Legal news and trends for Canadian in-house counsel and c-suite executives
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/1238940
www.canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse 23 projects, including the construction financing of Linx Condos and Y&S Condos; successfully represented Cadillac Fairview in a noteworthy appeal overturning a "reverse summary judg- ment" decision; acted for leading insurance companies on major insurance coverage, fidelity and cyber-liability cases. Star alumni: former Ontario chief justice Roy McMurtry; Ontario Court Justice Feroza Bhabha; Ontario Superior Court Justice Janet Wilson; former Tax Court of Canada justice J.A. Brulé; Superior Court Master Robert Muir; Larry Grossman, former Ontario government cabinet minister and Ontario Conservative party leader Affiliations: TAGLaw; Risk Management Counsel of Canada; Insurance Law Global Firm history: The original firm, Blaney Pasternak, was founded by James Blaney and Irwin Pasternak in 1954. The late Bill McMurtry joined the firm in the early 1960s, building a lit- igation department that is now a core strength of the firm. In subsequent years, the firm un- derwent several smaller mergers, lateral hires and ensuing name changes. In 2000, the firm was established as Blaney McMurtry LLP. 5. Minden Gross LLP mindengross.com TOTAL LAWYERS: 63 OFFICE: Toronto Core practice areas: business law; commer- cial leasing and real estate; financial services; property taxation and assessment law; em- ployment and labour law; litigation; securities and capital markets; tax and succession planning; wills and estates Key clients: Lanterra Developments; Fieldgate Development Construction Ltd.; First Gulf Corp.; The Global Group; H&R REIT; Royal Bank of Canada; Marlin Spring Invest- ments Limited Notable mandates: Acted for the majority shareholder as part of Debco Bag Distributors' merger with HUB Promotional Group; advised on the TSXV listings for Enthusiast Gaming and for GTEC Holdings; acted for Shotgun Fund, FirePower Equity, Lynx Equity Limited and Succession Capital on multiple M&A transactions and for FirePower Equity and Area One Farms on multiple fund formations; acted for a premier residential developer on the acquisition of a portfolio of multi-family rental properties in Montreal and Quebec City for $117.5 million; acted for a syndicate of de- velopers in the sale of a residential mixed-use development with a purchase price in excess of $100 million Star alumni: Robyn Kestenberg, executive vice president, corporate development, H&R REIT; David Feldberg, president and CEO, Teknion; Mark Mandelbaum, co-founder, Lan- terra Developments; Mark Weisleder, author, columnist and speaker; David Glass, senior vice president, The Global Group; retired senator Jerry Grafstein; Mordecai Bobrowsky, vice president, legal, Primaris Management Inc.; Lauren Corber, president & executive producer, LoCo Motion Pictures Affiliations: Meritas Law Firms Worldwide Firm history: Arthur Minden, Edwin Pivnick and Morris Gross founded the firm in 1950. Early on, the firm gained a reputation for its skills in commercial real estate transactions. Jerry Grafstein and Herbert Greenstein joined in the 1960s and established corporate and civil litigation services to meet the growing needs of clients. The firm expanded further into commercial leasing, bankruptcy and insolvency, tax and succession planning, employment and labour and wills and estates law. In 1992, Minden Gross became an affiliate of Meritas Law Firms Worldwide, a global alli- ance of independent law firms. It has recently grown further, branching out into securities and capital markets as well as property taxa- tion and assessment. 6. Fogler Rubinoff LLP foglers.com TOTAL LAWYERS: 118 LAWYERS BY OFFICE: Toronto, 116; Ottawa, 2 Core practice areas: business law including corporate, securities, IP/IT; energy and environmental law; commercial real estate including condominium law and leasing; financial services; health law; Indigenous law, with an emphasis on business matters; litigation; labour and employment; tax and wills and estates Key clients: RioCan REIT; FirstService Corporation; Colliers International Group Inc.; Coco Paving; Computershare; Six Nations of the Grand River Development Corp.; WeedMD; CannTrust; Toronto Parking Authority; TD, HSBC, RBC and other major banks Notable mandates: acted for Neo Performance Materials Inc. in its $200-mil- lion IPO; R. v. Coco Paving Inc. brought successful due diligence defence and obtained dismissal of the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change prosecution of Coco Paving Inc. related to a 2013 natural gas line strike in Windsor, Ont.; acquisition, development, financing and sale of multiple utility scale solar projects for Canadian Solar; representation of both investment dealers and licensed producers for significant financings in the cannabis industry; in Re Imex Sys- tems Inc. 2018, successfully defended an application to set aside a private placement in