Practice Focus
- Tax Law
- Income tax and excise tax aspects of domestic and international corporate reorganizations, financings and commercial transactions
- Prepares and argues taxpayer's objections and appeals from domestic audits and reassessments in the Tax Court of Canada and Federal Court of Appeal
- Advises on corporate compensation plans and the registration and operation of registered pension plans and charities
- Advises on trust and litigation matters
- Aboriginal Law
- Extensive experience in the area of tax planning associated with the negotiation and implementation of comprehensive land claim agreements, impacts and benefits agreements and commercial business ventures involving aboriginal participants
- Has participated in the negotiation and drafting of the taxation and finance chapters of significant aboriginal land claims agreements with the Government of Canada
- Outside legal advisor to trusts established for the benefit of Alberta First Nations and funded with oil & gas royalty monies
Practice Areas
Education
- Queen's University, Bachelor of Laws, 1977
- Yale University, Bachelor of Arts, 1974
Bar Admission
- Alberta 1981
- Ontario 1979
Professional Associations
- Member, Law Society of Alberta
- Member, Canadian Bar Association
- Member, Calgary Bar Association
- Member, Canadian Petroleum Tax Society
- Member, Canadian Tax Foundation
- Member, International Fiscal Association
Honours & Recognition
- Named in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, 2005-2010 as a repeatedly recommended leading practitioner in the area of Corporate Tax
- Named in Best Lawyers in Canada in the area of Tax Law, 2006-2010, 2013-2017 and 2019
Presentations
- Tax Developments Affecting the Purchase, Sale & Reorganization of a Business, Canadian Tax Foundation Annual Conference, November 2012
- Aboriginal Business Structures, The Canadian Tax Foundation, Prairie Tax Conference, 2006
- Income versus Capital Expenditures, The Canadian Tax Foundation, Prairie Tax Conference, May 2005
- Co-lecturer, Canadian Petroleum Tax Society course on Advanced Issues in Oil and Gas Companies - A Tax Perspective, 2000-2004
- Current Developments in First Nations Taxation, The Canadian Tax Foundation Conference, September 2002
- Has lectured and written materials for professional and trade groups primarily in relation to income tax subjects and pension investments
Other Professional Activities
- Past General Editor - Taxation and Financing of Aboriginal Businesses in Canada (Carswell)
