While many lateral hirings in Canada in recent weeks have involved refugees from the imploded Heenan Blaikie, other firms have lost lawyers to competitors. Cassels Brock has gained six attorneys from McMillan and Dentons, expanding the restructuring and mining practices in its Toronto and Vancouver offices, respectively.
Restructuring and insolvency partners Shayne Kukulowicz, Michael Wunder, Ryan Jacobs, and Jane Dietrich, as well as associate Natalie Levine, will operate out of Cassels Brock's Toronto bureau, while mining attorney Darrell Podowski gains a base of operations at the firm’s two-year old Vancouver office.
Before joining Cassels Brock, Kukulowicz worked as a Dentons partner for 16 years. A former co-chair of the Canadian insolvency and restructuring group at Dentons, Kukulowicz recently advised First Uranium in relation to its $405 million sale of all of its operating assets. His track record also includes acting as Canadian counsel to Trident Exploration and Trident Resources in their cross-border Companies' Creditors Agreement Act (CCAA)/Chapter 11 restructurings.
Kukulowicz said he has recently seen a continued rise in mining and energy company insolvencies, a number of recent insolvencies in the shadow banking space, and an increased use of representative counsel and informal committees in major Canadian insolvency proceedings for cost and administrative efficiencies.
Wunder, who comes from Dentons, will be active in Cassels Brock’s financial services and restructuring and insolvency groups. His record includes serving as Canadian counsel to TerreStar Networks in its CCAA recognition proceedings of TerreStar's Chapter 11 cases, as well as advising Rexall Sports in the purchase of the Edmonton Oilers National Hockey League franchise in June 2008 for a reported $200 million.
Former Dentons partner Jacobs, who focuses on corporate recapitalizations and restructurings, has represented clients in CCAA, CBCA, and cross-border proceedings. Jacobs has also had a stint as counsel in the New York financial restructuring group of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.
Dietrich was a member of the Dentons partnership for three years prior to her move. She focuses on commercial restructuring, insolvency, and related litigation. She acted as counsel to Grant Forest Products and subsidiaries in their proceedings under the CCAA and Chapter 15 of theU.S. Bankruptcy Code.
Formerly of McMillan, Podowski's mining practice focuses on Latin American deals. He lends his expertise to mining and other resource-oriented ventures in their M&A, operations, and securities and corporate finance law compliance in Canada. A former oil and gas exploration geophysicist affiliated with Dome Petroleum Limited and Amoco Canada Petroleum Corporation, Podowski is acting nowadays on behalf of Chile's Antofagasta Minerals on option and joint venture earn-ins and strategic alliances for copper projects globally. He is also playing a critical role in a $227 million joint venture transaction with Duluth Metals Limited undertaken in connection with a copper-nickel project in Minnesota.