Norton Rose Fulbright wins three gold awards at 2022 Canadian Law Awards

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright was named the gold winner of the 2022 Insolvency and Restructuring Deal of Year, the 2022 M&A Deal of the Year and the 2022 Best Use of Technology in a Law Firm award at the annual Lexpert Canadian Law Awards. 

The awards were announced at an in-person gala on May 19. 

M&A Deal of Year –  Brookfield Infrastructure Partners acquires Inter Pipeline – Gold winner

Our Calgary and Vancouver offices acted as special counsel to Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in its strategic acquisition of Inter Pipeline (IPL) for C$16bn. Our role included advising on matters pertaining to the pipelines and energy infrastructure businesses of IPL, including undertaking a significant due diligence review of IPL’s business segments and analysis of potential opportunities for the acquired businesses.

The team was led by Wayne Fedun and included Justin Ferrara, Ryan Keays, Dion Legge, Rujuta Patel, Alan Harvie, Robin Acworth, Lincoln Mitchell, Steve Leitl, Elizabeth Williams, Mike Bolitho, Matthew Longstaff, Jeff Landmann, Ray Chartier, Sean Wallace, Kyle Havart-Crans, Jennifer McPherson, Etienne Godel, Emily McDermott, Joe Mooney, Andrew Schafer, Oliver Zachmann, Preston Brasch, Iwan Davies, Shelagh Burrowes, Jennifer McBean, John Jiang and Richard Li.

Insolvency and Restructuring Deal of the Year  – CCAA proceedings of Groupe Dynamite Inc. – Gold winner

Our Montreal office advised Deloitte Restructuring Inc., in its capacity as monitor, in the CCAA proceedings of Groupe Dynamite Inc. and its affiliates (Dynamite). In 2020, Dynamite initiated proceedings under the CCAA before the Superior Court of Québec that were subsequently recognized under Chapter 15 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Chapter 15). The filing occurred in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The team included Luc Morin, Guillaume Michaud, Noah Zucker and Arad Mojtahedi.

Best Use of Technology in a Law Firm – Gold winner

Our Canadian Innovation team won the Best Use of Technology in a Law Firm award at the Canadian Law Awards for its development of three innovative technology-based products created in 2021. The products leverage the firm’s proprietary low-code platform, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada NCode. The first is our Regulatory Compliance Management (RCM) product for financial service clients to be in compliance with OSFI's Guideline E-13. The second is a comprehensive service-wrapped technology solution created through a proactive risk assessment of the evolving security environment and legal framework in cyber and data breaches. The third product, sold to a Crown corporation, is the next version of our automated and bespoke search and registration loan portal. This product has allowed our client to generate very complex contract packages by their business users, who do not have a legal background, by simply filling out a questionnaire.

The team included Al Hounsell, Michelle Fernando, Vethushaan Akilathasan, Victoria Baranow, Peter Buza, Melissa Firman, Emma Carter and Crystal Meunier. 

Additionally, Norton Rose Fulbright was named Excellence Award Recipients in the following categories:  

Deal awards

• Capital Markets Deal of the Year – Northern Private Capital purchase of MacDonald Dettwiler and IPO
• Capital Markets Deal of the Year – CAE purchase of L3Harris Technology Military Training Assets
• Infrastructure Deal of the Year – Scarborough Subway Extension P3 Advanced Tunnel Project
• Infrastructure Deal of the Year – Canada Infrastructure Bank Zero-Emission Buses Initiative
• Infrastructure Deal of the Year – St. Paul's Hospital and Health Campus Project
• Insolvency & Restructuring Deal of the Year – North American Lithium restructuring under CCAA
• Insolvency & Restructuring Deal of the Year – Spectra Premium Group Insolvency
• M&A Deal of the Year – Alstom acquisition of Bombardier Transportation
• Mid- Market Deal of the Year – CVC Capital Partners and Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec Acquisition of Majority Stake in BlueFocus
• Mid- Market Deal of the Year – Empire Company Acquisition of Longo's

Case awards

•  Commercial Litigation Case of the Year – Pharmascience Inc. v. Pfizer Canada ULC

The third annual Canadian Law Awards presented by Lexpert and supported by Canadian Lawyer and InHouse recognize the nation’s leading law firms, in-house legal teams and lawyers across the region. To view the full list of winners and finalists visit the Canadian Law Awards site.