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.
This week's announced deal spotlight in Lexpert DealsWire features the key players and figures in Pembina Pipeline's purchase of Veresen for $5.8-billion.
In our closed deals section, we look at the legal teams on the privatization of Milestone Apartments REIT, as well as the corporate restructuring of Western Potash.
We also look at the players behind the formation of Sprott Resource Holdings Inc., and the Canadian Cancer Society's amalgamation with the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
Bid to halt Cenovus deal unlikely to succeed
The Ontario Securities Commission has yet to publicly respond to a shareholder request to halt Cenovus Energy Inc.'s blockbuster offer for ConocoPhillips Canada's assets and force it to be put to a shareholder vote. And it may rather just allow the deal to close without intervening. Regardless, so-called appraisal rights, or situations in which shareholders can demand to be cashed out at fair value because they are unhappy with a transaction, is a live issue in the United States and could be coming to Canada.
Ruling in Chevron has impact abroad
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has put a dent in the viability of corporate social responsibility principles – especially of resource companies operating abroad – with its recent refusal to enforce an Ecuadorean judgment worth $9.51-billion against Chevron Corp. by ordering the seizure of assets belonging to its seventh-level indirect subsidiary Chevron Canada Ltd., which has no connection to the Ecuadorean proceedings.
Machine Readable
While basic forms of contract automation have been present for a long time in Canadian corporate law – since at least the 1980s – the past two years or so have seen much more sophisticated systems emerge. In the drive for greater efficiency, law firms and in-house counsel are exploring and using contract automation programs that stand to redefine the practice of corporate law.
Standing Behind the Good
In-house counsel have a long and valuable history of providing pro bono services in Canada, for example, as duty counsel in courts. But law departments have begun to change the way they do pro bono. Beyond merely supporting worthy causes, companies are now organizing "signature" initiatives and rolling them out company-wide.
2017 Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory Now Online
The 21st annual edition of the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory is now online. Check out which lawyers across Canada have been identified as leading in their areas of practice. The 2017 edition of the directory identifies leading practitioners in over 60 separate practice areas and leading law firms in over 40 practice areas.
The Lowdown on E-Kiosk Contracts
For about 30 years, electronic mechanisms of contract formation have been augmenting, and in some cases altogether replacing, the analogous paper-based ones. But as legal tech columnist George Takach points out, recent court decision shows that it's the intent to express an offer or acceptance that matters, and not the medium.
Measuring Your Own Performance
To be successful in business and in practice, you must provide people with what they need and what they want, and you must listen to others, understand them and help them. In other words, according to business-development coach Donna Wannop, you must add value in any way that you can. It's as simple as that.
Welcome to the Machine
Is the future of legal advice in jeopardy – or do lawyers have a new friend in artificial intelligence? Loreto Grimaldo of Grimlaw Professional Corp. explores the implications of high tech in legal services.
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