Bennett Jones LLP

Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer: Hugh L. MacKinnon

Bennett Jones LLP is an internationally recognized Canadian law firm founded and focused on principles of professional excellence, integrity, respect and independent thought. The firm's leadership position is reflected in the law they practise, the groundbreaking work they do, the client relationships they have, and the quality of their people.

When you plug into Bennett Jones, you get a network of more than 360 domestically and internationally recognized lawyers, and 500 staff working together to fulfill your legal and business objectives. With offices in Calgary, Toronto, Edmonton and Ottawa, and represented internationally in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Beijing, you are connected to individuals with world class reputations, knowledge and experience to guide you through the present and potential outside influences on your business and your industry.

Antitrust & Competition: Our group counsels clients in all aspects of antitrust litigation and competition regulation. Representations include domestic and international clients, as well as the Commissioner of Competition, nationally before the Competition Bureau, in the Competition Tribunal, the courts, and internationally before various competition review authorities. As merger review continues to be a high priority for regulatory authorities in Canada and abroad, we are frequently retained to coordinate pre-merger strategy and conduct pre-merger notification of transactions across multiple jurisdictions.

Banking & Finance: Market observers note our particular expertise in a wide range of activities for borrowers with an unparalleled list of blue-chip clients. Our practice covers all aspects of acquisition financing, project financing, structured finance, and cross-border financing with particular expertise in aircraft finance.

Bankruptcy & Restructuring: Our bankruptcy and restructuring practice is especially noted for its pre-eminent Canadian practice in representing public and private placement bondholders and high yield/secondary market investors in many of Canada's largest restructurings. We have a very active cross-border restructuring practice involving the US, UK, continental Europe and Central America.

Climate Change & Emissions Trading: Recognized as a leader in providing climate change advice, we have extensive experience assisting clients with voluntary and compliance-driven carbon trading, carbon finance and renewable energy projects and financing, projects which reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and programs aimed at achieving carbon neutrality. We also advise on climate change risk and opportunity management, and regulatory compliance. In aggregate, we have helped structure, negotiate and consummate carbon emission transactions involving in excess of 100 million tonnes of international carbon emission reductions and a significant volume of voluntary and Alberta compliance units.

Corporate Commercial: As key advisors to clients' management teams, our corporate commercial practice provides services and advice on all aspects of corporate and commercial law, including consulting arrangements, joint ventures, strategic alliances, commercialization transactions, corporate governance and regulatory compliance, facility management, shared services and outsourcing, risk management issues, and commercial tax matters.

Employment Services: Our team of employment lawyers represents private and public sector clients in all aspects of employment such as labour, occupational health and safety and pensions and benefits. We have extensive expertise in human rights and privacy law, advising on pay equity, diversity, harassment and discrimination issues as well as confidentiality matters involving the safeguarding of employee records and health administration matters. A major element of our practice involves advising on employment matters arising out of mergers, acquisitions, take-overs and reorganizations. We also represent employers involved in union certification drives, collective bargaining sessions, and in the negotiation, drafting and interpretation of collective agreements.

Energy & Natural Resources: Recognized leaders in both the transactional and regulatory spheres, our international experience includes upstream projects, LNG-related gas sales and NGL matters, pipelines, refining, petrochemical, independent power projects, electricity deregulation, alternative energy development, oil sands and mineral mining, financing, and host government upstream petroleum regime work. We are distinguished as a domestic and international leader in core energy issues and supporting corporate commercial matters.

Government Affairs & Public Policy: The largest public policy group in a Canadian law firm provides clients with integrated policy and legal expertise and advisory services on domestic and international issues. Our team advises on national and global economic developments and their effect on business in Canada and abroad, challenges facing the financial and energy sectors, regulatory issues, Canada-US relations, cross-border challenges and opportunities, pension advisory services, legal and governance advice for boards, carbon emissions and trading, climate change regulation and competition policy.

International Trade & Investment: We are positioned in all aspects of international trade and investment law. Our recognized leaders in international trade have a proven track record of expertise in all of the elements that comprise the regulation of international business, including market access for goods, services, intellectual property and investment. Our experience spans domestic trade and investment laws, international rules and treaties, and international dispute settlement in trade and investment matters.

Litigation & Dispute Resolution: We are consistently recognized in the marketplace for our expertise in cross-border litigation. We are known for our strength in the areas of competition and antitrust, securities, intellectual property, commercial fraud and professional negligence litigation and have prominent practitioners in alternate dispute resolution, including international commercial arbitration.

Mergers & Acquisitions: With clients operating in a multitude of industries, jurisdictions and business sectors, members of our M&A group rank among the top in Canada, handling many of the highest number and dollar volume of deals both domestically and across borders. We have worked on some of the most complex mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and corporate reorganizations in Canadian business history.

Major Infrastructure Projects: Our public infrastructure projects group represents both public and private sector clients in developing and financing public-private partnership (PPP) arrangements, and alternative financing and procurement (AFP) transactions. We have been involved with over 30 such transactions, including the majority of the Canadian hospital PPP and AFP transactions completed to date. Areas of expertise include civil infrastructure projects (power, water, telecommunications and transportation) and social infrastructure projects (hospitals, schools, universities, courthouses and municipal projects). We are conversant with the range of procurement and financing options for public infrastructure projects, including outsourcing arrangements, leases, financing structures, concessions, AFP, PPP and complete privatization models.

Real Estate: Our commercial real estate practitioners have been involved in some of Canada's largest and most complex real estate matters. We advise on all aspects of a commercial real estate transaction, including risk identification, acquisition, disposition, development, environmental, municipal, and financing, as well as real estate portfolio and investment trust management. Clients include Canadian and international institutional, private and public entities, including government, retailers, manufacturers, and developers.

Taxation: Our taxation practice has been consistently ranked among the top Canadian law firms by tax industry directories. We have significant experience in resource taxation, corporate reorganizations, acquisitions and divestitures, corporate finance, international tax planning for foreign investors, cross-border business arrangements, domestic and international equipment leasing and financing syndications, tax loss utilization strategies, use of partnerships, trusts and joint ventures and real estate transactions.

Technology, Media & Entertainment (TME ): The TME Group includes lawyers with extensive experience as in-house counsel, business people and directors of TME enterprises. We work with businesses based on proprietary technology, content or information through all stages of their development including rights management, licensing, piracy, infringement, privacy, procurement and outsourcing. Our network includes financing sources (angel, venture capital, private equity and strategic investors, and investment banks and commercial banks), government agencies and professionals in related fields (accountants, lawyers, recruiters, marketing and business development experts, and investor and public relations consultants).