A group of former directors and officers with Look Communications Inc., locked in a court battle with the company over $15.5-million the group received in extra payments, do not deserve to have the company cover their legal bills up front, the Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled.
Canadian law firm Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP announced changes to its senior management team on Thursday.
Doug Bryce, one of the firm's leading M&A partners will become National Managing Partner, the firm's top executive. Dale Ponder, who has served as the National Managing Partner for the past eight years will become a co-chair of the firm's partnership board along with Shahir Guindi, who led the Osler's Montreal office for the past seven years.
The changes come as Osler moves to take advantage of rapidly changing technology amid an increasingly competitive global environment.
"We, and our most successful peer law firms as well, have been engaged in a pretty fundamental exercise of re-examining everything we do from top to bottom," said Mr. Bryce, citing changes that range from billing practices to technology-assisted work.
"We want to advance the use of technology in more commoditized services like due diligence, for example, or document review, so that we can push product to the customers in a very time and cost efficient way," said Mr. Bryce.
This was echoed by Mr. Guindi: "When you think about artificial intelligence, for example, we have the advantage of both working with a number of Canada's leading companies in this space, and of also being amongst the most aggressive firms in leveraging AI in our business."
Mr. Bryce, who has sat on Osler's partnership board and served as co-chair of the firm's mining division, brings considerable mergers and acquisitions experience to his new role. In 2016 he oversaw Corus Entertainment Inc.'s $2.65-billion acquisition of Shaw Media, and in 2014 he oversaw Loblaw Companies Ltd.'s $12.4-billion acquisition of Shoppers Drug Mart Corp.
Ms. Ponder will return to a corporate advisory role for clients, along with her co-chair position. During her eight years as the firm's top executive, she guided the firm through considerable change, said Mr. Bryce.
"That includes managing the firm through the financial crisis and the aftermath of the financial crisis, it includes the opening of our Vancouver office last year, it includes overseeing the creation of what I think is a pretty market leading project management and alternative billing group," said Mr. Bryce.
He described his new position as daunting, and "a sacred trust."
"Our firm has been around longer than confederation, we celebrated our 150th anniversary a little while ago, our roots in the country and business community have been around for a very long term," said Mr. Bryce. "Our hope is to stand on the shoulders of the giants that preceded us, and hopefully build on their legacy."