Governor General Michaëlle Jean’s agreement to allow Prime Minister Stephen Harper to prorogue Parliament last week may have created a dangerous precedent for future governments, says University of Ottawa law professor Errol Mendes.

Wayne Kerrick is the managing partner of Gowlings' two Ottawa offices –– one in the downtown core and another in suburban Katana –– that boast 170 professionals including both lawyers and patent and trademark agents. Kerrick, whose practice focuses primarily on real estate, secured lending and mortgage enforcement, talks to Canadian Lawyer about practising law in Ottawa and how the scene has changed since he was called to the bar in 1989.

The issues, challenges, and potential outcomes are significantly different for commercial and residential real estate lawyers.

The pending Supreme Court of Canada leave to appeal application in Yugraneft v. Rexx Management is an important international arbitration case.

 

The case, in our view, is not only of national importance — it is of international importance. It goes to the heart of the attractiveness of international commercial arbitration: the ability to enforce an international arbitration award relatively easily in most countries in the world.

Today Canadian consumers are being buffeted by a perfect storm — a worldwide meltdown in the stock market, a looming recession, and skyrocketing consumer debt. Who are Canadians with debt problems going to call for help? It is probably not going to be a lawyer despite the fact that it is often in a consumer’s best interests to do so.

Macleod Dixon LLP hasn’t expanded in an ordinary way, choosing “challenging” areas of the world such as Russia, Kazakhstan, and Venezuela to open new offices. After 110 years, the firm’s Caracas, Venezuela office has become the second-largest law firm in that country. Managing partner Elisabeth Eljuri talks to Canadian Lawyer about running the largest South American outpost of a Canadian firm.

It’s in a firm’s best interest to begin early the process of transitioning clients of soon-to-be-retiring partners, but it has to be done without stepping on anyone’s toes.

Devon Page formally took over the role of executive director of Ecojustice last April. He’s been with Canada's largest public-interest environmental law organization, previously known as Sierra Legal Defence Fund, since 2001. 

Commercial real estate lawyers may not always find themselves in the vanguard of societal change, but now they have an opportunity to help save the world. That’s one reason why there’s a buzz of excitement in the bar over green leases.

While Canadian companies are marketing green products and services to the point of ubiquity, Canada’s Competition Bureau, along with the Canadian Standards Association, is cracking down on so-called “green washing,” with a set guidelines that prohibit vague or misleading environmental claims on products and services.