• Andrea Hill Joins the SkyLaw Team

SkyLaw is thrilled to welcome Andrea Hill to our growing team.  Andrea is a corporate and securities lawyer who, prior to joining SkyLaw, was an associate at Wildeboer Dellelce LLP in Toronto where she had a broad corporate and securities law practice.

A graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School, Andrea placed in the top 3% of her graduating class and was recognized for her contributions to the student community. Prior to attending law school, Andrea taught piano to children and served as the general manager of a high-end restaurant. An adventuresome traveler, she has snuck up on dangerous animals in Africa and hiked the Inca Trail in Peru.

VIEW ANDREA’S ENTIRE PROFILE ▶

Andrea has developed an expertise in medical marijuana regulation and works closely with SkyLaw’s clients in the medical marijuana industry.

She is a frequent speaker to business and government audiences, and a guest writer for The Globe and Mail on the subject of medical marijuana regulation and finance in Canada and abroad. Click the link below to view her latest article.

VIEW ANDREA’S LATEST ARTICLE ▶

• SkyLaw’s Work with Expert Witness Mentioned in Recent Court Decision

As corporate and securities lawyers, it is rare for us to directly appear in a court room. Even more exceptional is for SkyLaw to be referred to 31 times in a court decision, but that’s what occurred in the recent published decision of Wright v. Detour Gold Corporation, 2016 ONSC 6807.

Our client was an expert who provided an opinion in connection with a securities class action. A motion was brought by the plaintiffs to force our client to disclose his communications with SkyLaw. The Court denied the motion and in doing so confirmed that our role providing support for an expert witness “if anything, is to be encouraged not discouraged, because it rather enhances an expert witness’ independence and impartiality and insulates the expert from pressure from a litigant’s lawyer to be a partisan witness.”

For a more comprehensive discussion of the case by a leading litigation law firm, click to view the following article: “Can an expert retain counsel to help prepare an opinion? Absolutely.”

We have recently worked with experts providing opinions in litigation matters in Canada, the United States and England regarding contract interpretation, director fiduciary duties and disclosure issues. We are very pleased that our work in this field has received judicial confirmation as enhancing the opinions provided.

VIEW THE COMPLETE CANLII COURT DECISION ▶

• SkyLaw’s Recent Speaking Engagements

Kevin West Speaks at Whistler Conference

Kevin was invited to speak once again at the annual conference for the Governance Professionals of Canada (GPC), formerly known as the Canadian Society of Corporate Secretaries (CSCS), held in Whistler, British Columbia. The theme of the conference was ‘Critical Issues in Governance’. Kevin spoke on the role of the board of directors in M&A transactions and other special situations. To view SkyLaw’s full presentation, please visit the link below:

VIEW SKYLAW’S PRESENTATION SLIDES ▶

SkyLaw Chairs LegalTech Toronto Conference

Kevin was honoured to be asked to chair the two-day Legaltech Toronto conference. He meet so many inspiring professionals on both the IT and CIO side as well as the practitioner side. For Kevin’s overall thoughts on the conference, as well as the latest and greatest in legal tech, please check out his blog post at the following link:

VIEW KEVIN’S BLOG ABOUT LEGALTECH ▶

• Client Spotlight: Women Get On Board

SkyLaw is proud to be the corporate counsel to Women Get On Board (WGOB) since its incorporation. WGOB is a member-based company that connects, promotes and empowers women to corporate boards. WGOB hosts events, facilitates workshops, provides online training, and showcases their members’ personal brands online. The events support women on their journey to corporate boards by sharing lessons learned and building connections. Men are welcome to all events.

SkyLaw is a corporate partner of WGOB and recently sponsored an event at the Verity Club in Toronto.  Kevin West moderated an engaging panel discussion on “How to Chair a Board or Committee”. (A summary of the event can be found at the link below.)

WGOB is expanding across Canada and SkyLaw attended last week’s exciting launch event in Ottawa hosted by Welch LLP and sponsored by Stanton Chase (Toronto office) on the topic “How to Build your Board Resume”.  For more information about Women Get On Board or to become a member, please visit womengetonboard.ca.

VIEW ANDREA’S BLOG POST ABOUT A WGOB EVENT ▶

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• Upcoming Event: SkyLaw’s Annual Holiday Lunch

On December 15th, SkyLaw will host our fifth annual Alumni Holiday Lunch!  We look forward to seeing and reconnecting with many of the lawyers, staff and students who have been associated with SkyLaw over the years.