Our expertise
We use our extensive legal expertise and business experience to assist our business clients with strategic insights.
About us
We are experienced counsel with decades of experience practicing business law. We are business people ourselves. The professional and personal experience we can share, and bring to bear in aid of your business goals, is exceptionally broad. We have:
Practiced business law for decades
Served in leadership roles in large global professional service firms
Held executive management roles in large multinational enterprises
Invested in real estate development and SME’s
Served as officers and directors of all manner of businesses and public sector organizations
Appeared as counsel in all levels of Ontario Courts and in the Federal Court of Canada
Acted as external and internal counsel, including for a major bank and a global manufacturer
Insights that guide our practice
We know that legal issues do not arise in the abstract. They arise in your life and in the context of your work. Our experience and analytical skills allow us to cut through the theory and detail of the law to frame for you a practical, contextually appropriate, solution that can be implemented readily by you. We can help you ask the right questions. We will find the right answers and we will put you in the best position possible to allow you to move forward and get on with your business.
A good lawyer is a lawyer who is confident enough to refer you to the right lawyer with the right expertise. We enjoy productive working relationships with other specialists across the country. If we are not the right counsel for the problem at hand we can refer you to someone who is, and we can help you make sure you purchase that service in as efficient and cost-effective manner as possible.
We’ll never pretend to know your business better than you do. But we will work hard to learn what we need to know to give you the advice you need. This means you will be involved in getting to the answer. We’ll spend time with you, direct you to consider the relevant aspects of your issue or requirement, and develop the solution in concert with you.
In contentious matters we’ll never allow you to be bullied or overpowered. One of the hallmarks of our society is that even the ‘little guy’ can have access to experienced expert counsel. We favour negotiation and mediation as the best means of dispute resolution-putting some structure in place for the parties, through their counsel, to fashion their own solution to the dispute, is often the best way forward. But when the other side is intransigent, and the stakes justify involving the court or an arbitrator in the dispute, we are prepared to provide you with the best representation available-which could be us or it could be a litigator with whom we enter into a co-counsel arrangement.
We know that our clients don’t just come to us for legal advice. They want input on the business problem they are addressing as well. Clients don’t want their lawyer to simply tell them what the right business decision is, but they do want to know what their lawyer thinks they should consider doing. We’ll tell you when we think you are being unduly indecisive, or ‘too nice’, or when you are not taking sufficient care about choosing with whom to do business. We’ll do it in a way that respects your ultimate decision-making responsibility and only after we’ve challenged you when we think you need some challenging.
Some clients may find the purchase of legal services awkward and difficult. It need not be that way. We take a ‘no surprises’ approach. We want to work with you to get a consensus on the legal work that needs to be done, and the cost of that, before we begin. You may feel you cannot afford people with the breadth and depth of experience we have. We will show you how affordable that can be.
Our services
What we do
We deliver strategic and legal business advice to advance your business interests.
We provide corporate law advice on business formation, organization, succession, purchase and sale of a business, and financing.
We provide advice about dealing with partners, shareholders, suppliers, customers, employees, insurers, lenders, landlords, agents, joint venture counterparties, franchisors, distributors, governmental authorities or anyone else with whom you do business. We will show you how to avoid disputes and how to limit your exposure if and when disputes do arise.
We can help you negotiate, mediate, litigate and/or arbitrate commercial disputes that arise in the course of your business. We litigate ourselves, and also work in co-counsel arrangements with leading litigation counsel to get you cost-effective results.
If it is a business law issue you have, we can bring our invaluable experience to the table to help you achieve your goals.
How we can help you
You may find yourself in a situation you have never been in. We’ve probably been there before ourselves or had experience advising someone who has.
If we have, we will not only provide you with legal advice but we’ll help you analyze the situation from all angles and advise you how to optimize your position. If we have not encountered a situation similar to the one you find yourself in, we can find someone who has and refer you to them.
We won’t re-invent the wheel on your dime.
You may find the purchase of legal services awkward and difficult. It need not be that way. We take a ‘no surprises’ approach. We want to work with you to get a consensus on the legal work that needs to be done, and the cost of that, before we begin.
You may feel you cannot afford people with the breadth and depth of experience we have. We will show you how affordable that can be.
“My GSK lawyer resolved a contract claim against us at an early stage, with a well-crafted and robust defence. I was thrilled.”
— OLIVIA R., CLIENT