Fraser Milner Casgrain

issues|date=July 2008
autobiography=July 2008
citecheck=July 2008
self-published=July 2008
primarysources=July 2008
onesource=July 2008Infobox Company
company_name = Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP
company_
company_type = Private
foundation = 1839
location = Canada with offices in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, and New York City
industry = Canadian Business & Litigation Law Firm
homepage = [http://fmc-law.com/ www.fmc-law.com]

Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP (FMC) is one of Canada’s leading business & litigation law firms. With more than 520 lawyers (175 litigators) it is the fifth largest law firm in Canada as well as the largest law firm in Western Canada. [ [http://www.lexpert.ca/directory/files/1-Canada-Top30Firms.pdf "The 30 Largest Law Firms in Canada-2007"] ] FMC is a fully integrated national partnership with offices in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, and New York City.

History

For more than 165 years, Fraser Milner Casgrain has grown organically and through mergers, the most notable being the 1998 merger between Fraser & Beatty and Calgary-based Milner Fenerty, to form Fraser Milner and its subsequent merger with Montreal-based Byers Casgrain in 2000 to form Fraser Milner Casgrain. The following list of dates can be found on FMC's website: [http://www.fmc-law.com Fraser Milner Casgrain] ]

*1839 — John Willoughby Crawford opens his law office in Toronto, the earliest predecessor of Fraser & Beatty.

*1916 — George Hobson Steer joins the Edmonton law firm of Rutherford, Jamieson & Grant, a predecessor of Milner Fenerty, and the firm is renamed Rutherford, Jamieson, Grant & Steer.

*1920 — Crombie, Worrell & Gwynne, Barristers, Solicitors, Notaries, a predecessor of Fraser & Beatty, becomes Worrell, Gwynne & Beatty, Barristers, Solicitors, Notaries.

*1921 — Hyndman, Milner & Matheson, a predecessor of Milner Fenerty, becomes Hyndman, Milner, Matheson, Carr & Dafoe.

*1945 — Milner, Steer, Poirier, Martland & Bowker, a predecessor of Milner Fenerty, becomes Milner, Steer, Dyde, Poirier, Martland & Bowker.

*1980 — J. Donald Mawhinney, Q.C. and Howard J. Kellough, Q.C. establish Mawhinney & Kellough in Vancouver.

*1989 — The Supreme Court of Canada rules that national law firms are allowed to do business in Canada, a ruling that would set the stage for the union of Fraser & Beatty with Mawhinney & Kellough, and later with Milner Fenerty and Byers Casgrain. The case was one of the earliest to deal with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

*1990 — Fraser & Beatty, Barristers & Solicitors, with offices in Toronto and Ottawa, merges with Mawhinney & Kellough in Vancouver under the name Fraser & Beatty. When Fraser & Beatty merged with Mawhinney & Kellough, it was one of the first law firm mergers in Canada after the 1989 ruling.

*1991 — Milner Steer joins Fenerty Robertson, becomes Milner Fenerty.

*1998 — Fraser & Beatty and Alberta-based Milner Fenerty, becomes Fraser Milner.

*2000 — On June 6, Fraser Milner, with offices in Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver, merges with Byers Casgrain in Montréal to form Fraser Milner Casgrain.

Areas of Expertise

According to the FMC website they have over 520 lawyers (175 litigators) practicing in 40 Areas of Expertise (often referred to as “Practice Areas”). FMC’s areas of expertise are:

*Aboriginal *Aviation *Communications *Competition and Antitrust *Construction and Infrastructure *Corporate and Commercial *Corporate Governance *Cross-Border *Employment and Labour *Energy *Entertainment, Sports and Media *Environmental *Financial Services *Forest Products *Franchising *Health *Insolvency, Bankruptcy and Restructuring *Intellectual Property *International Natural Resources Infrastructure *International Trade

*Litigation and Dispute Resolution **Alternative Dispute Resolution **Class Actions **Insurance **Professional Liability *Mergers and Acquisitions *Mining *Pensions and Benefits *Privacy *Private Equity and Venture Capital *Public Policy *Public-Private Partnerships *Real Estate *Securities and Corporate Finance *Tax *Technology **Technology Transactions **Tech Companies and Venture Capital *Transportation *Wealth Management

Notable Past & Present Firm Members

*David Tsubouchi (Former Ontario Progressive Conservative Cabinet Minister)
*Brian Tobin (Former Federal Liberal Cabinet Minister)
*Blair McCreadie (President of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party)
*Senator David Smith (Liberal Senator)
*Peter Van Loan (Current Conservative MP)
*Jean Bazin (Conservative Senator from 1986 to 1989)
*Honourable E. Peter Lougheed (Premier of Alberta from 1971 to 1985)
*David Wachowich (Past President of the Liberal Party in Alberta)
*Jim Prentice (Current Minister of Industry)
*Lloyd Axworthy (Past Minister of Foreign Affairs)
*Kent Hehr (Current Member of Legislative Assembly of Alberta)
*Judges: Lloyd Malin, Shauna Miller, Andrea Moen, Ken Nielson, Barbara Conway, Mary V. Newbury, [http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/ca/presiders/] , William A. McGillivray, Denny Thomas, Susan Griffin, John T. Prowse, Patrick Boyle
*Cheryl Gibson (Silver Medalist in Swimming, 1976 Montreal Olympics)

Notable Recent Deals and Cases

*Counsel to Gateway Casinos, Star of Fortune Gaming Management and Star of Fortune shareholders in connection with the $1.4B acquisition of Gateway by New World Gaming
*Acting for the Special Committee of Arizona Star Resource Corp. on $773M takeover bid by Barrick Gold
*Counsel to Skyservice Airlines Inc. in its acquisition by Gibralt Capital Corporation
*Acted for Meridian Gold in the $3.5 billion takeover bid by Yamana Gold
*Acted for Millennium in connection with $750M credit facilities financing a million+ sq. ft. mixed-use residential development part of which will temporarily house athletes during the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games
*Counsel to BMO Capital Markets in the announced $209M acquisition of Golf Town by OMERS Capital Partners
*Represented Rio Narcea Gold Mines, Ltd. in Lundin Mining Corporation’s $956 million take-over bid for Rio Narcea
*Counsel to Société générale de financement du Québec (SGF) on US$400m investment deal with Lions Gate Entertainment Inc.
*Advised Pogo Producing Co. of Houston, Texas on their $2 billion (US) sale of their Calgary-based oil and gas company, Northrock Resources Ltd., to Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. (TAQA)
*Represented the author and publisher of the Harry Potter novels in Canada in connection with all Canadian copyright protection issues and embargo enforcement rights and remedies, including winning a number of injunctions to protect the copyright in and pre-release date confidentiality of the Harry Potter novels.
*Counsel to the family of Deirdre Molson Stevenson in the $7.7B merger of Molson Inc. and Adolph Coors Co. to create the world's fifth largest brewer.
*Counsel to Underwriters (Goldman Sachs, Nesbitt Burns and Scotia McLeod) on its $2.1 billion cross border initial public offering by Canadian National Railway Company.
*Acted for Royal Bank of Canada in one of the most important claims in damages in Quebec ($95M in capital and interest) against a financial institution by a religious corporation concerning the Marché Central financing.
*Counsel to a lending syndicate providing US$1.3 billion acquisition financing to a large multinational for its acquisition of Canada's largest vintner and wine seller.
*Counsel to the borrower in connection with the financing of international transactions in the United States, England, Germany, Scotland, Israel, India, Russia and Mexico.
*Advising in the development of multi-billion dollar LNG production and shipping facilities in the State of Qatar, including multi-million dollar purchase and sale agreements, large-scale financings and complex EPC contracts.

Recognition and Rankings

A sample of rankings and recognition:
*" [http://www.lexpert.ca/500/ Lexpert® / ALM Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada] " ranks 15 FMC partners as leaders in their respective areas of expertise
*" [http://www.chambersandpartners.co.uk/global/rankings36.aspx?fid=3766&solbar=1/ Chambers Global 2008] " ranks FMC among Canada's leading firms in 2008 in 7 areas of expertise
*" [http://www.chambersandpartners.co.uk/global/FirmProfile.aspx?fid=3766&mode=firms&display=1/ Chambers Global 2008] " recommends 24 FMC partners as leaders in their field
*" [http://www.lexpert.ca/ LEXPERT Guide to the US/Canada Cross-Border Litigation Lawyers in Canada] " features 7 elite FMC lawyers
*" [http://www.lexpert.ca/ LEXPERT] " references FMC as the fifth largest law firm in Canada and rated its offices in 18 practice areas, ranking them as "Most Frequently Recommended" in three instances
*Is the largest law firm in Western Canada with more than 240 lawyers in Alberta and British Columbia.
*The " [http://www.chambersandpartners.com/ 2007 Chambers Global Guide] " ranks 29 FMC lawyers as leaders in their field
*" [http://www.whoswholegal.com/home.cfm Who’s Who Legal] " lists 10 FMC lawyers in its 2006 international business law directory
*The inaugural edition of " [http://www.bestlawyers.com/ The Best Lawyers in Canada] " was published in June 2006 and featured 69 of Fraser Milner Casgrain’s lawyers
*" [http://www.expertguides.com/ Expert Guides (Euromoney)] " recommends 15 FMC lawyers in its 2006 edition
*" [http://www.practicallaw.com/main.jsp PLC Which Lawyer?] " identifies 23 FMC lawyers in its 2007 edition
*"Martindale-Hubbell" rated 213 of FMC’s lawyers in 2006
*" [http://www.lexpert.ca/ American Lawyer 2007 Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada] " lists 12 of FMC’s lawyers
*The 2006 Canadian Legal LEXPERT Directory recommends 69 of FMC’s lawyers
*" [http://www.internationaltaxreview.com/ 2006 International Tax Review] " places FMC in the fourth category group within its Best Tax Law Firms in Canada
*" [http://www.internationallawoffice.com/ International Law Office] " (ILO) Client Choice Award for Leading Client Service by a Canadian law firm (2005 winner, 2006 finalist)

External links

* [http://www.fmc-law.com Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP Website]
* [http://fr.fmc-law.com Fraser Milner Casgrain S.E.N.C.R.L. French Website]

References