About Me

Summary
Legal Bio
Backgrond In Law
Background in Business

Summary

My Background

  • 15 years at Davies, Ward & Beck (now Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg), Toronto; one of Canada’s best business law firms

  • Multiple types of business law, all at the senior partner level: corporate, commercial, securities, competition (antitrust) and information technology

  • 10 years business experience in national and international business, including serving as in-house counsel

My Clients

  • Businesses, business owners, in-house counsel and private practice lawyers

  • National and International

  • All types of businesses: high tech, manufacturing, alternative energy, service providers

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Read my legal biohere.
Read more about my background in lawhere.
Read more about my background in businesshere.

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My Bio

Bar Admissions

  • Ontario (1986)

Professional Recognition

  • Lexpert Canadian Legal Directory of Leading Competition and Antitrust Lawyers

  • Euromoney Guide to the World’s Leading Competition and Antitrust Lawyers

Professional Associations and Activities

  • Canadian Bar Association

    • ➢ Past Chair of the International Trade Law and Practice Committee

    ➢ Principal draftsperson of numerous CBA commentaries on developments in competition law and practice concerning international enforcement, statutory amendments, and corporate compliance programs.


  • American Bar Association

    • ➢ Past member of the Antitrust Section.

    ➢ Past member of the Computer Law Committee.

Education

  • University of Toronto, LLB. (1984)

  • University of Western Ontario, Engineering Studies (1980) Dean’s Honour List

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My Background In Law

My background includes 15 years of practice in downtown Toronto, at one of Canada’s premier business law firms (Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg). At a senior level, I practiced – in each case as a senior partner – multiple types of business law:

  • Corporate/commercial/securities
  • Competition/antitrust
  • Information Technology

While in private practice, I published over 20 papers and articles, and both organized and was an invited speaker at national conferences of the Canadian Bar Association and others. I was nationally and internationally recognized by my peers for professional excellence. Reflecting my intellectual strength and entrepreneurial approach to law practice, in response to market opportunities I twice completely changed the focus of my practice to pursue emerging legal markets, in each case developing recognized expertise and helping grow my firm’s market share.

Representative Types of Clients/Industries

  • Solar Energy
  • Telecommunications
  • Distributors: wholesale and retail; domestic and international
  • Family-owned businesses
  • Manufacturers
  • Alternative fuels
  • Industrial networking
  • Software development firms
  • Aerospace and airlines
  • Industry Associations (e.g., media distribution, commodity suppliers, retail vendors, professional services)
  • Retailers
  • Investment dealers and other financial services
  • Property developers
  • Print and marketing
  • High technology electronics manufacturers
  • Oil field services
  • Heavy equipment manufacturers


Representative Types of Transactions/Advice

  • Buying and selling businesses and/or divisions
  • Finance (private placements, public offerings, bank financings and financial restructurings)
  • Licensing, both for licensor and the licensee
  • Protecting intellectual property (from drafting patents to designing international IP strategy)
  • Sales, distribution and service agreements (both domestic and international)
  • Competition analysis and market strategy
  • Outsourcing
  • Regulatory compliance in multiple industries
  • Strategic alliances
  • Regulatory clearance for domestic and international mergers
  • Shareholder agreements, buy/sell agreements, employment agreements, and stock option and other compensation plans
  • Directing and managing other specialized counsel


Representative In-House Counsel Experience

  • Directing and managing outside counsel in Canada and the U.S., in corporate/securities, intellectual property, litigation, and real estate
  • Sales and distribution agreements
  • Supply agreements
  • Licenses and international joint ventures
  • Acquisitions and integration of acquired businesses or new product lines)
  • Bank financings and private placements;
  • Interpretation of law and regulations – overseeing regulatory compliance
  • Assistance in preparing government submissions, and complying with RFP requirements
  • Compliance with public company prospectus and reporting requirements
  • Identifying and protecting intellectual property (patents and trade-marks) internationally, from application to patent grant
  • All corporate secretary functions

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Background In Business

My business experience covers every area of business operations. Roles have included Chief Operating Officer, Senior Vice-President Business Development, Vice-President Corporate Development. The businesses I helped manage both sold products and services, with markets ranging from exclusively North American to 95% global, and with customers ranging from small businesses to global firms with revenues of >US$40 billion. They ranged in size from 5 employees to 50.

Representative Business Experience

  • Leading all operations (sales, manufacturing, accounting, R&D)
  • Developing, writing and implementing business plans and business strategy
  • Hired, trained and upgraded staff in every area of business
  • Helped lead a turnaround followed by profitable 700% sales growth over 3 years
  • Supplier sourcing and negotiating
  • Acquired and integrated companies with complementary technologies
  • Acquired new product lines in innovative transactions I designed
  • Negotiated joint ventures
  • Negotiated licenses in and out
  • Planned and led implementation of ISO and other international quality systems
  • Selected and managed the installation of MRP systems I helped design
  • Worked with Canadian and international standards bodies to create international quality standards
  • Set and implemented technology strategy
  • Researched new markets, and led negotiations with distributors in those new markets
  • Led, negotiated and implemented financings, through public offerings, private placements and banks
  • Created new financing vehicles for international sales involving letters of credit

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