks, copyrights, industrial designs and trade secrets. His practice focuses on providing strategic advice to clients concerning their intellectual property portfolios and providing litigation support for infringement and misappropriation actions. In particular, he devotes a significant part of his practice to negotiating the intellectual property aspects of corporate mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic licensing. Chris is also a registered patent agent. He drafts and prosecutes patent applications for electrical, mechanical (including medical devices), business method, financial services (fintech), software and information-technology-related inventions and, more recently, cannabis. As a trademark agent, Chris prosecutes applications and manages brand strategy globally. He also specializes in industrial designs.

Christine Milliken

Christine's practice focuses primarily on mergers, acquisitions and divestitures and project development within the oil and gas and renewable energy industries. She has been involved in a broad range of transactions for private and public entities, including domestic and cross border M&A transactions, share and asset purchase and sale transactions, joint ventures, pipeline and midstream facility development and commercial arrangements and corporate reorganizations. Christine has significant experience advising clients with general corporate and commercial matters and all aspects of conventional and unconventional oil and gas matters, including liquefied natural gas (including all project development agreements and LNG offtake arrangements). She also advises on pipeline and other midstream project matters, share and asset purchase and sale transactions and reorganizations. Christine also has an active technology practice, assisting start-up technology companies (in various stages) with various commercial transactions (including mergers, acquisition and divestitures), private equity and venture capital investments, licensing and general commercial matters. She has a strong working knowledge of French, Cantonese and Mandarin. Christine is co-head of the Firm's Corporate Commercial group in Calgary.

Daniel Kofman

Daniel's practice encompasses all aspects of commercial real estate, including acquisitions, dispositions, leasing, development and financing. He is regularly consulted by both foreign and domestic real estate investors and represents several banks/financial institutions and borrowers on real estate financing transactions. Daniel also acts for clients in the renewable energy and hospitality industries and has experience with developing, buying, selling and financing renewable energy projects (including solar and wind farms) and hotels.

David Tupper

David's practice involves all aspects of corporate/commercial litigation with an emphasis on securities law, construction law, insurance law, environmental law, and oil and gas law. He regularly appears before all levels of courts in Alberta as well as in the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal. He also maintains a considerable advisory practice in connection with environmental issues, property and liability policies, and reinsurance losses. He acts as counsel in an array of high-value and high-profile matters.

David Kruse

David is the Practice Group Leader of the Corporate & Commercial group in Toronto. He also leads the Firm's Automotive group. His practice focuses primarily on mergers and acquisitions and corporate law, providing strategic advice on many of Canada's largest and most complex asset and share transactions. David has over 20 years of experience advising clients on complex regulated transactions. He also regularly advises foreign companies on establishing and structuring their Canadian operations. David's industries of focus include private equity, technology, financial services and sports.

David Feldman

Partner

Donald Gray

Donald heads the aircraft finance practice and is the Chair of the Aviation & Aerospace group. He advises a number of aircraft and engine lessors, financiers, manufacturers, and domestic and international airlines on aircraft finance and aviation commercial and regulatory law matters. Donald has advised on the financing or refinancing of more than 900 aircraft over the past 15 years.

Dufferin Harper

Duff practises in all areas of environmental law, including environmental civil litigation, defending clients charged with environmental infractions, regulatory law, and drafting environmental provisions and indemnities in commercial agreements. He routinely acts on the purchase and sale of clean fuel compliance-credits, greenhouse gas emissions offsets and credits, and other environmental attributes in regulated and voluntary markets both within Canada and internationally. He also advises on environmental due diligence and liability matters, especially pertaining to brownfield redevelopment, contaminant releases, regulatory approvals, environmental audits and transportation of dangerous goods. Duff provides strategic regulatory environmental compliance and environmental impact assessment advice to industrial clients, such as conventional oil and gas companies, mining companies, companies operating in the oil sands, and liquefied natural gas proponents. Duff has acted as lead counsel in several litigation cases involving contaminated sites and has appeared before numerous levels of courts, regulators and assessment tribunals.

Eric Moncik

Eric's practice focuses primarily on public and private financings, and mergers and acquisitions. He also provides ongoing advice on general securities and corporate law matters to a variety of issuer clients. Eric has acted as counsel to issuers, underwriters and selling shareholders in a significant number of public financings and private placements of equity and debt securities. He has also acted for purchasers and vendors in a wide range of asset and share purchase transactions, and for many issuers in connection with statutory arrangements, take-over bids and reorganizations. These transactions have primarily involved REITs as well as issuers in the financial services, communications and media and technology sectors.

Francis Rouleau

Francis is the Practice Group Leader for the litigation group in the Montreal office of Blakes. Francis is experienced in commercial litigation, including product liability, contract law, corporate litigation and shareholder disputes, securities and related regulatory litigation, construction and real estate litigation. He has acted in the defence of insurance carriers/brokers, represented various creditors/debtors in relation to large restructuring matters, and has extensive knowledge of class action defence work in the fields of product liability, price fixing, consumer contracts and financial institutions. Francis represents clients in trials and appeals at all levels of courts, including the Federal Court and Supreme Court of Canada.

Garth Anderson

Garth focuses on the acquisition, development and financing of commercial real estate and infrastructure projects. He advises numerous Canadian and foreign-based institutional clients, including banks, pension funds, life insurance companies, real estate investment trusts, utility companies and Crown corporations, in connection with the acquisition, disposition, leasing and financing of their commercial and industrial properties. Garth is qualified as an expert witness in the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta regarding solicitors’ standard of conduct in real estate transactions. For his infrastructure practice, Garth assists clients in structuring major design-build-finance-operate projects in the transportation sector as public-private partnerships, and on the real estate and construction aspects of various energy-related infrastructure projects.

Geoffrey Belsher

Geoff is Chair of Blakes and one of Canada’s leading M&A, corporate governance, and corporate finance lawyers. As Chair, he is responsible for the Firm’s overall strategic vision, market strategies and significant client relationships. In his practice, Geoff advises Canadian, U.S. and international public and private companies, investment dealers, private equity, venture capital and alternative investment funds, and family offices with respect to Canadian law matters. Geoff frequently acts as special counsel to boards of directors and special committees in M&A, governance, shareholder activism and internal investigation matters. He advises clients operating in a range of industries, including financial services, mining, energy, media, life sciences, technology and gaming. Geoff has worked in the Firm’s Toronto, Vancouver and New York offices.

Gordon McKee

Gord is a leading lawyer in class action and product liability defence, and life sciences product liability litigation. He has defended leading multinational manufacturers and their Canadian affiliates in class actions, mass torts and serious personal injury claims across the country involving a variety of products including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, medical devices, automotive equipment and fire protection systems, consumer protection matters, toxic torts and Competition Act matters. Gord has considerable class action trial experience, and manages litigation nationally for some of the world's largest manufacturers of pharmaceutical medicines, medical devices, consumer goods and heavy equipment. Gord leads the Blakes Class Actions team.

Holly Reid

Holly has over 20 years of experience as a specialist in employment law, providing timely and practical advice to clients in respect of all laws relating to workplace issues. Holly regularly advises large private and publicly listed companies on matters of significant legal and reputational importance, including the negotiation of executive contracts, transitions within executive leadership teams, class action and other risks relating to changes to compensation and benefit plans, and incidents of sexual harassment, workplace violence and bullying. Holly provides advice on complex accommodation requests and disputes and has a particular expertise in accessibility law. Holly regularly coordinates employment law advice among employment lawyers in various Canadian jurisdictions for clients with employment law needs across Canada. She speaks and provides client training sessions on executive compensation, human rights, accessibility and employment law topics. As an advocate, Holly regularly represents employers in wrongful dismissal actions and human rights applications. A significant portion of Holly’s practice is devoted to advising on the employment and labour aspects of complex corporate transactions, including the drafting and negotiation of purchase agreements, retention and transaction bonus agreements, and commercial and employment restrictive covenant agreements. Holly also advises on post-closing human resources integration matters.

Imran Ahmad

Partner, Head of Technology, Co-Head of Information Governance, Privacy and Cybersecurity

Iris Fischer

Iris’ practice includes complex commercial litigation, internal and government investigations and white-collar matters, constitutional and other public and administrative law cases, and competition and regulatory matters. Iris is a leading media & defamation lawyer, with related experience litigating privacy and access to information matters. Canadian and international media organizations frequently rely on Iris’s expertise in free expression and court openness matters, including defending libel claims, opposing publication bans and getting access to court documents. More generally, she specializes in cases in which online speech intersects with commercial, privacy or other interests. She also regularly deals with evolving laws around social media, technology, and online information. Iris represents multinational clients on government and internal investigations, including in fraud, anti-corruption and Competition Act matters, as well as in matters involving public-sector laws, such as conflict of interest, lobbying and elections finance legislation. She also advises clients in a range of industries on domestic and international anti-corruption legislation and related compliance programs, and assists with anti-corruption due diligence for commercial transactions. Iris is the co-Practice Group Leader of the Toronto Litigation & Dispute Resolution group, leads the Blakes Media & Defamation practice and is also the co-leader of the Firm’s Public Sector Crisis & Compliance group.

Jacqueline Shinfield

Partner

Jake Gilbert

Jake has a top tier M&A and commercial practice and advises domestic and international clients on domestic and cross-border deals and complex commercial arrangements. Jake's primary area of focus is financial services, and has advised on deals and collaborations in the following industry sectors: banking, credit cards/payments, loyalty, insurance distribution and manufacturing, wealth management and mutual funds and has worked on some of the largest Canadian deals in these sectors. He also regularly advises private equity clients on technology deals and also advises clients in the consumer goods, pharma, manufacturing and gaming sectors.

Jason MacIntyre

Jason's practice focuses primarily on secured lending and structured finance transactions, with a particular emphasis on aviation, infrastructure and defence. He is Chair of the Firm’s Aviation & Aerospace group. Jason has represented various aircraft lessors, manufacturers and financiers on aircraft finance and commercial aviation matters. He regularly advises clients on aviation regulatory matters including Transport Canada audits and certifications as well as Canadian Transportation Agency matters relating to foreign investments. He has also represented both lenders and borrowers in domestic and international transactions, which have included asset-based lending, project finance, public-private partnerships and both public and private debt and capital markets offerings. He co-leads the Firm’s Drones initiative, advising clients on investment, certification and other regulatory matters.

Jeff Bakker

Jeff has a strong solutions-orientated practice and has represented clients in corporate and securities law, including mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, corporate governance and continuous disclosure compliance. Acting on numerous domestic and cross-border transactions, Jeff represents both publicly traded issuers listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the New York Stock Exchange and the TSX Venture Exchange and private companies. As a trusted adviser, Jeff has acted on behalf of issuers, underwriters and dealers in both public and private M&A transactions as well as offerings of equity, debt and hybrid securities, including sustainable finance structures, as well as assisting clients with corporate governance matters and continuous disclosure compliance obligations with a focus on sustainability and inclusion related disclosure and governance.

Jeffrey Trossman

Serves as Senior counsel in the Blakes Tax group; previously led the group as National Practice Group Leader for over 15 years. Over his career, Jeffrey has provided strategic tax advice and assisted clients in managing tax audits and resolving tax disputes. Jeffrey is widely known and respected by advisers and government officials in the Canadian and international tax communities. Writes/speaks frequently for the Canadian Tax Foundation, C.D. Howe Institute, University of Toronto, Osgoode Hall Law School; Editor - Perspectives on Tax Law & Policy.

Jeffrey Shafer

Jeffrey practises in all areas of Canadian domestic and cross-border income tax law, with a particular focus on mergers and acquisitions, international transfer pricing, private equity investment, domestic and international corporate and trust reorganizations, and the taxation of various investment vehicles. His practice also includes acting for taxpayers at all levels in the tax appeals process.

Jeffrey Merrick

Jeff is the Chair of the Infrastructure group and the head of the Vancouver Real Estate group. He has expertise in developing, buying, selling, leasing and financing major commercial real estate and infrastructure projects. He also has expertise in P3s and AFPs, including all aspects of major design, build, finance and operate projects working with private partners and governments. Jeff is also the Managing Partner of Blakes Vancouver Office.

Jeffrey Lloyd

Jeff is widely recognized as one of Canada’s leading M&A lawyers. He has advised purchasers, targets and special committees on many of Canada’s most significant M&A transactions, and has extensive experience in both negotiated and unsolicited transactions. He also advises public companies on corporate governance, shareholder activism, restructurings and securities law matters, and in connection with public offerings of equity and debt securities. He has experience in a wide range of industries, including mining, media and telecommunications, real estate, financial services, power generation and retail/consumer products.

Jeffrey Sommers

Jeff has practised exclusively in the area of pensions, benefits and executive compensation for over 25 years. He frequently advises on pension and benefit issues arising in the context of corporate transactions, loan agreements, insolvencies and compliance disputes. His practice also focuses on pension investment, governance and fiduciary matters. Jeff has extensive experience assisting clients with pension plan mergers, as well as de-risking strategies, including buy-in and buy-out annuities and longevity insurance arrangements. Jeff's clients include both public and private sector plan sponsors and administrators and a wide range of financial institutions and service providers.

Jeremy Forgie

Jeremy advises some of Canada’s largest pension plans and pension funds managers on plan and fund governance, pension fund investment, divestiture, acquisition, funding and de-risking issues. He works with numerous private- and public-sector employers, Canadian and foreign consulting firms and financial institutions on cross-border, pension, tax, trust and benefit issues. Jeremy also advises several large professional sports leagues on their players, officials and other employee pension, benefit and cross border compensation plans.

Joe McArthur

Joe practices as counsel in domestic and international arbitration proceeding and Canadian court proceedings. As an experienced trial and arbitration counsel he has represented both public and private companies in various industries, including mining, infrastructure, utilities, financial services and technology. In addition to his arbitration counsel work Joe sits regularly as arbitrator in domestic and international arbitrations.  

John Wilkin

John's practice focuses on domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions and capital markets transactions for public companies, and advising Canadian and international companies on a wide range of corporate governance and securities law compliance matters. He is regularly engaged by special committees of public companies to advise on complex change of control transactions and also advises on alternative forms of financings including royalty and streaming transactions. John has deep experience in the mining and power and utilities industries, and an active international practice advising clients in Australia, Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America.

John Hutmacher

John works on acquisitions and dispositions, joint ventures, financing, development, condominium and leasing transactions involving major Canadian commercial real properties, including many of the country's most prominent retail, office and industrial developments. He is particularly experienced in helping U.S. and European clients and lawyers understand the legal and practical differences in conducting real estate transactions in Canada. John is Co-Practice Group Leader of the Firm's Real Estate Group, made up of approximately 40 lawyers.

Jonathan Kahn

Jonathan is Chair of the Blakes national Environmental group and is widely regarded as one of Canada's leading environmental lawyers. He has, for more than 30 years, provided representation and advice on a broad range of environmental and natural resources law issues. Jonathan represents clients on the purchase, sale, and remediation of contaminated land, mining regulation and permitting; management of natural resources; the transportation, chemicals management; handling and disposal of hazardous substances; environmental permitting; air, water and waste regulation; lender liability; ESG and sustainability and other environmental matters. He has represented corporations in significant environmental prosecutions, acted for proponents in major mining, renewable energy and infrastructure projects and provided environmental law advice on significant transactions. Jonathan is immediate past Chair of the American Bar Association's Section of Environment, Energy and Resources Law (the first non-American to serve on the Executive Committee), and is a former Chair of the Canadian Bar Association National Environment, Energy and Resources Law Section.

Joseph Grignano

Joseph practises real estate law with a specialization in commercial leasing matters. He acts for several prominent owners, developers and tenants, and has worked on transactions that have been awarded "Deal of the Year" honours by the National Association of Office and Industrial Properties (NAIOP). He has also worked on transactions that have been reported as the largest commercial lease transactions in the city of Toronto for the year in which they were completed.

Julie Soloway

Practice Area: Julie is Co-Chair of the Competition, Antitrust & Foreign Investment group. Julie provides advice on all aspects of competition law with a particular emphasis on cross-border merger transactions. She is also a leading expert on securing approvals under the Investment Canada Act for foreign investors in Canada’s key industries. Julie is ranked in all leading directories as one of the top competition lawyers in Canada, and Global Competition Review consistently recognizes her as one of the world’s top 100 Women in Antitrust. Clients value her concise and pragmatic approach, praising her “truly international practice” and “fantastic legal mind,” and further commenting that “she is a real star – commercial, clever and knows her way around the authority”. Julie is co-author of the ground-breaking book: Leading the Way: Canadian Women in the Law (LexisNexis), which documents the inspiring journey of 50 Canadian women who, like Julie, have lead the way for women in the legal profession and shaped Canadian society while promoting greater diversity.

Kathryn Bush

Kathy has over 30 years' experience in the area of pension, benefits and executive compensation. She regularly assists businesses structure their pension, benefit and executive compensation arrangements and their related investments. She also has substantial litigation experience defending corporations from challenges at all levels of Canadian courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada. Kathy was a member and vice-chair of both the Ontario pension regulator and the tribunal, and was the management expert on the Ontario Expert Commission on Pensions. She is the former chair of the Association for Canadian Pension Management's National Policy Committee. Currently she is a member of the CD Howe Pension Policy Committee and a leader of the Blakes Pension Benefits and Executive Compensation group. Kathy is the chair of the Stakeholder Advisory Committee on Pensions at Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA). Kathy has provided advice to many provincial governments, the Federal government and a great many of Canada's largest jointly sponsored pension plans relating to the structuring of pension and benefit arrangements and their board structure and governance. She has also developed one of the premier Canadian practices on Trustee Board governance.

Katie Slipp

Katie advises and represents oil and gas developers, pipeline companies, electric generation and transmission companies and renewable energy companies in respect of regulatory and environmental approvals and compliance issues, public consultation matters, Indigenous issues, and surface land rights and compensation matters. Katie has assisted clients before provincial regulators in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories, the Canada Energy Regulator and a Joint Review Panel, as well as all levels of courts in Alberta and at the Federal Court of Appeal.  

Keith Byblow

Keith's experience encompasses a diverse range of corporate commercial matters. In the area of mergers and acquisitions, he advises across a broad scope of industries. These include the oil and gas and power sectors in the context of domestic transactions, inbound investments by strategics and private equity firms, as well as in the context of insolvencies and restructurings. Keith also has a range of experience with the extraction, processing and sale of natural-gas liquids, carbon capture sequestration and storage, and hydrogen production. In addition, Keith has advised on some of the most significant and strategic transactions. He has also been counsel on the structure of numerous complex and customized joint venture and partnership arrangements. These deals involved facilitating the acquisition, development and financing of and the investment in various infrastructure projects and assets in upstream and midstream oil and gas energy transportation, including pipeline and crude by rail, and natural gas and renewable power generation and transmission. Keith is the Practice Group Leader of the Firm's Corporate Commercial group in Calgary which has particular expertise in the renewable and emerging energy and resource sectors.

Ky Kvisle

Ky's practice focuses on commercial transactions and project development, primarily focusing on energy and natural resources. He works extensively on power related matters, including the full life cycle of numerous types of development and operational generation projects, including natural gas, wind, solar, hydro and biomass. In addition to his work in the power sector, Ky frequently works on other matters in the energy transition, oil and gas, midstream, agriculture, petrochemical, technology and mining sectors. His experience includes working on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, power purchase agreements, commodities trading and derivatives agreements, carbon emissions and offset trading, EPC and supply chain agreements, ESG matters, corporate reorganizations, project and acquisition financings, insolvency and distressed asset transactions, and infrastructure development and operational agreements. As an associate, Ky spent time seconded to the Firm's offices in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. During that time, he acted for Canadian companies with investments in the Middle East as well as some of the largest enterprises based in the region. Prior to joining Blakes, Ky obtained industry experience working in the legal department of a large Canadian-based international oil and gas company.

Lars Olthafer

Lars advises and represents upstream oil and gas producers, pipeline and midstream companies, and electrical generation and transmission companies on regulatory and environmental compliance and facility approval processes, tolls and tariffs, public and aboriginal consultation, and land rights acquisition and compensation, in the context of both provincially and federally regulated projects. Lars regularly appears before energy and utilities boards and commissions in Alberta and B.C. (including the Canada Energy Regulator) as well as all levels of the Alberta and Federal Courts.

Linc Rogers

associate

Linda Tu

Linda's practice focuses on the areas of corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and investment funds. She advises on general corporate matters, public and private offering transactions, disclosure requirements and corporate governance matters. Linda has acted for public and private companies, underwriters, institutional and strategic investors and investment dealers in a wide range of industry sectors, including mining, agriculture, retail, financial services, technology, cannabis and renewable energy. Prior to joining Blakes, Linda practised in the Toronto office of another national firm, providing corporate and securities law advice, and completed a secondment with the Ontario Securities Commission. Linda also speaks Mandarin Chinese.

Marianne Smith

Marianne has over 20 years of experience in the areas of public procurement, public infrastructure, construction and public-private partnerships. She advises clients on the development, preparation and ongoing administration of public tenders and procurement processes, and the development and negotiation of commercial agreements for the design, construction, financing and maintenance of infrastructure. Marianne is a leading expert on the procurement chapters of the trade agreements to which Canada is a party and is routinely called upon by clients to conduct in-house training on best practices in managing procurement processes in Canada. Marianne acts for domestic and international clients in a wide range of sectors, including transit and transportation, civil infrastructure, roads and bridges, water and wastewater, health-care services, information technology, gaming, energy and mining. She also regularly acts for both procuring entities and bidders with respect to conducting a successful procurement process, fairness issues, mitigating procurement risk and avoiding compliance issues. In particular, Marianne has expertise in the procurement of mega infrastructure development projects and alternative finance and procurement projects across multiple jurisdictions, including municipal, provincial, federal and international and has been at the forefront of many municipal PPP projects. Marianne is leading the Blakes team on a number of major projects including the City of Calgary’s Green Line LRT Project, Metrolinx’s GO Rail Expansion Project, the City of Toronto’s F.G. Gardiner Expressway Rehabilitation Project, and Infrastructure Ontario on the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension Project.

Marie-Hélène Constantin

Marie-Hélène regularly provides advice in relation to marketing and advertising and has developed expertise on issues relating to e-commerce, including consumer protection issues arising in online sales, as well as electronic documents, privacy, antispam, and intellectual property matters, and the distribution and marketing of regulated products and services. Marie-Hélène regularly advises organizations with respect to compliance with Canadian legal requirements, including those specific to the province of Quebec. Doing business in Quebec raises a variety of unique issues, including in relation to the particularities of Quebec civil law and to compliance with French language requirements set out in Quebec’s Charter of the French Language, which extend to advertising through websites, social media, signage or other means. Quebec’s regulatory regime also imposes specific requirements with respect to publicity contests, advertising directed at children and to the marketing and advertising of certain regulated products or services. In the context of her practice, Marie-Hélène regularly advises organizations with respect to compliance with these requirements. Her practice also involves drafting complex commercial agreements involving the development, transfer, licensing, testing, supply, marketing and distribution of technology, including information technology, biotechnology and other products.

Mark Johnson

Mark’s practice focuses primarily on major power, infrastructure and public-private partnership projects, and related joint ventures, investments, acquisitions and dispositions. He advises clients on all aspects of design, build, finance and operate/maintain projects through all stages of procurement, construction, operations, secondary market transactions and refinancing. He has led significant transactions in a variety of industry sectors and asset classes, including social and defence infrastructure, transportation, nuclear, clean hydrogen, renewables, battery storage, manufacturing and telecommunications. Mark has extensive experience acting for domestic and international clients on a full range of commercial matters, including procurement processes, offtake agreements, engineering, procurement and construction agreements, major equipment supply agreements, and operations and maintenance agreements. Mark has also worked as in-house counsel on long-term secondments with a Canadian resource company and an international infrastructure developer. Prior to joining Blakes, Mark was law clerk to The Honourable Madam Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella of the Supreme Court of Canada.

Mark Tonkovich

Mark Tonkovich’s practice focuses exclusively on resolving Canadian tax disputes. He represents many of Canada’s and the world’s largest and most sophisticated businesses in tax-related civil litigation, administrative appeals, audit defence, and in proactively managing tax dispute risks. Mark has successfully acted for taxpayers at all levels of court, with the Federal Court of Appeal describing his work as "exemplary" in a 2013 judicial review application. He draws on Blakes' top-tier national tax practice to develop and execute comprehensive and practical strategies for resolving tax disputes as efficiently and favourably as possible, both within and beyond the courtroom. Mark frequently writes and presents on tax issues for leading professional and industry organizations. He is a member of the editorial board of the journal Tax Litigation, and he previously chaired each of the Tax Court Bench and Bar Committee and the Ontario Bar Association’s Taxation Law Section. He has written dozens of articles on Canadian tax matters, including in the peer-reviewed Canadian Tax Journal and the National Journal of Constitutional Law. Earlier in his career, Mark served as an appellate judicial clerk and as a tax litigator with the Department of Justice. He is recognized in every major Canadian tax/tax litigation lawyer ranking.

Matthew Liben

With over 20 years’ experience, Matthew practises commercial litigation with a focus on insurance and reinsurance, construction and real estate, restructuring and insolvency, and class actions. He has appeared before the Superior Court of Quebec, the Quebec Court of Appeal and the Federal Court of Canada. Matthew represents insurance companies and syndicates in North America and Europe, all well as major policyholders, on matters ranging from complex insurance coverage disputes to liability defenc and subrogated actions. In the construction and real estate sector, Matthew represents developers and property owners with respect to alleged latent defects, construction defects, servitudes and other property issues. Regarding restructuring and insolvency, Matthew acts for debtors and creditors in major reorganizations and bankruptcy proceedings under the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act and the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. Matthew has also acted in numerous international commercial arbitration matters, pursuant to the ICC, UNCITRAL and AAA arbitration rules. Matthew is fluent in English and in French.

Matthew Merkley

Matthew is the co-head of Blakes Toronto's Corporate Governance practice. He represents clients in a wide variety of capital markets transactions and securities regulatory matters. He has acted for issuers and underwriters in initial public offerings and other Canadian and cross-border public offerings of equity and debt. He also has expertise in advising public issuers and their boards on various matters, including with respect to: governance, compensation and disclosure; normal course, program share repurchase and substantial issuer bids; and dual-class share structures.

Mena Bellofiore

Mena’s practice spans all aspects of regulatory compliance in the retail financial services and payments industry at both the federal and provincial level, with a particular focus on consumer protection issues relating to financial services and products and the application of these laws in the online environment. Mena regularly advises financial entities and a wide variety of other regulated and unregulated financial service providers and participants in the payments card industry, including prepaid card issuers and distributors as well as fintechs, on various aspects of their business. Mena has extensive experience in developing and improving compliance programs, including internal policies and procedures, and in drafting and reviewing standard form contacts, related disclosures and other documentation. Mena works with both domestic and international clients. She has developed an expertise in legislative compliance areas that affect her clients and specializes in a wide range of regulatory issues, including federal financial institutions legislation and guidelines, payment systems legislation, AML and Canadian sanctions laws, rules affecting payment card networks, cost of borrowing legislation, provincial regulation of consumer contracts, requirements under credit reporting and debt collection legislation, payday lending legislation, mortgage broker legislation, loan broker legislation and e-commerce matters, as well as legislation affecting both commercial and consumer lenders. Over the course of her career in the financial services regulatory group at Blakes, Mena has been seconded to four different financial institutions, including two of the largest banks in Canada. During this time, Mena gained invaluable in-house experience as she worked closely with in-house counsel and directly advised the businesses on regulatory compliance matters, including in connection with the development and launch of credit products.

Michael McIntosh

Partner

Michael Matheson

Michael has more than 25 years of experience in banking and financial services law, with a particular specialization in corporate and commercial finance. His practice is focused on the areas of banking, syndicated lending, leveraged finance, project finance, and mergers and acquisitions. Michael regularly advises Canadian and foreign financial institutions and borrowers with respect to the structuring and negotiation of syndicated loan transactions, acquisition financings, take-over bid financings, leveraged buyouts, corporate reorganizations, workouts, and mergers and acquisitions.

Michael Barrack

Michael is one of the leading senior litigators in Canada. In recent years, he has acted on some of the most significant litigation disputes in Canada for clients in various industries. Michael has appeared at all levels of court in Canada, as well as at proceedings in the U.S. and England. Recently he was lead litigation counsel for U.K. pension claimants in successfully obtaining a landmark "modified pro rata" allocation of US$7.3-billion raised from the sale of the Nortel Networks global business units and patent portfolio.

Michael Gans

Michael regularly advises on many of Canada’s highest-profile merger and acquisition transactions as well as numerous middle market M&A transactions. He acts for strategic and financial buyers, targets and significant shareholders on negotiated and unsolicited domestic and cross-border acquisition transactions. Michael also has experience representing special committees in connection with M&A transactions, related party transactions and internal investigations. Michael is the former head of Blakes Toronto Capital Markets practice and one of the co-founders of Blakes New York office.

Mungo Hardwicke-Brown

Mungo advises primarily on M&A, joint ventures, corporate finance and major energy infrastructure industries with experience across all sectors, including petroleum, natural gas, oil sands, electricity, potash and other commodities, pipelines, storage, LNG terminalling and supply arrangements, power generation and transmission. Over half of these were international and cross-border and involved many specialized practice areas, including tax, regulatory, trade and competition, employment, pensions and litigation.  

Natalie Bussière

Natalie dedicates her practice to employment and labour law, as well as pension, benefits and executive compensation. She has represented clients in litigation concerning surplus assets of a pension plan, the validity of contribution holidays taken by employers party to a pension plan and in litigation contesting the legality of clauses found in rules and regulations of pension plans. Natalie also counsels various boards of trustees, pension committees and plan sponsors, and acts as Quebec counsel for a few multi-employer pension plans. Natalie has worked extensively in the field of labour relations, negotiating employment contracts, collective agreements and other agreements, including issues related to the application of the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. She also advises on the transfer, hiring or termination of upper management and employees. Natalie has pleaded before the Supreme Court of Canada, the Court of Appeal, the Superior Court, the Federal Court and the Labour Tribunal, as well as before many specialized administrative tribunals. Additionally, Natalie is closely following developments on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, including with respect to employee relations and benefits management, and she advises clients in this regard.

Navin Joneja

Navin is a Partner and Co-Chairs the Competition, Antitrust & Foreign Investment group at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP. He provides strategic advice on domestic and multinational mergers, joint ventures, strategic alliances, cartels, abuse of dominance investigations, class actions and compliance programs. He is considered a leading expert on Canada's competition, antitrust and foreign investment laws and regulations. Over the past nearly twenty years, clients have valued his practical and thoughtful approach to navigating Canada’s competition and foreign investment laws, often in coordination with reviews in other jurisdictions. Notable matters include: Secure/Tervita, Superior Plus/Certarus, Praxair Inc./Linde AG; Elanco/Bayer; GSK/Novartis; Penguin/Random House; and Visa.

Pamela Huff

Practice Area: Pamela is the National Practice Group Leader of the Firm's Restructuring & Insolvency group, with over 30 years of experience in the field, served on member of the Firm's Executive Committee for over a decade. She is experienced in all areas of insolvency practice, including both the litigation and commercial aspects of workouts, reorganizations, receiverships and other enforcement of security. Pamela has acted as counsel to debtors, financial institutions, asset-backed lenders, debtor-in-possession (DIP) lenders, secured and unsecured creditors, receivers, trustees and monitors in complex domestic and cross-border insolvencies, across a wide range of industries. She has also acted for purchasers in significant acquisitions through insolvency proceedings and has particular expertise with aircraft financings and airline insolvencies.

Paul Belanger

Paul is Practice Group Leader of the Financial Services practice. He deals with all aspects of the regulation, business and affairs of financial institutions, including banks, insurance companies and other regulated and unregulated providers of financial services. Paul advises on governance, enterprise risk management, business and ownership structures, product development, permitted investments, capital, related-party transactions, licensing, product development and distribution matters and all regulatory issues. He also advises on acquisitions, pension derisking transactions, divestitures, reorganizations and joint ventures involving financial service providers, and advises financial services providers on a variety of agreements and services.

Paul Stepak

Paul is the National Practice Group Leader for the Blakes Tax group. Paul practises corporate and partnership income taxation, including advising on domestic and cross-border tax planning, private and public M&As, private equity and Canadian pension funds' investments, reorganizations, capital markets transactions, financings, and taxation of mutual funds, partnerships and other investment vehicles. Cross-border inbound structuring, including for private equity funds and their portfolio companies, is a significant component of his practice. Paul also has experience assisting clients with the resolution of Canadian federal and provincial tax audits and appeals at all stages. Paul frequently writes and speaks on domestic and international tax issues.

Peter Rubin

Peter practice focuses on restructuring and insolvency and complex commercial litigation matters. His R&I practice involves advising debtor companies, lender syndicates, secured and unsecured creditors, purchasers of distressed assets, debtor-in-possession lenders, and other parties affected by business insolvency issues. He has acted as independent counsel for monitors in reorganization cases, receivers and trustees in bankruptcy. Peter's commercial litigation practice focuses on contractual disputes, tax appeals, tort claims, shareholder and securities litigation, equitable remedies, including fiduciary duties and creditors' rights. Peter has co-authored Continuing Legal Education (CLE) papers, frequently appears as a lecturer at insolvency conferences, and is a contributing author to a comprehensive text on government liability. He is also a regular guest lecturer at the Law Society's professional legal training course.

Peter Keohane

Peter has broad experience in many areas of business law. His practice focuses on domestic and international commercial transactions, with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, project development and structured commodity off-take and supply transactions. Among others, Peter’s practice is actively involved in the energy (oil, gas, power, renewables and alternative fuels) and agribusiness sectors, and has advised some of Canada’s and the world’s leading energy and agribusiness firms on domestic and international matters and transactions.

Randall Hofley

Partner

Robert Torralbo

Robert practises corporate commercial litigation and arbitration with an emphasis on defending class actions, product liability, securities, banking, real estate and shareholder disputes. His clients include financial institutions, large multinational organizations, securities dealers, manufacturers and real estate developers. Robert regularly appears before all levels of Quebec courts and arbitration panels, and has appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada.

Robert Kwinter

Robert advises clients on the Competition Act including conspiracy, bid-rigging, trade association activities, misleading advertising, mergers and other reviewable trade practices, as well as on regulatory approval under the Competition Act and Investment Canada Act. Litigation counsel in cases under various provisions of the Competition Act, including lead counsel to Visa Canada in a successful proceeding before the Competition Tribunal. Extensive class action experience includes: DRAM, air cargo, hydrogen peroxide, EPDM, chocolate, LCD and credit cards. Complex mergers include: Suncor/Petro-Canada, Merck/Schering-Plough, GE/Alstom.  

Ross Bentley

Ross specializes in merger and acquisition and capital markets transactions with extensive experience advising acquirors and targets in domestic and cross-border take-over bids, plans of arrangement and mergers. He regularly advises issuers and dealers in equity and debt capital markets transactions and has extensive experience in a wide variety of transaction structures and products, including project financing and offerings of investment grade, subordinated, and high-yield debt. He also assists issuers in establishing shelf financing programs both for domestic offerings as well as cross-border offerings under the Canada/US multi-jurisdictional offering system. He advises issuers, underwriters and selling shareholders on capital markets transactions in the pipeline and energy infrastructure, agribusiness, airline, energy services, oil and gas exploration, chartered bank and railroad sectors. He advises on shareholder activism situations and has acted for several issuers on high profile proxy contests. He regularly advises issuers in connection with corporate governance requirements, continuous and timely disclosure obligations, stock exchange matters and general corporate matters. Ross has experience advising clients on ESG matters, including in respect of corporate governance and compliance, disclosure, and sustainable finance.

Roy Millen

Roy has particular experience in Indigenous rights and title, and litigation involving commercial and administrative matters. Clients appreciate Roy's ability to provide prompt, straightforward and business-savvy advice in areas of the law that are complex and continually evolving. In the area of Aboriginal law, Roy advises private-sector clients across Canada on the development of energy, mining and other major projects, and relationships with Indigenous peoples. He negotiates commercial agreements, impact benefit agreements, consultation protocols and other arrangements with First Nations, Métis and other Indigenous groups. He also assists clients in navigating the regulatory processes necessary to secure project approval, including the implications of UNDRIP, and defends proponents from litigation challenges brought by Indigenous communities and individuals.

Sam Adkins

Sam is recognized as a leading lawyer in Canada with 18 years of experience advising clients in the resource sector, with a strong focus on Indigenous and project development matters. His practice is national in scope, acting for clients across Canada on a wide range of Indigenous law issues, including consultation, negotiation and the regulatory process. Sam has significant industry expertise in the energy and mining sectors, and has represented clients on commercial and transactional matters across all project phases. Previously, Sam held a senior position with an international energy company overseeing all Indigenous-related matters on a proposed liquefied natural gas project in Kitimat, British Columbia. Sam provides effective, timely and practical advice informed by his experience working both for and within industry. Sam is a frequent speaker and commentator on Indigenous law issues in Canada.

Scott Clarke

Scott focuses on mergers and acquisitions, power projects, corporate finance, private equity and governance matters, with a particular emphasis on renewable energy. He has extensive experience in a wide variety of domestic and cross-border acquisitions and financings. He has acted as counsel to issuers and underwriters across many sectors, including power, cleantech, alternative energy, oil and gas services, oil and gas exploration and development, high-tech, private equity and financial services. Scott regularly acts for Independent Power Producers (IPP's) to bring projects from greenfield opportunities through to their commercial operation date. This requires advice and negotiation on acquisition/disposition agreements, joint venture and partnering agreements, input on regulatory and environmental matters (including bidding into calls for power), oversight of EPC and O&M agreements and project financing involvement.

Sébastien Vilder

Sébastien is the Managing Partner for the Montréal Office and regional practice group leader of the financial services group. He specializes in project financing and has been involved in numerous project financings in Canada, Europe, Africa and Asia for renewable energy and infrastructure projects. Sébastien’s list of clients include financial institutions, development banks, governments and sponsors. Sébastien has advised clients on a wide range of complex projects including recently on a portfolio of over 500MW of wind projects in Alberta (insured by the German export credit agency and the Danish export credit agency), and also, on a $600 million project financing for a wind project in Quebec, Canada.

Silvana D'Alimonte

Silvana has 31 years of commercial real estate experience. She has worked on a wide variety of transactions, with an emphasis on real estate financings, joint ventures, acquisitions and dispositions of commercial real estate properties, receivership sales, security enforcement and restructurings. Silvana is committed to providing clients with timely, high-quality service and strives to provide practical, effective advice to help achieve the client's goal. Silvana has written numerous articles on real estate matters, including loans to joint ventures, due diligence in real estate financings and tendering in an electronic registration environment.

Simon Finch

Simon’s practice focuses on debt transactions, acting both for borrowers and lenders (bank and private credit). He has extensive experience structuring and negotiating syndicated credits, asset-based loans, capital call facilities, and project financings. In particular, he provides advice with respect to acquisition financings, including both strategic and sponsor leveraged buyouts and tender-offer financings for public companies. Simon has developed particular expertise in the mining sector, and advises on projects within and outside of Canada. Simon's clients include numerous domestic and foreign financial institutions, private equity funds, corporations and foreign law firms, who retain him to assist with the Canadian aspects of multi-jurisdictional financings.

Sunny Handa

Sunny is a Partner and National Practice Group Leader of both the Firm's Technology group and the Firm's Communications Law group. He has a substantial practice in mergers & acquisitions of technology companies and also advises clients on transactional and regulatory matters relating to information technology and electronic commerce, intellectual property, communications (telecommunications and broadcasting), biotech and defence. Sunny is also a well-recognized cyber breach coach and leads organizations through three stages of cybersecurity: cyber preparedness, incident response and post breach resolution work. Sunny works closely with boards and leadership teams across various Canadian companies and organizations in guiding them through the complex challenges of dealing with cyber-attacks and risk mitigation. Sunny is widely published in legal literature and has authored and co-authored many books on information technology, communications law, copyright law and business.

Thomas von Hahn

Thomas is Co-Practice Group Leader of the Real Estate group. He is a trusted adviser to pension funds and institutional and private investors in the acquisition and disposition of real property and mortgage portfolios. He has been active in the privatization and disposition of government assets throughout Canada. He has structured real estate joint ventures and partnerships and placed financing secured by real estate on behalf of both individuals and institutions.  

Tim Andison

Tim's practice focuses on a wide variety of M&A and debt and equity capital markets transactions, including initial public offerings (IPOs), high-yield and other debt offerings, restructurings, and liability-management transactions. He has acted for numerous underwriters, issuers, financial sponsors, lenders and borrowers based in Canada, the United States, South America, Europe and Asia.  

Vivian Kung

Vivian’s practice focuses on power, infrastructure / construction and mergers and acquisitions. She is regularly engaged on major project work throughout Canada, including in the social infrastructure, health-care, transportation and renewable energy sectors. Vivian has recently led complicated M&A transactions in the renewable energy space, involving portfolios comprising wind, solar and hydro resources and storage assets and spanning multiple jurisdictions (domestically and internationally). The scope and breadth of her expertise is such that she is able to provide pragmatic advice throughout the lifecycle of a renewable project, including the development, construction, operations, financing, acquisition and divestiture phases. She continuously adapts her broad practice to reflect market developments and accommodate her clients’ needs. Vivian is currently advising clients participating in the largest Canadian energy storage procurement. Vivian worked as senior legal counsel with a construction industry leader, acquiring invaluable in-house experience as the responsible lawyer on complex domestic and international projects. Vivian also clerked at the British Columbia Court of Appeal, where she gained experience in corporate/commercial disputes in British Columbia's highest court. She is a national co-chair of the Firm’s Power and Renewable Energy group and a primary contact of the Blakes Japan practice group.