WWW.LEXPERT.CA
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2018
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LEXPERT 7
Brender, Mark D. Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
(514) 904-5777 mbrender@osler.com
Mr. Brender's practice includes domestic and international tax planning,
dispute resolution, corporate reorganizations, inbound and outbound
mergers & acquisitions/divestitures, financings, executive compensation
and estate planning.
Breen, Elizabeth E. Stikeman Elliott LLP
(416) 869-5267 ebreen@stikeman.com
Ms. Breen is a partner in the Mergers & Acquisitions, Capital Markets,
Banking & Finance and Private Equity Groups. Her practice focuses
on mergers & acquisitions, debt and equity financings, and other major
transactions. She has acted for a significant number of foreign investors
in respect of their Canadian strategic objectives.
Branchaud, René Lavery, de Billy, L.L.P.
(514) 877-3040 rbranchaud@lavery.ca
Mr. Branchaud, partner at Lavery, has extensive experience in the field of
mining law. Through his involvement in mining projects, he assists companies
with their incorporation, corporate structure, mergers & acquisitions and
financing. Over the years, he has been recognized several times as a leading
practitioner in the field of natural resources law.
Braithwaite, William J. Stikeman Elliott LLP
(416) 869-5654 wbraithwaite@stikeman.com
Mr. Braithwaite is Chair of the Firm and a member of the Partnership Board
and Executive Committee. He has a transactional practice focusing primarily
on cross-border public M&A. He was the chairman of the Advisory Committee
of the OSC and was a founding lecturer in Osgoode Hall Law School's
Securities Law LLM program.
Bourassa, Michael J. Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
(416) 865-5455 mbourassa@fasken.com
Mr. Bourassa's practice is focused in the mining industry. He has extensive
experience on both Canadian and international mining projects. Providing
advice on public financings, commercial mining agreements, corporate
social responsibility and litigation support, he has expertise in international
mining due diligence issues concerning title, technical matters
and environmental risks.
Boislard, Michel Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
(514) 397-7634 mboislard@fasken.com
Mr. Boislard has leading expertise in commercial law, primarily in the areas of
mergers & acquisitions, corporate financing, investment funds and securities.
He also advises clients from the high technology and biotechnology sectors.
Numerous public and private corporations trust him to represent them during
complex domestic and international cross-border transactions.
at both Harvard and Georgetown, they are of-
fering coding courses so that students can learn
computer and legal languages.
As to the challenge of finding problematic, pos-
sibly fraudulent, information in unstructured data
during Due Diligence, AI soware providers Jay
Leib and Dan Roth say: "ere were whistleblow-
ers in their companies who knew what was going
on, and the unstructured data contained the sto-
ries. Companies could detect potential problems
early on, provide alternatives to counsel and the
C-suite, and understand their exposure. It would
prevent unnecessary legal spend and mitigate risk,
thus protecting the company's brand and share-
holder value."
Document reviewers have always tried to de-
tect what a target company might be concealing,
but now AI vendors are developing, according to
Sobowale, "technology that can turn informa-
tion into stories. [ere] is a program that can
read through unstructured data and summarize
conversations, including the ideas discussed, the
frequency of the communications and the mood
of the speakers."
is is not to say that computers can feel the
mood of speakers as humans to varying degrees
can, but computers can ingest more unstructured
data than we can and, within that, recognize pat-
terns. en enter the humans: corporate leaders
will ultimately still make the decision to pursue
deals are not. And they will continue to be greatly
assisted by internal and external counsel when
it comes to strategy. It takes wisdom to discern,
"What does it all mean?"
In the meantime, are clients beginning to ask
their M&A counsel about the applicability of
AI tools? Belsher says, "I think clients have been
conditioned over the last decade or so to limit the
scope of Due Diligence or rely on in-house Due
Diligence. With dedicated contract reviewers that
incorporate AI tools that are scalable to meet a
deadline, more clients are using us for their docu-
ment review needs."
Biringer, whose firm is also using AI tools
for Due Diligence, says, "Because our lawyers
are using the AI tools, we are gaining a better
understanding of how we can leverage them to
help clients. So we are trying to proactively reach
out to clients to have those discussions and start
the conversation."
As Ian Palm at Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP
observes, "Machine learning systems will be an
increasingly important element in the soware we
use. Forward-focused clients know this. ey are
eager for us to integrate AI-enabled tools where it
means more efficient service."
Mindy Gilbert, from Davies Ward Phillips &
Vineberg LLP, points out that firm's pro-activity
also: "Our use of Artificial Intelligence and other
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