- Chairman: William Braithwaite
- Managing Partners: André J Roy (Montréal); Jay Kellerman (Toronto); Stuart McCormack (Ottawa); Brad Grant (Calgary); Ross MacDonald (Vancouver); Kenneth Ottenbreit (New York); Derek Linfield (London); Brian Hansen (Sydney)
- Number of partners: 215
- Number of lawyers: 485
- Languages: English, French
Firm Overview: Founded in 1952, Stikeman Elliott is one of Canada’s leading business law firms, advising domestic and international clients on all aspects of business law.Areas of specialty include M&A, securities, banking, insurance, derivatives, asset securitisation, insolvency/restructuring real estate, mining, competition and foreign investment, technology, outsourcing and intellectual property.Chambers Global, IFLR1000 and Lexpert/American Lawyer Media guides identify the firm as one of Canada’s top-tier corporate, M&A and securities practices and it is frequently ranked among Canada’s leaders in domestic and cross-border M&A and corporate finance league tables.
The firm is also prominent in business litigation, including securities and insolvency proceedings, banking and insurance-related matters and domestic and cross-border class action defence, among others. Reputational surveys and transactional league tables consistently identify Stikeman Elliott as a market leader in each of its principal areas of practice.
Main Areas of Practice:
Mergers & Acquisitions: The M&A Group is well known in Canada, the US, UK and internationally for its work in high profile crossborder transactions involving public companies and for the depth of its expertise in negotiated transactions involving private companies and private equity and venture capital investors. The group includes top-ranked M&A partners in each of Canada’s four economically dominant jurisdictions.
Corporate Finance & Securities: The Corporate Finance and Securities Group is one of Canada’s most prominent. It has stood at the forefront of the development of Canadian income trust structures and includes numerous leading practitioners in each of the country’s major corporate finance centres. The firm regularly advises clients wishing to list on London’s AIM and EMTN programmes.The New York office advises on a wide range of securities-related regulatory matters, including MJDS filings by Canadian companies and Canadian compliance issues of concern to US and overseas companies.
Banking & Financial Services: The Banking and Financial Services Group has a broad range of experience in conventional bank lending, syndications and similar arrangements.The group acts for lenders and borrowers on a full range of domestic secured corporate and commercial financings, unsecured or commercial paper stand-by lines for investment grade corporate credit, asset-based financing and acquisition financing.
Bankruptcy, Insolvency & Restructuring: The Bankruptcy, Insolvency and Restructuring Group has acted for borrowers, lenders, accounting firms, trustees, creditors and shareholders in some of Canada’s most challenging corporate reorganisations and restructurings. The firm is broadly experienced in both public and private restructurings as well as in negotiations with international creditors’ syndicates. It has extensive experience in cross-border insolvencies.
Structured Finance & Financial Products: The firm represents Canadian and international financial intermediaries, corporations and other market participants in developing, structuring and implementing a broad range of asset securitisation, structured finance and derivative product transactions. It has served for many years as Canadian counsel to ISDA.
Litigation, Class Actions & ADR: The firm’s Litigation Group has a strong corporate commercial emphasis. It is particularly well known for its work in the areas of securities, insolvency, tax, product liability, professional negligence, insurance, real estate, construction, intellectual property, environmental, competition, employment, commercial negligence and class actions.The firm also offers ADR and a well regarded international commercial arbitration practice.
Taxation: The increasingly complex needs of Canadian and international clients are served by the firm’s tax practice. In addition to transactional tax planning and litigation, the firmregularly provides highly specialised advice on international tax matters, transfer pricing and commodity taxation.
Competition & Foreign Investment: The firm’s Competition and Foreign Investment Group advises in both Canadian and international transactions, criminal investigations, class and other civil actions, Competition Tribunal proceedings regarding mergers, abuse of dominance and other reviewable matters and day to day compliance in a wide range of industries.
Mining: The firm’s team of mining lawyers offers in-depth experience in all aspects of mining, including financings (both public and private), general securities law advice, joint ventures, property acquisition agreements and project financing.Clients include Canadian-based and international mining companies, investment bank and international banks lending to the mining sector.
Energy: Stikeman Elliott’s corporate finance, M&A and restructuring practices are highly experienced in energy-related transactions, both domestic and crossborder. The firm’s Calgary-based Oil and Gas Practice advises on exploration, development, production, transportation, downstream marketing and related issues. Stikeman Elliott is also widely recognised for its expertise in the electrical energy and renewable energy sectors, including domestic and international independent power projects and for regulatory expertise spanning all areas of energy law.
Public-Private Partnerships / Infrastructure: Members of the firm’s PPP/Infrastructure Group have advised a variety of stakeholders, including sponsors, developing consortia and financiers, on the development of some of Canada’s most prominent public infrastructure projects in a variety of sectors including healthcare, highways and roads, power production facilities, transit and other public facilities.
International Work: Stikeman Elliott has been present in London since 1969 and in NewYork and the Asia-Pacific region since the early 1980s.The firm also regularly represents clients with respect to their business interests in Africa, South Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and continental Europe, as well as individuals and companies from those regions with respect to their Canadian business objectives.