Lexpert Roundup on the Business of Law
Lexpert identifies and reports on emerging business issues and practice areas in the business of law. Whether online, in our magazine or in the DealsWire e-newsletter, we chronicle deals and lawsuits of interest, and cover issues of broad concern to the legal profession and those who purchase legal services. We hope you enjoy this sampling of our latest content.
From the DealsWire: CDPQ's $3-billion deal | GFL Environmental acquires Waste Industries | Parkland buys majority of SOL Investments
The Lexpert DealsWire (subscribe here) documents facts, figures and key legal players behind recent deals. This week’s announced deal spotlight features the key players and figures in Empire Co. Ltd.’s agreement to acquire Farm Boy.
In our closed deals section, we look at Bayer AG in its divestiture to BASF, as well as BWX Technologies acquiring Nordion’s medical isotope business.
We also look at the legal players behind the sale of assets of Grande Cache Coal to CST Canada Coal, and the establishment of the BC Tweed joint venture.
The ongoing debate about the extent to which emerging legal technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), will make lawyers redundant or at least reduce the profession to a small colony of high-level strategists, misses the point.
It used to be most people saw boutique law firms as a small collection of lawyers who practised in just one area. In some cases, that’s still true. But today’s boutiques may also have as many lawyers as a mid-size firm, they may be made up of former general counsel, they may encompass practice areas that feed into its main focus.
Canadian firms at risk for US taxes
Canadian companies selling into the United States — even those with no physical presence in a particular state — may now be required to collect and remit local sales taxes. The expansion of states’ taxing powers emerges from a recent decision of the Supreme Court of the United States. At the very least, Canadian businesses selling online into the US should consider acquiring or modifying software to track the sales to the U.S. and determine their liability.
Change Agent: Adding value in the information age
We are living in the age of information. This means that the ability to find data from a variety of sources is infinite — which has affected professional advisors and the services they offer. The challenge for lawyers is to define what providing value to a client means in this age of free information. Relationships between various types of professionals can create efficiencies on files – and diversity in leadership can help even more, writes McMillan LLP Leila Rafi.
Of Lawyers, Lemons and Lemmings
Whether you’re a lawyer, a lemon, or even a lemming, you’re different from others of your species, and those unique factors distinguish you from the rest of your kind. Use that to your advantage when distinguishing your “brand” from others, writes Marketing columnist Heather Suttie.
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