54 LEXPERT MAGAZINE
|
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016
Michael L. Mjanes
DLA PIPER (CANADA) LLP
> VANCOUVER
Michael Mjanes is a member of the real
estate and corporate/commercial groups
with a complex list of engagements that in-
cludes acting as lead counsel to the Simon
Fraser Student Society on the financing,
construction and leasing of a new $55-mil-
lion student union building on SFU's
Burnaby campus; acting for the Oppen-
heimer Group, a fresh-produce distribu-
tion and marketing company, in its phased
sale to Total Produce; acting for Canfor
in its $65-million acquisition of the Elko
and Canal Flats sawmills; acting for Stora-
geVault Canada on multiple strategic-asset
acquisitions; and acting for an emerging
energy company in its Series A financing
round, including negotiation of subscrip-
tion agreements, security holders' agree-
ment and debenture issuances. Michael is
involved in Access Pro Bono, where he has
provided a free monthly legal clinic to eco-
nomically disadvantaged people.
Mark Morris
AXESS LAW PROFESSIONAL CORP.
> TORONTO
Mark Morris aims to be a workflow pio-
neer. rough Axess Law, he has been
instrumental in building processes that al-
low for the daily delivery of commoditized
legal services, enabling many thousands of
files to be transacted on a monthly basis.
His daily business activity involves build-
ing repetitive simplicity into everyday legal
processes. Innovations include: bringing
volume-based legal services to consumers;
open-concept legal services that maintain
solicitor-client privilege; transactional re-
cording of interactions to recall individual
instructions and interactions; flat-fee dis-
aggregated pricing on a limited number of
items; and opening hours that match retail
need. Last fiscal year Axess Law served over
40,000 Ontarians. Mark has been a vol-
unteer with the adult literacy program at
the Toronto Public Library and is a board
member of the parental engagement com-
mittee of his children's school.
Ryan Morris
WEIRFOULDS LLP > TORONTO
Ryan Morris is Co-chair of the tax group
at WeirFoulds. He a top Canadian tax
counsel to sophisticated domestic and in-
ternational clients. He recently assisted a
Fortune 500 company with an internal
reorganization, won an important tax dis-
pute for one of its franchisees and advised
on several compliance matters. He has sig-
nificant experience advising issuers, includ-
ing a Big Five bank, on sophisticated tax-fo-
cused investment products. He is regularly
the lead tax lawyer for M&A transactions,
including then publicly listed Soltoro on
share disposition by plan of arrangement to
Agnico Eagle Mines. He has acted as lead
counsel on tax disputes, up to and includ-
ing the Supreme Court of Canada. Ryan
has introduced the WeirFoulds Access to
Justice Tax Dispute Program to provide
self-represented litigants with duty counsel
at the Tax Court of Canada.
Denise Nawata
FARRIS, VAUGHAN, WILLS
& MURPHY LLP > VANCOUVER
Denise Nawata is an M&A and securities
lawyer focused on cross-border deals and
public and private capital market trans-
actions. Denise's transactions in the past
year include: representing Intrexon Corp.,
a global leader in synthetic biology, in its
US$40-million acquisition by plan of ar-
rangement of Okanagan Specialty Fruits
Inc.; acting as BC counsel for the Orion
Mine Finance Group in the US$540-
million construction financing package
to advance the Pretium Resources Inc.
mine; and acting as part of the deal team
that represented Tekmira Pharmaceuticals
Corp. in a US$750-million merger with
Oncore Biopharma, Inc., to create a global
leader focused on an oral cure for hepatitis
B. Last year Denise joined the faculty of
UBC's Sauder School of Business as an ad-
junct professor to help design an inaugural
course on international mining law.
Terri-Lee Oleniuk
OSLER, HOSKIN & HARCOURT LLP
> CALGARY
Terri-Lee Oleniuk's practice focuses on
project-related issues in natural resource
development and regulatory, environmen-
tal and Aboriginal law. Her recent work in-
cludes representing BluEarth Renewables
| RISING STARS 2016 |
