DLA Piper (Canada) LLP

Ian Bendell is Chair of DLA Piper (Canada) LLP's Infrastructure and Projects Group and works of out of the firm's Toronto office. With almost 30 years in the international infrastructure market, Ian has extensive experience advising on international project financing and P3 transactions, particularly in public infrastructure. He specializes in advising project companies, equity sponsors, public authorities, banks and other financial institutions around the world on the procurement, financing and implementation of major infrastructure projects. While a partner at a City of London law firm, in addition to advising on other rail and rail related projects, Ian was one of three members of a core legal, technical and financial advisory team that advised the Dutch Government on the first High Speed Rail project to be procured as a public private partnership, the Dutch HSL Zuid project connecting Schiphol airport with the Dutch Belgian Border. In the early 2000s, Ian successfully closed the first Canadian acute healthcare PPP - the William Osler Health Centre - as the lead advisor to the hospital authority. Since closing the William Osler project, Ian has acted for the successful proponents on a wide range of projects that have achieved financial close in Canada and internationally, including some of the most high profile infrastructure projects in the North American market. In the social infrastructure sector, Ian has led teams that have closed multiple projects, including Alberta Schools 1 and 2 in September 2008 and April 2010, the Ontario Provincial Police Modernization Project in September 2010, the Forensic Services and Coroner's Complex Project in June 2010 and the North Island Hospitals Project in June 2014, the first infrastructure project to close utilizing a rated Green Bond structure. In the transportation sector, examples of projects Ian has led include the William R. Bennett Bridge Project in June 2005, the Kicking Horse Canyon Project in November 2005, the Golden Ears Bridge Project in March 2006, the Northeast Stoney Trail, Northwest Anthony Henday Drive and Northeast Anthony Henday Drive Projects in February 2007, July 2008 and May 2012, respectively, the Ottawa Light Rail Transit Project in February 2013, the Champlain Bridge and Eglinton LRT projects in June and July of 2015 and the Highway 427 Extension Project in March 2017. Ian spent significant time in 2017 and 2018 leading the team that advised Rideau Transit Group, the project entity carrying out the Confederation Line LRT project in Ottawa on issues related to the expansion of the Confederation Line, including closing the financing of the enhanced Belfast Maintenance and Storage Facility for additional vehicles required to provide service on the extended LRT line. In 2018/19, Ian travelled to Sydney for four months to act for Transport for New South Wales, the Government transit authority in New South Wales Australia, where he led the DLA team that in February 2018 closed the Regional Rail Project, a AUD $1.26 billion project to replace an aging train fleet and build a new maintenance facility. Ian is also currently advising Bermuda Airport Authority in relation to the redevelopment of its international airport facilities. Back in Canada, Ian acted for the winning joint venture that will operate and maintain the new Hurontario LRT system in Toronto, Ontario in a project that reached financial close in October 2019. In November of 2022, Ian led the team that closed the Ontario Line Rolling Stock, Systems, Operation and Maintenance Project in Toronto, Ontario, acting for the successful joint venture that will operate and maintain the new subway system. Ian is currently active on numerous rail projects in Canada, including acting for one of the shortlisted bidders for the new Ontario Line - Pape Tunnels and Underground Stations Project and working for the VIA HFR - Technical Office on the proposed High Frequency Rail project in the Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto rail corridor.

Wally Braul is one of Western Canada's most highly regarded energy, Indigenous law and environmental lawyers. Wally has extensive experience with tribunal and ‎judicial proceedings with respect to shale gas fracking, water, ‎pipelines, marine terminals, contaminated sites, tailing ponds and public utility matters. ‎He has provided strategic advice to senior executives of energy companies on how ‎to respond to recent judicial decisions on Indigenous title and legislation respecting ‎LNG and water. Wally has also negotiated with Indigenous groups on consultation ‎protocols and impact and benefit agreements in a wide array of natural resource ‎projects and provided opinions on civil, regulatory and quasi-criminal liability on ‎environmental and Indigenous law issues. Wally brings a nuanced understanding of competing perspectives to form pragmatic business solutions and litigation strategies. He maintains strong working relationships with federal and provincial regulators to keep abreast of unfolding policies and requirements. He has previously acted for regulators in litigation matters (including a precedent-setting case that imposed liability on a foreign subsidiary for environmental problems caused by its Canadian subsidiary), as well as law reform (such as the drafting of B.C.'s contaminated sites legislation, regulations and policy advice to the federal government on imports of hazardous waste).

Andrew Burton’s P3/Projects experience includes advising the successful proponent on a number of projects which have reached financial close, including the LAX Automated People Mover, Niagara Entertainment Centre, Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail, Ottawa (Confederation Line) Light Rail, Billy Bishop Toronto Airport Pedestrian Tunnel, Quinte Consolidated Courthouse, Ontario Provincial Police Modernization projects in Ontario, the Golden Ears Bridge, Kicking Horse Canyon and William R. Bennett Bridge projects in British Columbia and the Calgary Ring Road, Edmonton Ring Road and Alberta Schools II projects in Alberta. Andrew has advised short-listed proponents on several projects across Canada including several RER Design-Build Finance projects in Toronto, Ontario, the Edmonton Light Rail, Regina Bypass, Waterloo Light Rail, East Rail Maintenance Facility, Toronto Air Rail Link, Sheppard Maintenance Facility, Windsor-Essex Parkway, Ontario Highway Services Centre, Durham Courthouse, Bridgepoint Hospital, Port Mann Bridge/Highway 1, Surrey Outpatient Facility, Niagara Health System, North Bay Regional Health Center, Disraeli Bridges projects, and has acted for senior lenders on the North Commuter Parkway and Traffic Bridge Project in Saskatoon, the Penticton Regional Hospital Patient Care Tower Project, the Regina Wastewater Project, Toronto South Detention Centre and Waterloo Region Consolidated Courthouse.

Katrina Edgerton-McGhan

Katrina Edgerton-McGhan maintains a corporate-commercial litigation practice with a focus on non-contentious and disputes work. Katrina’s non-contentious practice includes providing advice to insurers, reinsurers, brokerages, premium financers and organizations respecting various corporate, commercial and regulatory insurance and reinsurance issues, including regulatory advice and approvals, transactional advice, policy drafting and interpretation, coverage, warranties, and captive insurance companies.

Robert Fonn’s practice is focused on corporate and securities law, with an emphasis on corporate finance and mergers & acquisitions. Robert has particular experience dealing with domestic and cross-border transactions (including friendly and contested take-over bids and proxy contests). Robert represents financial institutions, investment dealers, private equity sponsors, venture capital funds and a broad range of public and private companies in diverse industries, including technology, financial services, cannabis, healthcare, life sciences, media, software, automotive, manufacturing, mineral resource and real estate.

Michael Ford KC

Michael Ford, K.C. is a partner in the firm's Calgary office. His practice is focused on employment and labour law, and has extensive experience in all aspects of collective bargaining, advising both unionized and non-unionized employers. Michael has acted for employers in collective bargaining, arbitrations, strikes and contract administration matters. He has advised employers on dealing with union organizational activity and provided counselling on various workplace matters, including employee discipline and termination, privacy issues, employment agreements, harassment/discrimination, drug testing policies, and sick leaves. He has also provided guidance to boards of directors and compensation committees on executive employment matters. Michael is a certified human resources professional. Michael develops sensible and workable solutions to complex workplace issues in a range of industries, including: energy, manufacturing, warehouse, communications, retail, financial, transportation and high-tech industries, as well as major public sector institutions in the health and education fields. He has defended many employers in significant labour and employment cases involving provincially and federally-regulated workplaces, and routinely advises on Canada/US business transactions involving employment matters.

Bentley Gaikis practises all areas of intellectual property litigation with a focus on patent litigation. Bentley has experience representing clients engaged in complex multi-jurisdictional litigation requiring strategic co-ordination and collaboration between co-counsel in different jurisdictions. He has represented clients on all stages of patent disputes including providing opinions, preparing court filings, conducting discoveries, arguing motions, and providing representation at trial. Bentley also has experience pursuing alternative dispute resolution such as mediations and simplified proceedings.

Josh Jantzi is a partner in DLA Piper's Calgary, Vancouver, and Toronto offices and co-chairs the firm's Canadian Regulatory and Environmental Law group. He maintains a leading litigation and administrative law practice focused on environmental, energy regulatory, natural resource, Indigenous, transportation, municipal, and constitutional matters.

Elizabeth Mayer

Elizabeth Mayer is a member of the firm’s Projects, Energy and Infrastructure, Public Affairs, and Construction Groups. Elizabeth has particular experience in procurement matters, acting both on the public and private sector sides. Elizabeth brings a depth of experience to PPP projects, having advised the Province of British Columbia on two of the earliest PPP projects in Canada. Subsequently she has acted for bidders, contractors, lenders and public authorities on a wide range of projects, including advising the Province of British Columbia on the Abbotsford Law Courts Project, leading teams in closing the Surrey Pre Trial Centre and Billy Bishop Airport Pedestrian Tunnel projects and playing a significant role in closing the Champlain Bridge replacement project in Montreal. She understands the complexities of the PPP model and is therefore able to provide clear, commercial advice. Elizabeth also continues to act in relation to many projects during construction and into operation. This work has included dealing with contract changes, advising on subcontracting, dealing with delay claims and other contentious matters. In addition to her experience at the firm, Elizabeth was the lead counsel acting for the Province of British Columbia on the Okanagan Lake Bridge and Phase 2 of the Kicking Horse Canyon projects. She advised the Province on all aspects of the projects, including procurement, negotiating the project agreements with the successful proponents and co-ordinating commercial and financial close. She also acted for the Province in a number of other partnering arrangements, including the contracting out of the line painting services for BC highways. While working for Government, she has gained experience in a range of public law matters, such as freedom of information, privacy and data protection and vires. Elizabeth has considerable experience in tendering and other procurement matters, including advising both public and private sector clients on procurement strategy, drafting conditions of tender and requests for proposals, and the evaluation process. She has also advised on procurement disputes. Elizabeth is used to working as part of multi-disciplinary teams, providing both legal advice and a practical approach to meeting clients’ needs.

Catherine Pawluch

Catherine Pawluch is a partner in the firm's Toronto office. She is co-head of Canada's Transportation group and a member of the Anti-trust and Competition group. Catherine represents clients in relation to supply chain and distribution law matters, including compliance with trade, import, and export controls, including international transport and third party logistics companies and Fortune 500 manufacturers, producers, and retailers. Catherine’s regulatory law practice also focuses on competition law and foreign investment law, including the national security provisions of Canada’s Investment Canada Act. She has extensive experience in pre-merger approvals and has counselled U.S., Japanese, Asian and other foreign corporations across a range of industries, including the mining, energy and LNG industries, and the aviation, transportation, manufacturing, retailing and consumer products sectors. Catherine has obtained Competition Act and Investment Canada Act clearances for numerous merger transactions. She also has experience advising foreign companies that are the subject of multinational conspiracy and bid-rigging investigations in seeking immunity and in their dealings with the Criminal Branch of the Competition Bureau and the Public prosecution Service of Canada. Following the implementation of NAFTA, Catherine was invited as an expert in the field to participate on a tri-national committee to harmonize liability laws and to create a uniform bill of lading for surface transportation in the three NAFTA countries. Catherine has written extensively on foreign ownership restriction in various industry sectors.

Sangeetha Punniyamoorthy

Sangeetha Punniyamoorthy is an intellectual property strategist and litigator. She has two decades of experience litigating complex patent, trademark and copyright matters using a creative approach to achieve business objectives. She also provides strategic advice in the procurement and enforcement of IP rights in various industries, with a focus on life sciences. Described as a “sharp tactician lauded for her detailed analysis, strategic mindset and ‎unrivalled expertise”, Sangeetha has appeared as counsel in two appeals before the Supreme Court of Canada, as well as in matters before the Federal Court, the Federal Court of Appeal, and the Ontario Court, as well as the Trademarks Opposition Board and the Competition Tribunal. Sangeetha has experience in all aspects of intellectual property litigation, ranging from pre-litigation opinions to appeals. In addition, she regularly works with counsel in various jurisdictions to co-ordinate the Canadian part of multi-jurisdictional lawsuits. She also has an active prosecution and opposition practice focused on global brand portfolios.

Bruce Stratton has been practising exclusively in the field of intellectual property law since 1987. He is experienced in patent, trademark and copyright litigation with a particular emphasis on patent disputes concerning computer-related technology. Bruce has represented both domestic and foreign clients in patent disputes in such areas as wireless communication protocols, e-mail systems, software systems, consumer products, as well as oil and gas drilling and artificial lift equipment and systems. His technical background in computing science gives him a valuable perspective in cases involving computer and information technology.

Taryn Urquhart maintains a ‎regulatory litigation and administrative law practice with a focus on transportation matters.‎ Taryn’s transportation practice principally focuses on providing complex ‎regulatory advice to private and public sector clients on the provincial and federal ‎regulatory ‎requirements applicable to railways and adjacent industries. This includes advising on the construction, ‎development and operation of railways, and in the areas of railway safety, security, level of services and related ‎‎regulatory matters.‎ She also provides strategic advice to shippers, ports, terminals and shortline railways in their interface with the Class I railways including with respect to confidential contracts, railway access issues, the development of crossings, sidings, spurs and other infrastructure, and discontinuance. Taryn regularly acts for shippers and public sector clients in pursuing statutory remedies under the Canada ‎Transportation Act, the Canada Marine Act and other federal legislation including final offer arbitration, level of service arbitration, net salvage value ‎determinations, judicial review and related commercial litigation. ‎ Taryn regularly appears before the Federal Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Appeal, the British Columbia Supreme Court, and the British Columbia Court of Appeal. She also frequently appears before regulatory tribunals, arbitrators, and decision-makers including the Canadian Transportation Agency, ‎Canadian International Trade Tribunal, and the federal and provincial ‎privacy commissioners.

Rebecca von Rüti

Rebecca von Rüti is Co-Chair of the DLA Piper (Canada) Class Action Defence group.‎ Rebecca's practice is concentrated on the defence of class ‎actions (national and cross-border) and ‎individual claims ‎brought against international airlines (baggage fees, cargo and ‎passenger surcharges), ‎motor vehicle manufacturers (diesel ‎emissions and product liability), multinational technology companies ‎‎(including a ‎proposed class action related to various breach of privacy ‎allegations involving Facebook), ‎international pharmaceutical ‎companies of prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs (including nine ‎proposed class ‎proceedings relating to the opioid crisis), ‎medical product and device manufacturers, global insurance ‎companies (COVID-19 business interruption), forest products companies, international educational ‎‎publishers, food manufacturers and specialty chemical and raw material manufacturers‎. ‎ She has extensive experience defending consumer protection claims, competition/restraint of trade ‎claims, ‎false and misleading advertising claims, data breach/privacy, secondary market ‎misrepresentation claims, ‎product liability claims and negligence claims‎.‎ In addition, Rebecca acts for a global merchant payment processor in respect to various actions in BC ‎and ‎Ontario relating to the ‎processing of credit and debit card transactions. Rebecca is also panel counsel for ‎a number of global insurers.‎