Bennett Jones LLP

Chief Executive Officer: Dominique Hussey

Chairman: John Mercury

Managing Partners: Patrick Maguire (Calgary), Preet Gill (Toronto), Barbara Stratton (Edmonton), Kwang Lim (Vancouver), Melanie Aitken and Gordon Cameron (USA)

Number of Lawyers & Advisors: 500

Firm Overview

Bennett Jones is one of Canada’s premier business law firms. With deep experience in complex transactions and litigation matters, the firm is well equipped to advise businesses and investors with Canadian ventures, and connect Canadian businesses and investors with opportunities around the world.

In addition to providing unparalleled strategic legal advice, what also sets the firm apart from competitors is the ability to deliver an outstanding client experience, deep knowledge of clients’ businesses and industries, a history of building longstanding relationships and a roster of highly skilled lawyers. Find out more at BennettJones.com

Main Areas of Practice

Energy: Bennett Jones is widely recognized as the leading Canadian law firm in energy and natural resources. Bennett Jones has been intimately involved in virtually every major energy development project in Canada in the past 20 years, representing project proponents, investors and other stakeholders. This history means that clients have access to knowledge of the energy industry and related legal experience that no other firm in Canada can match. The firm has helped shape the Canadian energy industry and has a desire to shape the industry's future.

Contact: Harinder Basra

Contact: Ashley White

Infrastructure & Capital Projects: Given the increasingly complex nature of today’s construction and procurement agreements, infrastructure development, financing structures, detailed legislation and aggressive competition, Bennett Jones provides indispensable, competent and timely legal support. The firm's Infrastructure & Capital Projects group has acted on transformative, complex and highly innovative public-private infrastructure projects across Canada and internationally, including power, oil and gas, pipeline, utilities, nuclear power facilities, telecommunication, health care, education, roads, airports, public transportation and a range of "smart city" facilities.

Contact: Geoffrey Stenger

Mining: Bennett Jones is one of the few Canadian law firms with expertise to service all the needs of mining clients, from capital markets and corporate matters to regulatory and environmental issues. The firm's mining lawyers are practice leaders, known for their extensive industry experience and excellence. They are trusted advisors to their clients, which include mining companies of all sizes, investment banks and investors. The Bennett Jones Mining group counsels mining companies of all sizes and stages on the full range of financing activities in equity and debt markets globally. In mining project development, the firm has strong experience in federal and provincial environmental assessment and permitting and offers best practices in environmental and safety risk management, enhancing corporate social responsibility and reputation management.

Contact: Andrew Disipio

Private Equity & Fund Formation: Bennett Jones is a leading private equity law firm representing Canadian and U.S. investment funds, financial sponsors and their portfolio companies in all areas of their business, with a principal focus on mergers and acquisitions, public and private treasury investments and the formation of private investment funds. The firm's strengths in private equity spans a number of industries—including natural resources, industrial services, food and beverage, hospitality, consumer products, energy services, technology and transportation—providing familiarity with particular regulatory regimes, industry dynamics and capital structures.

Contact: Matthew Hunt and James McClary

M&A: The Bennett Jones M&A and Corporate Finance practice advises and provides strategic counsel to international companies investing and operating in Canada, and Canadian companies growing domestically and internationally. The M&A group's clients include many Canadian and global Fortune 500 companies that drive the Canadian economy including energy, oil and gas, mining, consumer products, technology, utilities, agribusiness, financial services and cannabis, among others. Bennett Jones considers client's risk appetites and commercial realities in order to guide negotiation strategy and structuring.

Contact: Curtis Cusinato

Contact: Jeffrey Kerbel

Contact: Brent Kraus

Litigation: Bennett Jones lawyers have appeared before all levels of courts and administrative tribunals in Canada, bringing to each case a practical and thorough knowledge of litigation, mediation and arbitration strategies, tactics and procedures. The firm's work has resulted in hundreds of reported decisions from provincial trial and appeal courts, the Federal Court, the Tax Court and the Supreme Court of Canada, as well as significant experience in private arbitrations and mediations including ICC and AAA arbitrations. Bennett Jones' litigation lawyers works closely with colleagues throughout the firm to provide the background and resources required for each client's needs, also tapping the resources of external experts such as accountants, forensic investigators, valuators and other consultants when necessary.

Contact: Richard Swan

Banking & Finance: Bennett Jones offers clients a broad spectrum of legal and advisory services geared toward the changing needs and demands of the financial services industry. The firm routinely advises on the structuring and documentation of domestic and cross-border loan facilities. The firm's broad experience and expertise in this area ranges from large, syndicated cash-flow senior debt financings arranged by both domestic and foreign banks to mid-market asset based and senior and mezzanine commercial loan transactions.

Contact: Pat Brennan

Contact: Karen Dawson

Contact: Mark Rasile

Real Estate: From development, construction and land-use planning to commercial leasing and property management, Bennett Jones' property development and real estate lawyers are proactive, deal-oriented advisors who understand the cyclical nature of the business and can anticipate and respond to the market and its players. The firm also brings particular expertise to energy-related land use, providing zoning, environmental and construction-related advice to multi-year, multi-phase projects ranging from oil sands extraction facilities to refining and upgrading sites.

Contact: Alixe Cameron

Contact: Mark Lewis

Contact: Jane Helmstadter

International Trade & Investment: Bennett Jones has ranked the highest number of ranked international trade/WTO lawyers in Chambers Canada, a recognition and testament by clients and peers of its depth and breadth in all aspects of international trade and investment law. The firm has 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. The practice is also fully integrated with the firm's extensive cross-border commercial, transactional, tax, banking and dispute settlement services.

Contact: Darrel Pearson

Restructuring & Insolvency: Bennett Jones has one of the largest, most experienced and most active restructuring and insolvency practices in Canada. The firm is recognized nationally and internationally as a pre-eminent Canadian law firm and as one of the leading Canadian restructuring practices with special expertise in cross-border restructurings. It is also known especially for the representation of foreign bondholders, foreign banks, insurance companies and other foreign lenders in Canadian restructurings. The firm's lawyers have played significant roles in most major Canadian restructurings and, in addition to being involved in restructuring proceedings in every province of Canada, have advised on restructurings across Europe, Central America, Australia and the United States.

Contact: Kelsey Meyer

Contact: Kevin Zych

Competition/Antitrust: As the only Canadian law firm with competition law capability in Washington, DC, Bennett Jones advises U.S. and international clients and law firms on the Canadian aspects of North American and global competition regulation and antitrust enforcement, reviews under the Investment Canada Act and litigation matters including class action proceedings. The Bennett Jones Competition/Antitrust group includes the most recent former Commissioner of the Competition Bureau, several former Bureau and Department of Justice officials and the foremost competition counsel in the country. The firm's experience and credibility with the Bureau has fostered a deep, seasoned understanding of the Bureau's priorities, concerns and enforcement orientation, as well as unique insights into how the Bureau conducts its investigations.

Contact: Melanie Aitken

Contact: Randal Hughes

Tax: Bennett Jones' corporate tax practice provides sophisticated tax planning advice and creative, incisive approaches to stewarding tax-efficient transactions and solving tax controversies. The practice includes all aspects of sales tax, GST, anti-dumping and other trade and commodity taxes. This commodity tax expertise is brought to bear both in connection with transactions involving cross-border flows of manufactured goods, financial services and commodities, and in tax controversy work. The firm's tax lawyers have a broad range of significant experience on both the Canadian and cross-border aspects of transactions in the resource, manufacturing, financial services, communications, technology, real estate, transportation, power (conventional and alternative) sectors. Bennett Jones advises private equity investors, pension funds and sovereign wealth funds and have been involved in the conversion of income trusts and royalty funds to corporate form.

Contact: Thomas Bauer

Contact: Anu Nijhawan

Regulatory: Canada's regulatory environment is a complex web that interweaves federal and provincial bodies with local and international organizations involved in the regulatory approval process. The Bennett Jones energy regulatory practice is set up to assist clients at local, national and international levels, and is comprised of lawyers with experience across the broad spectrum of regulated activities. The firm has extensive capabilities leading clients through complex regulatory approval processes in the energy and utilities sectors, including advising both regulatory authorities and applicants on major project developments, such as oil sands facilities, upgraders, refineries, onshore and offshore pipelines, power projects, international resource developments and real estate projects.

Contact: Radha Curpen

Contact: Brad Gilmour

Contact: Leonard Griffiths

Technology & IP: The Bennett Jones technology law team provides a focused, industry-sensitive approach to the legal issues governing the development, protection, exploitation, use and enforcement of technology and the special legal issues affecting technology businesses. The firm also has one of the largest intellectual property groups in a full-service, top-tier business law firm in Canada. With public and private sector clients who operate or rely on technology of all types, we offer boutique-styled intellectual property advice supported by the collective strength of a broad and diverse practice.

Contact: Stephen Burns

Contact: Dominique Hussey