The seminar will cover best practices for fast, efficient management of corporate business transaction and Sarah will be specifically addressing the preparation of essential closing documentation.
Sarah is responsible for the operation of the Corporate Services Department which maintains the registrations of several thousand corporate entities in the various jurisdictions across Canada as well as internationally. The department provides support to the lawyers of Farris and their corporate clients with respect to the incorporation, organization, extra-jurisdictional registration, and maintenance of companies, as well as providing support for ordinary and extraordinary corporate transactions, re-organizations, and arrangements. The department also provides securities support to the lawyers of Farris.
She has over 20 years experience in corporate commercial law and is a member of the Vancouver Area Corporate Supervisors Group and the BC Paralegal Association, of which she is a former director and past president.
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To read the Canadian handbook chapter, please click below:
Guide to Doing Business in Canada (2010)
In the article, Shea explores the history and the current state of BC’s wine industry and regulatory environment, saying, “[t]o understand where the BC wine industry is now we have to understand where it came from.”
Shea quotes Farris Partner Al Hudec, a fellow wine lover who follows the BC Wine Inustry closely: “Al Hudec of the BC law firm Farris, Vaughan, Wills, and Murphy LLP calls the current state of affairs, “an 80 year hangover from the end of prohibition” that hampers the growth of the industry.”
Published by the U.S. magazine Palate Press, the article was featured on the front page of winebusiness.com on February 8th, 2010.
To read the complete article, please click here.
]]>The top campaigns of the year were Costco Wholesale and Gorman Bros. Lumber. The Team Spirit award went to the City of Kelowna and the Quantum Leap Leadership Award went to UBC Okanagan. Other awards included the First-Time Employee Campaign Award which went to the District of West Kelowna; The Quantum Leap Participation Award, which went to PCL Constructors Westcoast and the Quantum Leap Giving Award which went to London Drugs (West Kelowna).
The United Way funds local non-profits and initiatives including programs for seniors, children, special needs, and those living in poverty. All money raised in this community stays in this community to make the Central & South Okanagan/Similkameen a better place for all of its residents.
]]>The Canadian Property Tax Association is a national organization which provides a forum for the exchange of ideas and information relating to both commercial and industrial property tax issues arising across Canada. Members include corporate property tax officers, lawyers, tax consultants, and government officials.
To download a copy of the article, please click on the following link:
Mixed Success on Challenges to Municipal Property Tax Rate Bylaws
GDF SUEZ will purchase 2.5 million tonnes of carbon-neutral wood pellets from the expanded Prince George plant for its electrical generating facilities in Belgium over the next 10 years. This will replace approximately two million tonnes of coal and reduce net CO2 emissions by over 4 million tonnes, the equivalent of taking over two million cars off the road for a year
The deal, which will result in cleaner air in Prince George, new jobs and greater use of mountain pine beetle killed timber from surrounding forests, was showcased by Premier Gordon Campbell at the recent Clean Energy Day promoting British Columbia’s core industries, diverse regions and communities, and investment and job-creation potential throughout the province.
Farris Partners Mitchell Gropper, Q.C. and Al Hudec and Associate Jamie Matthews acted for Pacific BioEnergy.
Providing legal services for clean and renewable energy projects is an active and growing area of practise for Farris. Such projects continue to be a cornerstone of the Province’s climate action plan and the Premier noted the “incredible growth and innovation taking place in the province” in his speech at the Clean Energy Day event.
For a copy of the new release please click here.
]]>The devastating earthquake in Haiti, which struck on January 12, is estimated to have affected three million people and left 200,000 homeless. The current priority of the Red Cross is to concentrate action on providing immediate relief support in the following areas of focus: shelter, health, protection, capacity building, water, and sanitation, as well as preparing the Haitian Red Cross to respond to the upcoming hurricane season.
For further information, including details on how to donate, please click here.
]]>The Bulletin outlines the following recent changes in securities laws or guidance that public companies should be aware of as they prepare their 2010 annual filings:
To read the Corporate Bulletin, please see the attachment below:
2010 Annual Public Company Filings - New Developments
To view the complete article, please click on the attachment below:
Appeal Court Puts a New Spin on Security for Costs in Arbitration
Hosted by the National Centre for Business Law, the Annual Review of Insolvency Law Conference draws together insolvency lawyers, trustees, legal scholars and judges to discuss current issues in Canadian and international Insolvency Law.
Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP is pleased to have been a silver sponsor of this year’s conference.
To read more about the conference, please click here.
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Under current market conditions, the balance of power in negotiations has shifted from investment fund managers to the pension plans and other investors investing in private equity funds, many of whom have been unhappy with the high fees and poor performance of their existing investments.
The recent efforts of the Institutional Limited Partners Association to educate investors on “best practices” will focus negotiations on improving governance, eliminating conflicts, enhancing report and generally better aligning investor and manager interests.
To read the complete article, please click below.
Negotiating Private Equity Fund Terms in 2010 - Will the ILPA Principles make a difference?
Christopher Wiebe was called to the British Columbia Bar in 2002 and his practice areas are Labour and Employment Law, Litigation and Dispute Resolution, Alternative Dispute Resolution and Commercial Litigation.
He has appeared before the various provincial and federal tribunals and courts in British Columbia, including the Provincial Court of BC, the BC Human Rights Tribunal, and the BC Employment Standards Branch. Christopher also works with senior counsel in a variety of matters before the BC Superior Courts, the Federal Courts, and labour relations boards.
]]>Called to the bar in 2002, Sean works from Farris’ offices in Victoria and Vancouver.
He practises as general litigation counsel and has argued cases in all levels of court and before numerous administrative tribunals.
]]>Donald Brenner spent 17 years on the Bench as Chief Justice of the British Columbia Supreme Court before joining Farris in September 2009.
The new rules represent the first major restructuring of the court rules governing practice in the British Columbia Supreme Court in more than 30 years.
For more information about the Civil Rules Transition Guide, please click here.
]]>VANCOUVER – Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP (“Farris”) announces that corporate and commercial litigator, David Gruber, has joined the partnership effective immediately.
With over 12 years of broad based experience in a wide variety of commercial litigation matters, David is also recognized as a leader in the insolvency and restructuring bar.
Areas of work include breach of contract, economic torts, corporate governance, shareholder disputes, and oppression proceedings; insolvency and restructuring, professional discipline and liability and class actions.
He has regularly appeared in the superior and appellate courts of British Columbia and Ontario, and in the Federal Court, and has acted in a number of reported cases, as well as acting as counsel in a number of domestic and international arbitrations and mediations.
Clients have included CIBC, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and the Cowichan Valley Regional District.
Farris’ Chair, Keith Mitchell, Q.C., said today, “David’s technical excellence and commitment to client service are exactly what the business community expects from us and we look forward to David’s contribution to the firm and its clients.”
Alan Hamilton, Q.C., the firm’s Managing Partner, added, “David is a welcome addition to our strong commercial litigation team already noted for excellence.”
To read the full News Release, please see the link below:
News Release: David Gruber Joins Farris
The presentation addressed areas such as contaminated sites, environmental assessments, regulations regarding PCBs, regulatory compliance and recent legislative changes.
Teresa was counsel on one of the leading cases involving contaminated sites and has acted for several corporations on various environmental matters.
For more information, please click to view the complete brochure;
Emerging Trends in Environmental Litigation.
Year after year, BPN has proven to be one of the most valuable meetings to expand business connections. The conference focuses on business development and facilitates some of the best life science partnering opportunities in North America.
For more information about BioPartnering North America please click here.
]]>The delegates, many of whom are clients, joined Farris at our exclusively sponsored Welcome Reception in the foyer of the Westin Bayshore from 5.30pm until 7.30pm.
The reception is noted as one of the key business development events of the intensive three day conference with executives from around the world looking to make the connections that will take their business to the next level.
For more information about BioPartnering North America, including details on the reception, please click here.
]]>Twenty-three of the twenty-eight special guests who were in attendance are judges.
The recently retired Chief Justice of the British Columbia Supreme Court joined Farris as Senior Counsel in 2009 to focus on Litigation and Dispute Resolutions as a mediator and arbitrator, as well as Alternative Dispute Resolution.
The co-hosts for the evening were Senior Partner George Macintosh, Q.C. of Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP and The Honourable Chief Justice Robert Bauman of the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
The dinner, hosted by the British Columbia Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, the Law Society of British Columbia, the UBC Law Alumni Association, and the Vancouver Bar Association, was a fundraiser for Access, Pro Bono and the Justice Education Society and was attended by more than 450 members of the Bench and Bar, including The Right Honourable Chief Justice of Canada, Beverley McLachlin, PC.
To view photos of the event, please click here.
]]>Farris has an active Alternative Dispute Resolution practice group, which has represented parties to commercial arbitrations of all sizes.
]]>The decade that “began with Y2K and ended with H1N1” generated nearly 30 quotes that made the list. Hatton’s quote, which appears at the end of the article, references his hobby as apiarist:
HONEY, I’M HOME: Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy senior partner James Hatton, who may be Canada’s only lawyer specializing in the $100-million-range process of developing marketable drugs, spends off-hours as an apiarist, “interested in the harsh, medieval nature of bees, where drones are killed and the queen mates once and is kept in the dark for the rest of her life.”
To read the complete article, please click here.
]]>In the article, Elizabeth Harrison, a partner and corporate finance practitioner at Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP in Vancouver, warns that companies conducting certain kinds of transactions could be subject to various other trade regimes in both countries, such as the U.S.‘s Hart-Scott-Rodino anti-trust laws. “If you’re doing something that will trip into other thresholds, you’d have to do an additional filing,” she says.
]]>Created by Farris’ Kelowna Managing Partner Dominic Petraroia and Partner Ross Langford—both of whom have law degrees from UBC—the award is funded by a $20,000 endowment, donated over five years, that will generate the annual award. The Farris Award is representative of the firm’s commitment to “help promising students pursue careers in such an exciting, rewarding and important field,” says Langford. The award is intended to help “ease the financial burden of students as they move on to law school,” says Petraroia.
On behalf of all the Partners at Farris, we wish to extend our sincere congratulations to Daniel McMann.
Please see the attachment below to read the announcement released by UBC Okanagan:
First Farris Award at UBC Okanagan Goes to McMann
Keith Mitchell, Q.C. was named in the category of International Trade (1 of 2 Vancouver lawyer in this category), and George Macintosh, Q.C. was named in the category of Corporate Commercial, Class Action and Securities (1 of 4 Vancouver lawyers in this category).
To view a copy of the brochure please click here.
]]>Christopher Holmes and Maria McKenzie attended the awards dinner and presentation in Toronto on December 3, 2009, when the winners of the 9th annual National Awards for Innovation and Excellence in Public-Private Partnerships were announced by the Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships (CCPPP).
The project is a partnership between Translink and the Golden Crossing General Partnership and is one of four BC infrastructure projects that have won national awards from the Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships. The Golden Ears Bridge, connecting Langley, Pitt Meadows, Surrey and Maple Ridge and improving travel times, has been operational since June 2009. It was completed early and on budget.
To read the complete News Release, please see the attached document below:
News Release - Golden Ears Bridge Silver Award