Canada’s former competition watchdog John Pecman is joining law firm Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, a move aimed at helping corporate clients navigate regulatory issues that come with trying to do deals in mature industries.
Mr. Pecman stepped down as commissioner of competition in May after 34 years at the regulator, and plans to join Fasken’s Ottawa office in September as senior business adviser to the firm. The 59-year-old was the first non-lawyer to run the Competition Bureau – he has a graduate degree in economics from McMaster University. But Mr. Pecman will be one of several Fasken advisers who never went to law school: Canada’s former ambassador to the United States Raymond Chrétien and former Ontario Premier Mike Harris are also at the firm.
John Pecman.
Mr. Pecman joins Fasken after leading the Competition Bureau through a period that saw the regulator increase the scope and scale of its work – the agency launched 60 investigations in the first nine months of last year, compared with 28 such actions in 2013, Mr. Pecman’s first year as boss.
On Mr. Pecman’s watch, the competition regulator ran landmark investigations around anti-competitive behaviour at real estate brokerages, propane companies, newspaper chains, bread makers and online retailer Amazon. Mr. Pecman said rising scrutiny of mergers and acquisitions, and the government’s increasing advocacy for consumers, show deal-making is getting increasingly complex, and there are rising expectations on corporate behaviour.
“There is a great deal of angst around competition issues in M&A markets, in Canada and the U.S. and Europe, and I look forward to working with Fasken’s clients as they deal with these issues,” said Mr. Pecman. After working on antitrust investigations for more than three decades, the former watchdog’s practical advice includes a recommendation that companies looking to get deals approved “talk to regulators about the competition concerns, and possible remedies, rather than trying to mask them.”
“John’s long history at multiple levels of the bureau’s administration, and his economics background, will allow us to provide clients with superior advice,” said Peter Feldberg, managing partner at Fasken.
Lawyers and accountants are increasingly redefining the traditional, narrow definitions of their partnerships by bringing in professionals with complementary skills, to create firms that offer a broader arrange of services to corporate clients.
Mr Pecman fielded job offers from a number of law firms and consultants prior to joining Fasken and said the firm’s domestic and international reach was the key factor in joining the team. Fasken has more than 700 lawyers at offices across Canada and in Beijing, Johannesburg and London.
As head of the Competition Bureau, Mr. Pecman negotiated agreements between the Canadian government and regulators in Europe, the United States, Australia, India and China, international experience that Fasken’s international clients can tap when trying to get domestic takeover approval.
Fasken lawyer Huy Do, co-head of the firm’s antitrust, competition and marketing group, said Mr. Pecman “not only knows the people and history of the office, but how they approach issues and their rationale for making decisions.”
A number of Mr. Pecman’s predecessors as commissioner of competition also hang their hats at law firms. Melanie Aitken is based in the Washington office of Bennett Jones LLP, and Lawson Hunter is senior counsel at the Ottawa office of Stikeman Elliott LLP.