www.canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse 17
"We're very proud of that project," says
Cugliari. "Scott is the type of lawyer who un-
derstands how large organizations work, and if
I'm not available, he will work directly with our
business people in a very productive fashion."
In order to reduce spend, Parmalat is consid-
ering the idea of hiring a specialized in-house
lawyer to carry out some of the tasks that are
currently sent to outside counsel.
"We're not sure if we can make the business
case for this, but we're looking at it to see if it
makes sense," says Cugliari.
Blaney McMurtry LLP ranks at number four
on the list of top Ontario firms. Among its key
clients, SmartCentres Real Estate Investment
Trust makes use of a select number of firms
for complex title work and conveyancing mat-
ters, joint venture structuring and agreements
and tax advice.
"When specific expertise is required, we
retain the required expertise," says Joseph
Amato, vice president, legal at SmartREIT.
Amato has been working with Blaney since he
joined the shopping centre developer 20 years
ago. Among the projects Blaney has worked
on for SmartCentres are two recent joint
ventures that included providing title opinions,
structuring and conveyancing work.
"I like their expertise, the quality of work, the
organization of materials and their ability to
turn documents around quickly," says Amato
of the Blaney team. "The value is unparalleled
— there is nobody in the city that produces
