Lexpert Roundup on the Business of Law
Lexpert identifies and reports on emerging business issues and practice areas in the business of law. Whether online, in our magazine or in the DealsWire e-newsletter, we chronicle deals and lawsuits of interest, and cover issues of broad concern to the legal profession and those who purchase legal services. We hope you enjoy this sample of our latest content.
From the DealsWire: Paramount sells Montney assets, Yamana gives up copper stream
The Lexpert DealsWire (subscribe here) documents facts, figures and key legal players behind recent deals. This week's announced deal spotlight features the key players and figures in Seven Generations Energy's acquisition of Montney assets from Paramount Resources.
In our closed deals section, we look at the legal teams on First Mining Finance acquiring Tamaka Gold, owner of the Goldlund project in northern Ontario, as well as CanWel Building Materials Group completing its purchase of Jemi Fibre.
We also look at the players behind Altius Minerals buying a copper stream from Yamana Gold. Finally, we give you the legal teams on Tahoe Resources acquiring Lake Shore Gold in a deal valued at $945 million.
New era for aboriginal negotiations
Lawyers with extensive expertise in aboriginal negotiations say industry players should continue to drive consultations and press forward into commercial deal-making for individual projects. Direct, good-faith negotiations between industry and aboriginal groups, they say, can frequently avoid protracted regulatory and court battles.
Graphic: Impact of Brexit on M&A
A graphical analysis shows that, for Canada, the impact of Brexit on M&A will be particularly pronounced. Over the past three years, acquisitions in the UK represented 45 per cent of all M&A in the European Union. While the German economy, by GDP, is 20 per cent larger than the UK's, language and historical ties have made the United Kingdom our greatest transaction destination by far.
Court, regulatory challenges stalling pipelines
Make no mistake, the Federal Court of Appeal's decision to quash the permit for the Northern Gateway pipeline has some very smart law-firm strategists concerned. Most of Canada's historic old firms were built to service a resource economy, and their energy practices remain a strong focus. That means a certain number of large energy-transportation projects are needed for the firms to prosper.
The evolutionary long game
Lately, there has been a flurry of hook-ups between traditional Big Law firms and the innovative entities of New Law. This may look good, but some questions remain. Is all this teaming up a true desire for change? A desire to be seen as progressive with clients? Or, red herring marketing schemes? Business-development coach Heather Suttie explores in this month's legal marketing column.
The New Lawyer
Shape-shifting: This is the concept that will dominate litigation work over the next 35 years, writes Fasken Martineau DuMoulin's John Campion in this month's Change Agent column. Day-to-day work will be constantly evolving to keep pace with advances in technology. These systems won't duplicate the judgment of a lawyer, he writes, but they will find new ways of analyzing information, making old methods quickly irrelevant.
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