Students

Real Experience

Our lawyers are recognized for their expertise in various practice areas and industries and represent clients on a wide range of big deals and cases. In Bloomberg's Q2 2009 Canadian Mining Equity league tables, we ranked first by deal volume and deal count as Issuer Advisor and  by deal volume as Issuer and Manager Advisor combined. During the same period, we were ranked first by deal count and second by deal volume in Bloomberg's Canadian Mining M&A league tables.

To ensure our students' success we provide them with first-hand, real experience. Read about the types of work that our students have performed.

Big Deals

Here are just a few of our recent big deals:

• Rimfire and Geoinformatics Finalize Business Combination
• Gleichen Announces Proposed Acquisition of 78.8% of Morelos Project
• New Gold Completes $1.2 Billion Business Combination with Western Goldfields
• PBS Coals Announces Pricing of $214,300,000 Private Placement

Big Cases

Here are a few of our recent court victories:

• Cassels Brock Wins Interlocutory Injunction 
• Cassels Brock Wins International Arbitration For Breach of Film Distribution Agreement
• Cassels Brock Obtains Injunction in Anglican Church Property Dispute and Dismissal of Leave to Appeal

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Our Students' Real Experience

Here are some examples of files that our articling students worked on as summer students.

• Myroslav Chwaluk
  Last summer I ended up doing a lot of work with the securities group. One file I was asked to help with involved a client listed on the TSX-V who was facing an audit before potentially being listed on the TSX. I met with the clients at their offices to go through their records and flag deficiencies in the corporate records that needed to be cured. At their offices, I was invited to sit in on a committee meeting. This opportunity gave me perspective on the way our corporate clients make decisions and the kinds of issues a reporting issuer and a junior mining company face.

• Tracy Cox
  As a summer student, I particularly enjoyed working on various share purchase transactions, since it allowed me to work as part of a team and build relationships with the lawyers working on the files. Two of those transactions were formal closings, where the parties physically came to the firm to sign the closing documents. The closing day was exciting because I was able to put faces to the names of the parties involved and see their appreciation and relief when the deal finally closed.

• Richard Da Costa
  As a summer student, I was responsible for drafting the rules and regulations for promotional contests run across Canada by a major media entity. The client tends to run several contests a week so the high level of responsibility was a fantastic experience. It is a surreal experience to see a contest on which I worked on television.

• Jessica Fingerhut
  One of my most interesting files during my summer at Cassels involved working directly with a litigation partner defending our client against a hostile takeover bid. I was given significant responsibility on the file. I reviewed similar proceedings involving other companies and securities law literature in order to help formulate our legal arguments. I also drafted a critical affidavit. What I found most exciting about this assignment was the urgency of the matter. Tasks had to be completed very quickly to meet strict filing deadlines. I also found it exciting to be included in last-minute conference calls and strategy sessions to plan our next moves.

• David Gardos
  One of my favorite files last summer involved a private placement for a mid-sized Canadian company. I was given the responsibility of drafting key documents, performing due diligence at another firm, and I had the opportunity to interact with different lawyers in both the business and securities groups.

• Ryan Goodman
  One file that I particularly enjoyed working on involved drafting a response to a demand for particulars in a bankruptcy and insolvency matter. I got to meet with the former CEO of a large corporation that was bringing a substantial action against a former partner corporation. An associate and I interviewed the client for an afternoon as he answered questions that we had about the action. I very much enjoyed interacting with a sophisticated client on a personal level.

• Jennifer Hansen
  One of my favorite projects as a summer student at Cassels was my summer project, which involved preparing for a conference with a partner. Over the course of the summer, I was actively involved in every step of researching, drafting, and finalizing a discussion paper and presentation. This project afforded me the opportunity to get exposure to an area of law which was completely new to me. At the beginning of my summer, I knew very little about franchise law. By working closely with the partner who provided me with invaluable insight into the topic, I found it was not only a great summer learning experience, but it also provided me with the opportunity to discover a niche area of law that I will definitely be eager to work in as an articling student.

• Eric Mayzel
  One of my favourite files as a summer student was an advocacy matter pertaining to computer law and, specifically, spyware. I drafted memoranda on such issues as online privacy, online consumer protection, and online crime. The file was an excellent learning experience, given both the subject matter’s relative novelty and the client's business. Not only did I gain substantive knowledge, but also the technical skills needed to research an emerging area of law. It is fascinating to think that the work we do here may help to shape the future legal landscape.

• Mordy Mednick
  One of my greatest learning experiences as a summer student happened while working on a small claims file involving a mechanic. He had charged our client excessive amounts even though the vehicle was never properly fixed. I was asked to attend a negotiation settlement and attempt to resolve the matter. While I was a little apprehensive, I gained invaluable experience and realized how much I enjoyed advocacy. The importance of listening to both sides and focusing on the parties’ underlying interests became readily apparent. I felt a strong sense of responsibility and enjoyed the independence to come up with solutions.

• J.B. Peikes
  One of the most exciting files that I worked on during my summer at Cassels Brock was with the financial services group. We represented a company that was borrowing a lot of money from one of Canada's largest banks. Working on the closing was challenging and involved some long hours but in the end it was all worth it. The best part of the experience was walking into the opposing counsel's boardroom for document signing where I was greeted by a senior associate, a junior associate and a summer student. They asked where the rest of the Cassels Brock team was. I quickly responded that it was just me!

• Craig Power
  The most memorable experience in my first summer at Cassels Brock was when I was asked to handle a small claims matter for a very large client. It wasn’t long before I realized that I needed some guidance. Within no time, I had a seemingly endless stream of knowledge at my disposal. I talked to one senior partner about strategy, to another partner about cross-examination, to a fifth year associate about protocol, and a first year associate about my nerves. Over the course of a few weeks, I compiled the evidence, drafted the documents, talked to the witnesses, and then went to trial. The point is that while I was required  to take ownership over the file, I didn’t feel alone for one second. It was stressful enough going to court (with the client, no less), but it certainly helped to know that I had the whole firm standing behind me.

• Chris Sansom
  My favorite file involved acting for a government-affiliated regulatory body. The scope of the regulatory body's powers had recently been broadened and they wanted to know how this would affect their exposure to liability. This was a substantial task and involved working in cooperation with another student. It was a very interesting project and one which I really enjoyed working on.

• Jonathan Tkatch
  My most memorable experience as a summer student was assisting a retiree partner with testimony in court. I was asked to review documents of a former client in an effort to verify certain facts that the partner would be testifying to. The document review was not the highlight, but rather spending several days with the retiree partner learning about his experiences and his approach to law was invaluable. The highlight of the experience was attending court and watching the partner take the stand and give evidence, much of which I had assisted in verifying or uncovering. The partner performed very well on the stand and even had the tax court judge laughing on several occasions, which is no small feat.

• Micah Vernon
  A fellow student and I were asked to update a paper that a previous group of students had written on Canada's approach to climate change law. Once completed, we were asked to make an eight minute long promotional film about the firm’s expertise in this area. Coordinating the film dates, writing the scripts and soliciting lawyers to be in the project, proved to be a massive undertaking in understanding an area of substantive law and organizing the firm’s expertise in this emerging area. Upon completion of the film, not only were my partner and I well versed on the topic of climate change law, but we were also experts in refining a product until it was ready to be presented to clients.

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