Lexpert Roundup on the Business of Law
Lexpert identifies and reports on emerging business issues and practice areas in the business of law. Whether online, in our magazine or in the DealsWire e-newsletter, we chronicle deals and lawsuits of interest, and cover issues of broad concern to the legal profession and those who purchase legal services. We hope you enjoy this sampling of our latest content.
From the DealsWire: CSA's new guidelines, the juggling act, Petronas eyes LNG Canada
The Lexpert DealsWire (subscribe here) documents facts, figures and key legal players behind recent deals. This week's announced deal spotlight features the key players and figures in CI Financial's $780-million deal to buy Sentry Investments.
In our closed deals section, we look at the sale of Reliance Home Comfort to Cheung Kong Property Holdings Ltd., as well as Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. acquiring oil sands assets from Shell Canada and, with a subsidiary of Shell, acquiring Marathon Oil Canada. We also look at the joint venture agreement between Village Farms International and Emerald Health Therapeutics for large-scale cannabis production.
And on the real estate front, we look at the players behind the sale of Vancouver's Grouse Mountain Resort.
The Juggling Act
In the first test of how committed the Liberals are to the previous government's four-carrier policy, BCE's $3.1-billion acquisition of Manitoba Telecom Services ultimately closed in March – with a substantial remedy to New Brunswick-based telecom Xplornet. The deal was, in one word, complex. Here's how the legal teams managed the simultaneous negotiations with aplomb.
The road to a career in law can be a hard one. This will surely come as no surprise to law students, who are told from the outset of the challenges that await them. Young lawyers, however, aren't thrown into the deep end the way they once were. As the following pieces show, recruitment specialists are there to help as students face the obstacles ahead.
Law firms are developing custom programs to give new lawyers the business fundamentals they need.
Law firms continue to take action to address their diversity shortfalls.
Is it better early on to be capable in multiple fields or masterful in only one?
Law firms have their own way of doing things. Young lawyers should be quick to learn the rules.
New lawyers face a delicate transition as they move from their summer programs to articling positions.
Regulators to take stricter approach in protecting minority shareholders
A bulletin issued by the Canadian Securities Administrators late last month served notice that they are going to be looking at a number of factors a lot more carefully in order to protect the interests of minority shareholders in so-called conflict transactions.
Court denies US pension fund claim
The British Columbia Supreme Court has thwarted an American pension fund's attempt to assert a claim over the assets of an insolvent Canadian company by relying on the extraterritorial effect of a US law.
Ontario confirms test for rescission
The Ontario Court of Appeal has overturned a lower court's decision to forgive a franchisor's deficient disclosure and deny the franchisee's motion to rescind the agreement. The appellate court decision confirmed that the test for rescission was whether the disclosure made to the franchisee was materially deficient, and not the franchisee's level of sophistication.
CASL: From Bad to Perhaps Worse
A harmful regulatory regime in the form of Canada's anti-spam legislation was about to get downright dangerous – until the federal government backed off, writes technology columnist George Takach.
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