Canadian Lawyer

www.canadianlawyermag.com 9 Auriol Marasco's aviation law journey at Blakes Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your work? I focus my time on helping the financiers and the les- sors of the world get aircraft into Canada and into our Canadian airlines. I help with the financing or leasing the aircraft purchase agreements for commercial carriers in Canada. And I also help companies who are looking to purchase corporate jets. That's something that has kept me really busy during the pandemic. A lot of companies have decided to embark on private flights as a result of the decreased availability in commercial carriers. I also work on regulatory matters. Getting aircraft registered in Canada, assisting with the importing and exporting of aircraft. We have a drone practice as well. With drone work, we're helping Blakes' existing and traditional clients use drones in their everyday operations and using them within the confines of the law. We're also assisting with new entrants, and manufacturers and operators of drones themselves to get licensed in Canada. How did you become interested in this field? I have to give credit to the great Canadian children's author, Robert Munsch. Way back when I was a kid, he had written a book called Angela's Airplane, which is about this little girl who gets onto an airplane, and her Dad has told her, "Don't press any buttons." Well, of course, she's not having any of that. You get on an aircraft, there are so many wonderful buttons. She takes it for a flight, and she has an amazing time, and she grows up to be a pilot. And I thought, "Heck, that's what I want to do, too." I wanted to push the buttons. What do you like most about your work? I can see the difference that I make. On top of that, peo- ple in this industry are highly intelligent. So, I'm never the smartest one in the room; there's always someone to learn something from. And I find that fascinating. But even these incredibly intelligent people, inside of each of them is a kid who just loved aviation, who just loved playing with airplanes as a kid and looks up in the sky when they hear a jet going past. That's the part of the industry that I really like. As much as it can be cynical, at its heart, people are fascinated with the idea of flight. What motivates you in your work? Aviation has a lot of hurdles for people getting started. Whether that's making sure that their aircraft are properly certified, making sure the pilots are properly certified, making sure that you have access to capital (because it's a capital-intensive industry), making sure that you can weather storms like a pandemic, etc. — there are real obstacles. So, helping clients navigate that to restrict or minimize those barriers so that they can get on to the real challenges of the industry of connect- ing people around the globe is one of the driving forces for me. LSO launches Access to Innovation project The Law Society of Ontario has officially launched its Access to Innovation (A2I) project, a pilot program aimed at enabling providers of innovative technological services "to serve Ontario consumers while complying with risk-based public protection standards." The LSO is now accepting applications for the five-year project, which is open to ITLS providers performing legal functions. "By offering new ways to reach consumers ... A2I opens up avenues for improved access to justice," said LSO chief executive officer, Diana Miles. Boarding school embroiled in abuse claims loses appeal against former students In Cavanaugh v. Grenville Christian College, former students brought a class lawsuit against the now defunct private boarding school and its former headmasters, alleging that the appellants had engaged in abusive disciplinary practices, including corporal punishment, public humiliation and other excessive discipline. Such practices breached the standard of care and fiduciary duty, and there was systemic negligence in Grenville's operations, said the former students. Mutual Fund Dealers Association sponsor- ing Osgoode Investor Protection Clinic Funding from the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada will assist the Investor Protection Clinic at Osgoode Hall Law School to meet the rising demand for pro bono legal advice for investors who believe they have been wronged. The two-year commitment will enable the legal clinic to create added value through investor education and move forward with its research to inform public policy and practice relating to investor protection, said Poonam Puri, co-founder and academic director of the Clinic. Q&A Auriol Marasco Partner BLAKE CASSELS & GRAYDON LLP Practice focus » Aircraft finance » Aviation commercial and regulatory law issues Other experience » Regulatory issues concerning unmanned aerial vehicle operations » Airport privatization Other work » executive member of the Canadian Bar Association Air and Space Law Section Member: International Aviation Women's Association Member: Women in Aviation Member: Experimental Aircraft Association *source: firm profile

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