Ten law firms made new announcements
Welcome to this week’s roundup of movements among major law firms, in which we sum up significant hires, promotions, departures and other announcements.
Eric Wiebe joined the firm as an associate in the Calgary office’s securities and capital markets group.
Wiebe is general corporate lawyer who specializes in M&A and corporate finance. He advises clients on cross-border investments and assists with establishment of private investment funds and private placements. He also has experience drafting and coordinating transaction and disclosure documents.
Jeff Scheffel is now an associate in the firm’s corporate group.
Scheffel was recently admitted to the British Columbia bar. He earned his law degree from Thompson Rivers University in 2021.
The firm welcomed Blair Hobkirk and Liyan Wu as associates in the Vancouver office.
Hobkirk joined the firm’s corporate commercial group. His practice focuses on M&A, corporate finance, private equity transactions, debt financing, and other corporate and securities law matters.
Wu joined the firm’s Asia Pacific group. She assists clients with acquisition, sale, and financing of real properties in a range of asset classes, including shopping centres, apartment buildings, commercial strata and industrial properties, subdivided and serviced bare lands, and manufactured home sites.
Alexander Verrilli joined the firm as an associate in the Guelph office.
Verrilli specializes in construction, contracts, property, and shareholder disputes. He has handled numerous significant cases, such as commercial leasing trial, realtor commission arbitration, and relief from forfeiture application for a commercial landlord.
The firm welcomed nine new associates in the Toronto office:
Jennifer Corak is now a partner in the firm’s wills and estates group.
Corak advises clients on general wills and estates matters, including will and probate planning, incapacity planning, estates and trust taxation, and estate administration. She also has expertise in cross-border and international estate planning for estates involving other jurisdictions. Her clients include high-net-worth individuals, entrepreneurs, business owners, and professionals.
The firm appointed John Valley and Patrick Welsh as ESG practice co-chairs.
Valley is a partner in the firm’s corporate group. He practices corporate and securities law, focusing on corporate governance and M&A. He regularly acts for purchasers, targets, special committees, and selling shareholders in public and private M&A transactions.
He also advises clients across various industries, including infrastructure and power, financial services, franchise and distribution, technology, and gaming, on matters relating to joint venture, partnership, and shareholder agreements and disputes.
Meanwhile, Welsh is a partner in the firm’s regulatory, environmental, Indigenous and land, and litigation practice groups. He deals with environmental aspects of commercial transactions, including M&A, debt and equity offerings, and restructurings and insolvencies.
He has appeared before the Ontario Environmental Review Tribunal, the Ontario Municipal Board, the Ontario Superior Court, the Ontario Court of Appeal, the Federal Court, and the Federal Court of Appeal.
Michael Murphy joined the firm as a partner.
Murphy has extensive expertise in employment and labour relations. He helps provincially and federally regulated clients in private and public sectors deal with workplace and human resources matters, such as compliance with occupational health and safety laws, performance management, discipline and terminations, workplace accommodations, negotiation and drafting of contracts and collective agreements, pension and benefits plan design and administration, and workplace policy development and training.
The firm also welcomed Melissa Pike as an associate.
Pike practises labour and employment law and litigation. She represents provincially and federally regulated unions in public and private sectors and advises clients in non-unionized workplaces on employment law issues.
“Michael and Melissa are terrific additions to our team,” said co-founder and managing partner Ronald Pink. “Both have solid strengths in employment, occupational health and safety, and labour, and will enhance our legacy and build out our practice serving the needs of our growing clientele.”
The firm welcomed 17 associates back to the Toronto office:
Competition and foreign investment
Corporate
Employment and labour
Litigation and dispute resolution
Real estate
Tax
The firm appointed Raj Kehar as co-chair of the planning and land development, and municipal practice groups.
Kehar is a partner in the firm’s Oakville office. His practice involves all aspects of land use planning and development law. He has experience advising on land use planning and development matters and negotiating and drafting land development agreements.
He regularly appears before various municipal committees and councils, the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal, and the Toronto Local Appeal Body.
