Winter 2014 edition of Alumni Connections

STIKEMAN ELLIOTT TORONTO ALUMNI ENEWSLETTER
WINTER 2014
WELCOME
With the year coming to an end, we reflect on the changing legal landscape. Though this
is a challenging time in our profession we continue to evolve, combining the best of our
past with an eye to our future. You, our alumni, are both our past and future, and a vital
part of our community. We value your voice and want to hear from you: your news,
your accomplishments, and your concerns.
In the meantime, we wish you the very best for the New Year!
– Jay Kellerman, Managing Partner, Stikeman Elliott, Toronto
spotlight
Rosemarie
Lipman
SEE PAGE 3
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Montréal
Toronto
Ottawa
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Vancouver
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2
alumni ‘fam jam’
event photos
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FIRM
NEWS
6
Deals of
Note
8
SHARE YOUR
NEWS
Follow us on Twitter @StikemanElliott or join our firm network on LinkedIn.
STIKEMAN ELLIOTT LLP
aLUMNI
News
Sydney
www.stikeman.com
Alumni News
Joel Freudman left Peterson Law
Professional Corporation to serve as
Counsel at RBC.
Samuel Hu is now Senior Vice
David Brown
Sean Dunphy
Congratulations to former Stikeman
Elliott partners David Brown and
Sean Dunphy. David, who left
Stikeman Elliott in 2006 to sit as a
judge of the Superior Court of Justice
in Toronto, has been appointed a
judge of the Court of Appeal for
Ontario. Sean, who started his own
consulting firm Russell Hill Advisory
Services when he left Stikeman Elliott
in 2012, has been appointed a judge
in the Superior Court of Justice in
Toronto to fill the vacancy left by
David’s new appointment.
President, Head of Legal, Compliance
and Operations at Fundation Group LLC
from Chapman and Cutler LLP.
Bess Joffe moved to TIAA-CREF
Financial Services to act as Managing
Director of Corporate Governance from
Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Alim Lalani joined Progressive Waste
Solutions as Counsel from Discovery Air
Inc.
Vivian Leung left Open Text
Corporation to join BlueCat Networks
Inc. as General Counsel.
Puneet Soni is now at
Constellation Software
Melissa Taylor is now Vice
President of Business & Legal Affairs
at Entertainment One Group from
Marblemedia.
Daniela Taglioni joined the Ford
Motor Company as Counsel.
Daniel Thomson moved to
Mills & Mills from Cognition LLP.
Luc Vaillancourt is now Pension
Policy Strategy Advisor at the Ontario
Pension Board.
Sonja Williams left Toronto
Hydro-Electric System Limited to serve
as Content Development Associate,
Employment Law at LexisNexis
Canada Inc.
Amit Bhanot joined Canadian Imperial
Justin McKellar is now Vice President
Senior Counsel, Regulatory at Bank of
the West from Freshfields Bruckhaus
Deringer LLP.
Tiffany Wong joined Intact Financial
Andrew Bozzato is now Senior
Stuart Nayman has moved to
Halfnight & McKinlay.
Bank of Commerce as Legal Counsel.
Director, Legal at SkyPower Global.
Thomas Caldwell left Caldwell & Co
to join Cognition LLP.
Lisa Culbert joined Vision Critical
Communications Inc. as Legal Counsel
from Cognition LLP.
Caroline Gelber moved to Miller
Thomson from Transamerica Life Canada.
Marc Gorbet joined Gorbet &
Associates from Gerald A. Swaye &
Associates.
Neil Guthrie left Hansell LLP to act
as Director of Professional Development
(Ontario) at Bennett Jones Services LP.
Ian Freedman is now Vice President
Strategy and Corporate Development of
George Weston Limited.
Leerink Partners from Hand Baldachin
& Amburgey.
Margaret Nixon joined Deloitte
Tax Law LLP.
Christopher Pang is now Vice
President of Legal Affairs at Shaw Media
from CanWest Media Inc.
Marie Isabelle Palacios-Hardy
left Clifford Chance US LLP to serve
as Vice President, Investment Counsel
at York Capital Management Global
Advisors, LLC.
as Litigation Account Auditor.
Stuart Woody is now at
Erin Zipes moved from Nordion to
serve as General Counsel at Shopify.
Gina You left George Weston Limited
to act as Legal Counsel at Ontario
Securities Commission.
Share Your Latest News!
Have you recently changed jobs? Won an
award? Volunteered abroad? Please send
us your news and photos to be included
in a forthcoming issue. Please email
[email protected].
Cristina Schieda moved to Trench
Limited to serve as Commercial Counsel
from ICICI Bank Canada.
Sarah Scott joined Sony Pictures
Entertainment.
STIKEMAN ELLIOTT LLP CONNECTIONS | 2
SPOTLIGHT
Rosemarie Lipman
VP, People & Culture at EllisDon Corporation
We recently caught up with Rosemarie, a
former Tax associate in both the Toronto and
London offices of Stikeman Elliott.
SE:Where has your career taken you since you
left Stikeman Elliott?
RL:I’ve been at EllisDon since leaving Stikeman Elliott
four years ago. I joined as Senior Counsel, but a
short nine months later I was asked to step in as
acting General Counsel due to a maternity leave.
Then this past February I was promoted to the role
of VP, People & Culture and now I’m in the process of
expanding my role to become the VP of Corporate
Services. In this capacity I will have oversight of the
People & Culture, Health & Safety, Legal and Labour
Relations groups.
Change has become the norm!
SE:What do you enjoy most about your current role?
RLThe people. I enjoy being an active participant on
the management team and working with a wide
variety of people at a company that truly values
its employees. My role involves reaching out to
all employees in Canada, the Caribbean and the
Middle East which gives me a broad perspective
of what’s going on in the company and requires a
high level of engagement. Like Stikeman Elliott, the
culture is very entrepreneurial and one of our core
strategies is to encourage people to communicate
and share their ideas.
from a number of different practice areas. The
intellectual debates at the tax group meetings
were thought provoking and always entertaining.
Working at Stikeman, I became accustomed to
working as part of a cohesive team so that was a
priority moving forward in my career.
SE:What advice do you have for lawyers who
are new to the firm?
RL:Take initiative. Don’t be afraid of change or trying
something new. Volunteer to take on rewarding
and stimulating work and you’ll be successful.
Taking on new challenges really helped increase
my confidence in dealing with both colleagues
and clients and I appreciate the confidence that
my mentors had in me by allowing me to get
directly involved with clients. It has made speaking
up in my hardhat at a construction site or before
the board of directors a lot less intimidating!
SE:If you could vacation anywhere, where would
that be and why?
RL:
My ideal vacation is wherever Jim Harbell has
jetted off to last. My husband and I often joke
about his exotic destinations as we sit in our usual
vacation spot in Florida with our kids.
SE:What is your favourite memory of working at
Stikeman Elliott?
RL:My favourite memories are of the people and the
culture of collaboration at Stikeman. When I was
there I switched from tax to energy and infrastructure
so I had the opportunity to work with many lawyers
STIKEMAN ELLIOTT LLP CONNECTIONS | 3
alumni event | November 2014
STIKEMAN ELLIOTT LLP CONNECTIONS | 4
STIKEMAN ELLIOTT LLP CONNECTIONS | 5
Firm News & Recognitions
Toronto partner Alan D’Silva and director
Shanin Lott receive Lexpert Zenith Award
Alan D’Silva and Shanin Lott have each received the 2014 Lexpert Zenith
Award: Celebrating Today’s Leaders in Practice Excellence. Alan is part of
a team of outstanding litigators whose diverse experience and thought
leadership have helped uphold the firm’s reputation as a market leader in
Canada’s largest business centres. Shanin is responsible for talent strategy
for the Toronto office and plays a significant role in the firm’s diversity and
women’s initiatives, acting as Chair of the Women’s Initiative Committee
and our representative on the Law Society’s Justicia Project.
Ian Putnam heads back to U.S. to take on VP role at
Hudson’s Bay Company
After almost 14 years at the firm, Ian Putnam will join Hudson’s Bay Company in New York as
Executive Vice President, Chief Corporate Development Officer in the new year. Ian joined the firm
in 1996 as an articling student then left in 2000 to join Paul Weiss LLP as a corporate associate.
Ian returned to Stikeman Elliott in 2005 and became a partner the following year. Ian’s practice
specializes in the areas of corporate finance, M&A and corporate governance and he has led
the Stikeman team on many high profile transactions. He has made excellent contributions to
developing people as a member of the Students Committee and the Associates Committee
and has also been the co-chair of the Toronto Pro Bono and Community Involvement
Committee since its inception in 2007.
Katherine Kay recognized as one of Canada’s
Top 25 Women in Litigation
Toronto partner Katherine Kay has been recognized by Benchmark Litigation as one
of the Top 25 Women in Litigation (Canada). Katherine heads the firm’s competition
litigation practice and is lead counsel on a broad range of cases. Her practice includes
all aspects of competition law, product liability, securities, corruption and other
white collar cases (in the class action context and otherwise). Katherine was recently
awarded “Competition Litigator of the Year” by Benchmark Canada in 2014.
STIKEMAN ELLIOTT LLP CONNECTIONS | 6
Firm News & Recognitions
Toronto partner Samantha Horn
receives WXN 2014 Award
Samantha Horn received the Women’s Executive
Network’s 2014 Canada’s Most Powerful Women:
Top 100 Award, in the “KPMG Professionals”
category, which recognizes women who play a
leadership role within their organization.
Samantha is co-head of the Toronto office’s M&A
and Private Equity Practice Group, a member of
both Stikeman Elliott’s Associates Committee
and the Women’s Initiatives Committee,
and an integral member of the firm’s
leadership team. In addition to her
reputable corporate and commercial
practice, she actively promotes
women’s involvement in the legal
industry inside and outside the firm.
Best Employers in Canada
For the sixth consecutive year,
Stikeman Elliott has been selected
among the 50 Best Employers in
Canada, in a survey undertaken
by Aon Hewitt. The firm placed
20th overall among 84 qualifying
organizations.
Stikeman Elliott
Ranked “Tier 1”
in IFLR1000
IFLR 1000’s Financial and Corporate
Guide 2015 ranks Stikeman Elliott
at “Tier 1” in both M&A and Capital
Markets practices. Stikeman Elliott has
been ranked as a “Top Tier” firm in
the areas of M&A and Capital Markets
for nine years consecutively.
Lexpert Rising Stars
Michael Kilby has been recognized
amongst the Lexpert Rising Stars: Leading
Lawyers under 40. Michael is a partner in
the Competition and Foreign Investment
Group in the Toronto office and advises on
all matters relating to Canadian competition
and foreign investment laws and has been
involved in some of the most important,
precedent-setting foreign acquisitions in
modern Canadian history.
Stikeman Elliott partners Maxime Turcotte
(Montréal office) and Brad Squibb (Calgary
office) have also been recognized this year
as Lexpert Rising Stars.
Stikeman Elliott, Leaders
in M&A, Securities,
Corporate Commercial and
Private Equity
Stikeman Elliott had more lawyers
ranked in the M&A, Corporate Finance
& Securities, Corporate Commercial
and Private Equity categories than any
other law firm in the 2014 Canadian
Legal Lexpert Directory. A total of
116 Stikeman Elliott lawyers were
recognized for their expertise in 35
different practice areas.
STIKEMAN ELLIOTT LLP CONNECTIONS | 7
IN CANADIAN
BUSINESS LAW
WORLDWIDE
Recent Mandates of Note
Some examples of our recent work
include acting for:
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Recent Acknowledgments
Alstom S.A. as Canadian counsel for the board of
directors, in its approval of GE’s offer to acquire the
Power and Grid businesses of ALSTOM, for a total
consideration of approximately US$17B. In addition,
GE agreed to sell its railroad signalling business to
ALSTOM for approximately US$825M, as ALSTOM
focuses on its transport activities.
#1 by deal count for
Canadian M&A in Q3 2014
(Mergermarket, 2014 Q3)
#1 by deal volume as Canadian
corporate manager advisors
(Bloomberg, 2014 Q3)
Caracal Energy Inc., as Canadian counsel, in its
acquisition by a wholly-owned subsidiary of Glencore
Xstrata Plc for approximately C$1.35B.
#1 by deal flow advising
underwriters on debt deals
The joint venture consisting of Cheung Kong
(Holdings) Limited, Cheung Kong Infrastructure
Holdings Limited and Power Assets Holdings
Limited in the C$2.41B acquisition of all of the shares
of Envestra Limited, a gas distribution company
listed on the ASX.
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Gates Corporation as Canadian counsel in its
US$5.4B sale to private equity funds affiliated with
Blackstone.
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Global Infrastructure Partners, as Canadian counsel
in the US$1.43B sale of a 50% convertible preferred
interest in the Ruby Pipeline system to Veresen Inc.
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Hudson’s Bay Company in connection with the sale
and leaseback of its Queen Street flagship retail
complex and the Simpson’s Tower to an affiliate of
The Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited for $650M.
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Micro Focus International Plc in its US$2.35B
acquisition of U.S.-based business-software provider
The Attachmate Group Inc. (announced, not yet
closed).
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OC Oerlikon AG, as Canadian counsel, in its
US$1.1B acquisition of Sulzer AG’s Sulzer Metco
division, including its Canadian subsidiary, Sulzer
Metco (Canada) Inc.
(Financial Post, 2014 Q3)
Ranked as “Top Tier” in
M&A and Capital Markets
(IFLR 1000’s Financial and Corporate Guide 2015)
►►
PHH Corporation, as Canadian counsel, in the
US$1.4B sale of its fleet management services
business, doing business as PHH Arval, to
Element Financial Corporation.
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TreeHouse Foods, Inc. in its US$150M
acquisition of Protenergy Natural Foods, an
industry leading developer and manufacturer
of premium quality food and beverage
products such as private label broth, soups
and gravies from Whitecastle Investments
Limited, Whitecap Venture Partners and
others.
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WSP Global Inc. in its acquisition of Parsons
Brinckerhoff from Balfour Beatty PLC for
US$1.24B in cash.
Stay on top of Stikeman Elliott and legal industry news.
Follow us on Twitter @StikemanElliott or join our LinkedIn network.
Or visit our website at www.stikeman.com to subscribe to any of
our practice group blogs and updates.
STIKEMAN ELLIOTT LLP CONNECTIONS | 8

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