Ruling may make Competition Bureau more likely to pre-emptively challenge mergers in court
‘It’s pretty clear from this decision that the Bureau mismanaged the litigation by lying in the weeds until the last minute’ By Julius Melnitzer | March 3, 2022 A Federal Court of Appeal decision confirming the Competition Bureau’s power to stop a proposed merger in its tracks could make the regulator more likely to pre-emptively […]
FP Dealmakers: As governments pulled back on debt issuance, corporations picked up the slack
By Julius Melnitzer | February 3, 2022 Depth was the hallmark of Canada’s debt market in 2021 even as overall deal count and supply declined from the year previous. Anomalous? Not really. Close examination of statistics compiled by Financial Post Data show a sharp divergence between the corporate and public sectors. Corporate issuance rose 11.3 […]
FP Dealmakers: Law firms on overdrive amid ‘hunger and urgency to get deals done’
By: Julius Melnitzer | February 1, 2022 It’s rare for lawyers to be unequivocal. But then, when it comes to capital markets activity, 2021 was a rare year for law firms. “We certainly had not planned for what occurred this past year, which produced one of the best capital markets ever, and we’re talking all […]
Share transfers to executives, employees are income not capital gains: appeal court
By Julius Melnitzer | December 23, 2021 A Federal Court of Appeal ruling will make it very difficult for executives and employees to treat share transfers from their companies as capital gains rather than income. The decision involved Kitchener, Ont.-based D2L Corp., whose intention was to distribute appreciated shares of the company, held in a […]
Why Supreme Court ruled Alta Energy’s ‘treaty shopping’ not abuse of tax planning
By Julius Melnitzer | December 13, 2021 Short of abusive behaviour, companies are allowed to minimize their tax liability In November, the SCC rejected Ottawa’s claim that the taxpayer, a Luxembourg resident, should be denied the benefit of the Canada-Luxembourg tax treaty because it engaged in treaty shopping and its economic ties to Luxembourg were […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: OCA reverses heroin trafficker’s conviction after judge delays reasons for 4 years | Woman lawyers working 100 more hours than men | 90% of UK lawyers resisting return to office | EU pushes gig workers’ rights | Top 5 law firm bulletins & webinars
By Julius Melnitzer | December 6, 2021 JUDGE TAKES FOUR YEARS TO DELIVER REASONS AFTER THREE-DAY TRIAL The trial involved only three days of evidence. But Judge Kofi Barnes of the Ontario Superior Court took four years to deliver reasons. And that was some 31 months after Shane Artis appealed his conviction and 10-year sentence […]
Named in the Pandora Papers? Now what?
By Julius Melnitzer | November 17, 2021 If you’re one of the Canadians named in the Pandora papers, the latest massive leak of information related to tax havens, how much sleep do you really need to lose? That depends. “Is there smoke or is there fire?” asks David Rotfleisch, the founding partner at Toronto tax […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: BLG to manage Ivanhoé Cambridge leasing legal services | Study: junior counsel beat senior counsel as often as seniors beat them | Litigation funding fees capped | Judges need safety too | Top law firm bulletins
By Julius Melnitzer | November 11, 2021 IVANHOé CAMBRIDGE IN-HOUSE LAWYERS MOVE TO BLG “In-house” gets new meaning as part of Ivanhoé Cambridge’s (IC) law department moves to Borden Ladner Gervais LLP offices in Montreal and Toronto. All this pursuant to an agreement for BLG to manage legal services for shopping centres owned by IC, […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Pandemic spurs unprecedented satisfaction with lawyers | Non-humans can be patent ‘inventors’ | SCC revisits statutory interpretation? | EU declares open season for environmental challenges | Best of: law firm webinars & bulletins
By Julius Melnitzer | October 29, 2021 CLIENT SATISFACTION WITH LAWYERS PEAKS DURING PANDEMIC A UK survey suggests the inability to meet lawyers in person has, at the very least, not diminished clients’ satisfaction with their services. Indeed, according to the Law Society Gazette, satisfaction levels reached an all-time high during the pandemic. The Legal […]
Violating property maintenance, safety and sanitation laws in Quebec: beware the consequences
September 17, 2021 By Aubie J. Herscovitch and Alexander Rigante, guest contributors This article examines the rules and regulations regarding the maintenance, safety and sanitation of buildings in Quebec, with emphasis on the penalties and powers of which municipal authorities can avail themselves should a property owner fail to maintain these standards. According to the Loi […]