Alison is noted for her involvement in the business community. Alison is a Hearing Panel Chair for the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada and a member of the CBA, BC Branch’s Advisory Committed to the Judicial Council of BC. She is Vice Chair of the Community Care and Assisted Living Appeal Board and a Director of ACT Autism Community Training Society. Alison is a former Adjudicator on the Employment Standards Tribunal and a former member of the board of governors of Royal Roads University and the Vancouver Stock Exchange. She is a former Disciplinary Panel Chair for the Vancouver Stock Exchange, the Canadian Venture Exchange and the TSX Venture Exchange.

To view the announcement in The Vancouver Sun, please click here.

As Andrea Lejay, Student Affairs Representative, UBC Law describes:

“The day began with water balloons – two thousand of them to be exact. Volunteers stood at every fountain filling them up with speed, precision, and a lot of splashing.  Over burgers and beverages, upper year students and Farris representatives regaled us with epic tales of Trike Races past. Soon enough, it was time for this year’s Trike Race to begin. Nothing could have prepared us for what ensued: costumes, a hail of water balloons, and racing so fierce it shattered the strongest tricycles. For all students, it was a memorable and much-needed break from the books. Thank you to Farris for keeping this longstanding UBC tradition alive.”

To view the article, please click here.

Congratulations to the team from Kaizen Biomedical founded by UBC Engineering students Annelies Tjebbes (ECE), Neal O’Grady (MECH) and Mayank Kalra (MECH) and Sauder School of Business students Derek Li, Jennifer Vlasiu and Stephanie Wilson who placed first with their product MobiChill.

To view more about the event, please click here.

To read the Vancouver Sun article, please click here.

Farris Chair Keith Mitchell, Q.C. has been recognized for his work in International Trade/WTO and is joined by George Macintosh, Q.C., who leads the litigation group at Farris, and Herbert Dodd, Q.C., senior partner in the Corporate & Commercial group. Macintosh and Dodd have been recognized for their work in Dispute Resolution and Banking & Finance, respectively.

Farris’ Public Private Partnership (P3) Group is also recognized in the directory.

Farris was the local counsel for Angiotech, a publicly traded pharmaceutical company located in Vancouver.  Its recapitalization involved a conversion of some $266 million in senior subordinated notes to equity, which enabled Angiotech to emerge from creditor protection on April 6, 2011.

Farris’ team included David E. Gruber, David J. Selley, Rebecca Morse, and Tim Louman-Gardiner.

The 7th Annual International IFLR Americas Awards were held in New York on March 29, 2012. 

More information on the IFLR awards can be found here.

Benchmark Canada, produced by Benchmark Litigation, focuses on the leading litigation firms and lawyers within each province based on extensive research including recent casework, interviews, peer-reviews, and professional opinion.

Benchmark Canada recognizes George Macintosh, Q.C., Robert Anderson, Q.C., and Jeffrey Kay, Q.C. as “local litigation stars”. Litigation partners Scott Dawson, Ludmila Herbst and Sean Hern have been recognized as “future litigation stars”. The list of litigators for each province reflects only those individuals who were recommended consistently as reputable and effective litigators by both clients and peers.

To view the publication, please click here.

“It is an honour and privilege to present this special recognition gift to future hall of famer Daniel Nestor signifying his unparalleled place in Canadian tennis history and Vancouver’s Davis Cup legacy” said Mr. MacKay-Dunn. The gift is a limited edition print by Clarence Mills, renowned Canadian Haida artist and was made possible by the generosity of the Pacific Salmon Foundation.
 
Click here to view.

In his presentation titled “Reforming BC Liquor Laws”, Al discusses the historical development of regulatory policy, BC’s licensing structures and taxation levels in comparison with other jurisdictions, and the current regulations imposed on liquor manufacturers, suppliers and distributors. Furthermore, Al highlights key industry changes and business implications if the liquor laws are to undergo the suggested reform.

Al expands on this topic within his article, “B.C.’s liquor laws need to change”, featured in the February 27th, 2012 edition of The Vancouver Sun. He suggests that the privatization of BC’s liquor distribution warehouses will “reduce the $300-million cost incurred by LDB”, equate the prices of liquor sold in private and government stores, and decrease delivery times for orders.

Al states, “The B.C. government needs to get out of the business of selecting, distributing and selling liquor in the province, and focus on tax collection and the enforcement of health and safety regulation of the liquor industry.”

To view the presentation materials, please click here.

To view the article, please click here.

To view the article, please click here.

• new executive compensation disclosure requirements
• results of the Canadian Securities Administrators’ continuous disclosure review program
• the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance’s best practices
• changes to Institutional Shareholder Services’ proxy voting guidelines
• status of majority voting, slate elections and say on pay
• new 43 – 101 mining disclosure requirements
• proposed notice and access

Download the PDF file here.

Peter Roth
Peter acts as a corporate counsel to public and private companies in diverse industries, providing advice on a broad range of corporate matters and securities law obligations. He has an extensive transactional practice, having advised on numerous acquisitions and divestitures, debt and equity financings, proxy battles, supported and unsupported takeover bids, plans of arrangement, restructurings and share exchanges.

Rebecca Morse
Rebecca practices in corporate and commercial litigation and is experienced in contractual disputes, bankruptcy, insolvency and restructuring matters, shareholder and partnership disputes, banking disputes, and international trade matters.  She has acted for a variety of corporations (both publicly listed and privately held), individuals and financial institutions.

Mike Wagner
Mike’s business litigation practice involves all aspects of corporate/commercial litigation, and he appears regularly in all levels of court.  He often seeks urgent relief, such as injunctions to protect his clients’ IP and trade secrets.  Mike’s media law and defamation practice serves Farris’s major media clients, both print and online.  Mike’s other practice areas include class actions, municipal litigation, and acting for public utilities on regulatory matters.

Tim Dickson
Tim has a general litigation practice with extensive experience in public and administrative law, commercial law, inquiries, appeals and judicial reviews. Tim acts for public and private clients – including government bodies, corporations and individuals – before all levels of court in British Columbia and in the Supreme Court of Canada, as well as before administrative bodies and commissions of inquiry.

Key topics will include new executive compensation disclosure requirements; say on pay; shareholder proposal trends; and, shareholder activism.

The presentation is part of Farris’ Continuing Legal Education Series.

For more information, please contact Deborah Williams-Walshe.

To read the Canadian handbook chapter, please click below:

Doing Business in BC.pdf

• allowing dealers to determine interest in an IPO without a prospectus
• expressly allowing term sheets provided they are publicly filed and included in a prospectus
• expressly allowing road shows provided new rules are followed
• permitting upsizing or adding dealers to a bought deal

Download the PDF file here.