DON EDWARDS, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Calgary
+ Practising oil & gas law
PROS:
• Oil and gas is a capital-intensive in- dustry; it requires a large amount of legal work to raise capital via private placements, prospectus or otherwise and then use those funds for further exploration and development oppor- tunities. • Th e introduction of new technol- ogy has resulted in a number of new development opportunities and new investments. • Th e challenge of working with cli- ents to take advantage of new oppor- tunities such as the oilsands. • Changing regulatory and environ- ment regulations have created numer- ous opportunities for legal work. • Global clients oft en seek out Cana- dian lawyers because of their techni- cal expertise and experience; this has
Get more online lawtimesnews.com canadianlawyermag.com - CONS:
Fresh Canadian legal news and analysis every day Canadian Lawyer | Law Times | 4Students | InHouse | Legal Feeds
30 SPRING 2 0 1 1 Visit Us Online 1-4-3X.indd 1 C ANADIAN Lawy er 4STUDENTS 2/24/11 11:32:45 AM
• Th e reality is that our clients are working in an industry that's based on a non-renewable and depleting resource. • Th e fact that the western sedimen- tary basin is well-developed can also be thought of as a con to working in the oil and gas sector because the major companies (clients) are seek- ing opportunities elsewhere. • Th e industry can be very cyclical and the amount of legal work needed can fl uctuate dramatically from year to year. For example, because it is a capital-intensive industry, the sector is subject to equity market fl uctua- tions.
allowed many BLG lawyers to work in other jurisdictions around the world. • Th e western sedimentary basin is well-developed so major companies seek opportunities elsewhere; this creates new opportunities for lawyers to work with junior companies as they look to raise capital to conduct oil and gas exploration and develop- ment activities in the western sedi- mentary basin.
*
