15TH ANNUAL Real Estate Law Summit
Biographical Summaries for Program Faculty
[In Alphabetical Order]
Day 1
Phil Brown Counsel, Practice Management Helpline Law Society of Ontario 130 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON M5H 2N6
Background Phil graduated from Dalhousie University with a B.Sc. (Hon) and an LLB. He was called to the Bar in Nova Scotia in 1985 and Ontario in 1989. He also holds a post-graduate certificate from Centennial College in e-commerce.
Areas of Practice and Experience Phil practised criminal law exclusively as a sole practitioner before joining Legal Aid Ontario as the Coordinator of Lawyer Relations. He was responsible for marketing the Legal Aid Online billing project which automated lawyer payments. The project had a 90% uptake by lawyers within the first 6 months.
He joined the Law Society of Ontario in 2008 as Counsel in the Professional Development and Competence department and has been involved in CPD planning, accreditation, and certified specialist certification. He participates in developing resources for solos and small firm lawyers and for the past five years has worked on the Practice Management Helpline team assisting lawyers with issues related to the Law Society By-laws, Rules of Professional Conduct and professionalism questions. He is also working on a series of technology podcasts with David Whelan.
Professional Activities He is currently a member of the Ontario Bar Association, American Bar Association and is the past Photo Editor of “For The Defence” magazine.
He is a presenter at continuing professional development programs and has spoken at the American Bar Association, Criminal Lawyers Association, Hamilton Law Association, Toronto Lawyers Association, and Law Society programs. He has been a lecturer and instructor in the professional responsibility course and the Professional Conduct and Practice in Ontario course.
Craig R. Carter B.Sc., LL.B, LL.M, LSM
B.Sc. from the University of Toronto, 1974. LL.B. from the University of Toronto, 1977. LL.M. from Osgoode Hall Law School, 1986. Called to the Bar of Ontario in 1979. Former Partner now Counsel with the law firm of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP. Certified by the Law Society of Upper Canada as a specialist in Real Estate Law. Recognized by L’Expert as an expert in Property Development, and in Best Lawyers Canada for Real Estate and has Martindale-Hubbell’s highest AV rating. Engaged in commercial real estate practice with an emphasis on easement law, mortgage law, mortgage remedies and opinions on solicitor’s practice. Chaired and spoken at numerous OBA and LSUC programs on mortgage law, foreclosures, land transfer tax, powers of sale and taking possession of property by a mortgagee, title insurance, mortgage fraud, options to purchase, agreements of purchase and sale, contract enforcement, easements, real estate remedies, contract frustration and ownership structuring. Is past chair of the OBA Continuing Legal Education Committee, past chair of the OBA Real Property Section and past chair of the CBA Real Property Section. Co-editor of Butterworths book Agreements of Purchase and Sale and author of CCH Real Estate Guide chapter on Land Transfer Tax. Contributing author for Falconbridge on Mortgages. Co-author Real Estate Transactions 2nd Edition (2017). Has taught Business Law at Ryerson. Taught an LL.M. in Real Estate Finance at Osgoode Hall Law School in the part-time LL.M. programme in 1998 and 2009 and in the Bankruptcy LL.M in 2014. Currently an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School and University of Toronto Law School teaching Real Estate Transactions and Real Estate Finance. Instructor in Chang Business School at Ryerson University in Real Estate Law. Recipient of the Award for Excellence in Real Estate given by the OBA. Recipient of the OBA Distinguished Service Award. Recipient of the Law Society Medal.
900021.11194/97691942.1 Simon Crawford
Simon is shortlisted by every major Canadian and international legal guide, including Chambers Global, Canadian Legal L'Expert Directory, Euromoney Expert Guide and Best Lawyers in Canada as one of Canada's leaders in real estate law. He was included in 2018’s Lexpert ALM 500 as one of the 500 most frequently recommended lawyers in Canada. He has acted on some of Canada's largest dollar value real estate transactions and on many of the country's landmark commercial, retail, sports and entertainment and residential projects. Simon was featured in the September 2014 issue of L'Expert magazine as lead real estate advisor to a KingSett Capital-led consortium in respect of 2013's largest commercial real estate transaction, the acquisition of all Primaris Real Estate Investment Trust properties. In 2012 he acted as counsel to the purchaser of a $2-billion industrial real estate portfolio comprised of more than 400 properties. In 2016 he was the lead real estate advisor to a significant landlord group in connection with the insolvency proceedings related to Target Canada, the largest Canadian retail insolvency in recent history, and in 2017 he oversaw in excess of $5 billion in commercial real estate transactions. Simon advises many of Canada's most sophisticated real estate investors on private equity matters, fund formation, joint ventures, income trusts, the purchase and sale of real estate assets and real estate companies, property development, banking and mortgage lending, structured finance and asset securitization, corporate finance, mezzanine and participating debt structures, infrastructure, public/private partnerships, pension fund real estate investment, senior living facilities, mortgage and loan servicing and enforcement, and on real estate issues in bankruptcy and insolvency. In recent years, Simon has acted as senior advisor on some of the more notable new development financings in Toronto, including the Bay-Adelaide Centre, the Trump Tower, and the 75-storey Aura condominium project, which is currently the tallest residential building in Canada. Across the country, Simon has also acted on large portfolio transactions, including the acquisition and financing of ING's industrial portfolio, the acquisition of Home Trust’s commercial mortgage portfolio, and the privatization of both Atlas Cold Storage and Versacold. Complementing Simon's real estate practice is extensive deal experience in public/private partnerships, the creation of pension-fund eligible investments, and the financing of regulated facilities such as gaming, infrastructure healthcare and long-term care projects. In addition, Simon has acted for government or quasi-government interests, including most notably, as advisor to Waterfront Toronto in connection with the development of Toronto's waterfront lands. Simon has represented clients in the financing or sale of a significant number of Canada's landmark commercial, entertainment and retail properties, including Toronto's Bay Adelaide Center, Trump Tower, Scotia Plaza, Brookfield Place, TD Centre and First Canadian Place, Montreal's Eaton Centre, Ottawa’s Rideau Centre, Saskatchewan’s Midtown Plaza and Calgary's Scotia Plaza and Palliser Square. Simon has also represented lenders or purchasers in connection with various sports and recreation facilities including in connection with the 2010 Olympic games, Toronto's Ricoh Centre, Niagara Falls Casino and various casinos owned by Gateway Casinos. Simon is called upon regularly to write, speak on or moderate panels on matters of commercial real estate and real estate investment in Canada or by Canadian investors abroad.
This discussion paper is not intended to provide legal advice, but to highlight matters of interest in this area of law. If you have questions or comments, please contact Simon Crawford directly. The foregoing discussion paper does not establish any form of lawyer-client relationship with Simon Crawford or any law firm at which he is a partner or is otherwise affiliated with. The information contained in this discussion paper is public information and is not individualized legal advice. Readers should not rely on or take any action based upon this information; professional advice should be obtained. This discussion paper may contain errors or omissions and any liability for any such errors or omissions is hereby disclaimed.
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Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
Roger Gillott
Partner, Education Litigation Oxford University, B.C.L. Toronto Oxford University, M.A. Dalhousie University, LL.B. 416.862.6818 University of Calgary, B.Comm. (With Distinction) [email protected] Bar Admission(s) Ontario (1996)
Practice Area(s): Construction; Litigation; Public-Private Partnerships/Alternative Financing & Procurement; Infrastructure
Roger is consistently recognized in industry publications as one of the leading Construction lawyers in Canada. He has practiced exclusively construction litigation, arbitration and dispute resolution for twenty years. Roger has extensive advocacy experience in trial, appellate and arbitration proceedings, and also advises on the avoidance and management of risk in the administration of construction contracts. Roger has developed particular expertise in the area of tendering and procurement in both the public and private sectors. He has represented clients in a wide variety of disputes involving construction liens and trusts, mortgage priorities, contract interpretation, bidding and tendering, delay and extras claims, professional negligence and claims under performance and payment bonds. Roger has also dealt with the interpretation of specifications, ownership of design drawings and environmental claims and prosecutions.
Professional Affiliations • Past-Chair, Ontario Bar Association Construction Law Section Executive
Acknowledgements
• The Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada, 2018
• Chambers Canada: Canada’s Leading Lawyers for Business, 2017 - Construction (Nationwide - Canada)
• The Best Lawyers in Canada 2006-2017: Construction Law
• The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2010-2017: Construction Law
• Euromoney's Expert Guides: The World’s Leading Lawyers Chosen by Their Peers, 2017, recognized in the area of Construction.
• The Globe and Mail 2011-2017: Leading Infrastructure Lawyers in Canada
Publications/Events Roger has authored more than sixty papers in Construction Law journals and trade publications, and is frequently invited to chair and speak at conferences in the area. Roger has served as a Guest Lecturer in Construction Law at the University of Toronto Law School and George Brown College. GARY GOLDFARB is a partner in the firm of Meyer, Wassenaar and Banach, LLP. Gary attended Osgoode Hall Law School and was called to the bar in 1983. He practices in commercial real estate, including mortgage lending and condominium development work. Kadish Law Professional Corporation Joel Kadish, Barrister & Solicitor 5255 Yonge Street Suite 800 Toronto On M2N 6P4 416 636 5565 [email protected]
Joel was called to the bar in 1990, much to the relief of his parents. He spends most days full of anxiety wondering if the phone will ring with new business and hoping he has not made some inane mistake which will render someone’s title null and void.
He is a proud father of two boys who are simply good people and husband to a wonderful wife who tells him not to work so much and forces him on wonderful adventures.
He has taught for the Law Society of Ontario extensively on topics related to real estate and running a law practice, has been a virtual mentor for the Law Practice Program at Ryerson University and tries to be a give back to an amazing profession that has given him so much.
He does most things to do with residential real estate. The usual fare of purchases, sale and refinances. He also does some leasing and commercial transactions although he always wonders if he has done enough “off title” searches.
He rides a 2009 BMW F650GS and hangs out with a gang. I mean the gang volunteers their time at such notorious events as the OneWalk in support of Princess Margaret Hospital, the Sick Children’s Camp Walk and the Ride to Conquer Cancer. You can’t answer emails when you ride. It really feels great.
Raymond G. Leclair, LL.B.
Ray Leclair joined Lawyers’ Professional Indemnity Company (LAWPRO) in June of 2008 in the role of Vice President, TitlePLUS, and as of May, 2012 became Vice President, Public Affairs, responsible for government relations efforts at LAWPRO.
Formerly General Counsel for the Kanata Research Park Corporation, a development company and major commercial landlord in Ottawa, Ray has practised in both major national law firms and as a sole practitioner, and was a part-time professor at the University of Ottawa Law School and Cité Collégiale instructing the French language portion of the real estate law course. He also served for 15 years as the Ottawa senior instructor for the French and English Real Estate Sections of the Bar Admission Course and member of the Law Society of Upper Canada’s Solicitor Advisory Group, Licensing Process.
Called to the bar in 1984, Ray is member of the Ontario Bar Association Council, Past- Chair and remains an active participant of both the National Real Property Section of the Canadian Bar Association and of the Real Property Section of the Ontario Bar Association, past Co-Chair and remains a member of the Working Group on Lawyers & Real Estate, and President of the Ontario Real Estate Lawyers Association (ORELA). Past executive member of CBA’s National Sections Council, past member of its budget committee and formerly Vice President of the North American Bar- related® Title Insurers, past President of the Advisory Committee for the Cité Collégiale Legal Assistants Program. Ray volunteer’s as Manager of the fundraiser TOM* MensFashion4Hope and a VIP & Sponsor Relations Officer for semi-annual Toronto Men’s Fashion Week (TOM*). Ray is and has been a frequent speaker/presenter, in French or English, in numerous programs on various real estate and other law related topics in Canada and the United States. JEFFREY W. LEM Director of Titles for the Province of Ontario Ministry of Government and Consumer Services 20 Dundas Street West, 4th Floor Toronto, ON M5G 2C2 Email: [email protected]
Jeffrey W. Lem is the Director of Titles for the Province of Ontario. In that capacity, he has responsibility for the Land Titles Act, the Registry Act, the Boundaries Act, the Land Registration Reform Act, as well as portions of other legislation relating to over six million parcels of land in the Province.
Jeffrey also serves the broader legal community as a bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada, where he sits on the Proceedings Authorization Committee and the Alternative Business Structures Task Force.
Jeffrey is certified as a Specialist in Real Estate Law by The Law Society of Upper Canada and is the proud recipient of the Ontario Bar Association's Award for Excellence in Real Estate, the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyer’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Toronto Lawyers Association’s Honsberger Award for Dedication to the Profession. He has also received Martindale- Hubbell's highest rating (AV®), and has been recognized in the real estate field in The Canadian Legal LEXPERT Directory, The Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada, The Best Lawyers in Canada, Chambers Global Guide, and The International Who's Who of Real Estate Lawyers.
Jeffrey is currently an editor-in-chief of the Real Property Reports (and, before that, an associate editor of the Digest of Real Property Law). He is also the author of the real estate law volume of Halsbury's Laws of Canada, the legal editor for Building Magazine, and the real estate law columnist for Law Times. He was the first Canadian member ever elected to the American College of Mortgage Attorneys, and is a former long-standing member of the Executive Committee of the Real Property Section of the Ontario Bar Association. Jeffrey and has written widely for various journals and magazines, including the Real Property Reports, Municipal World, Building Magazine, Toronto Real Estate News, Digest of Real Property Law and Digest of Municipal and Planning Law. Jeffrey was an instructor in the real property section of the Bar Admission Course for Ontario and the Director of the LL.M. Program for Real Estate Law at Osgoode Hall Law School. Jeffrey is also a past president of the Association of Chinese Canadian Lawyers of Ontario, and speaks regularly for various continuing legal education organizations.
Jeffrey has a B.Comm, UofT (1984), a J.D., Osgoode Hall (1987), and an LL.M. Osgoode Hall (2002). He was called to the bar in Ontario in 1989 and has been a solicitor on the rolls in England and Wales since 2000. Before joining the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, Jeffrey was a partner in several prominent Toronto law firms.
Kathleen Lickers
Kathleen Lickers is a Seneca from the Six Nations of the Grand River in Southern Ontario. She earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Western Ontario, and an L.L.B. from the University of Ottawa. Upon her call to the Ontario Bar in 1995, Kathleen was legal advisor and then Commission Counsel to the Indian (Specific) Claims Commission overseeing 60 inquiries throughout Canada. During her early career, Kathleen joined the Toronto Law Firm of Blake, Cassels & Graydon as Associate Legal Counsel where she joined the litigation team in the action of Six Nations v Attorney General of Canada. In September 2003, Kathleen established her own law office at Six Nations where, amongst other matters, she serves as an External Advisor to the Office of the Auditor General of Canada; an Advisor to the Assembly of First Nations, has acted as Co-Counsel to the Chiefs of Ontario during the Ipperwash Inquiry and continues to work with numerous levels of government on Nation to Nation issues of mutual concern. Kathleen is a 2018 recipient of the Law Society Medal, currently serves as Co-Chair to the Indigenous Advisors to the Law Society of Ontario, is a past Board member to Native Earth Performing Arts, former Chair of the Board of Trustees of the E. Pauline Johnson Estate at Chiefswood and past Treasurer of the Indigenous Bar Association.