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bmcneely@casselsbrock.com

Telephone: 416 869 5399
Fax: 416 350 6906

Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP
2100 Scotia Plaza
40 King Street West
Toronto, ON M5H 3C2
Canada

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Profile

Bruce McNeely

Bruce McNeely’s initial professional training was as an economist and mathematician at Queen’s University. This led to a short career as an economist with the federal public service followed by law school at the University of Ottawa and over 37 years of practice as a corporate-commercial lawyer in downtown Toronto. Bruce enjoys the practice of law.

Bruce has had extensive experience throughout his career in negotiating and closing merger and acquisition transactions. Transactions include:

  • Developing a unique contractual approach to settle a complex parallel interest investment in a commercial arrangement between two sophisticated business parties
  • Acting as principal client lawyer in successfully effecting a public auction in the face of a highly restrictive controlling shareholders agreement, which resulted in a significant Ontario Court of Appeal judgement

Bruce has acted for all levels of government. Transactions include:

  • Acting for the Ontario Ministry of Finance in drafting the trust agreement and other arrangements under which Ontario’s principal nuclear power generator will meet its nuclear fuel management and decommissioning obligations set out in licences issued under the Nuclear Fuel Waste Act (Canada)
  • Acting for the Ontario Attorney General in completing the organization of the Ontario Power Authority and constitution of its board
  • Successfully acting for a limited partner in defending an attempt by a U.K. Utility to include the Ontario assets of an Ontario limited partnership in the Utility’s restructuring

As a lending lawyer, Bruce has acted for a broad range of senior lenders and borrowers with particular emphasis on credit and priority agreements, personal property security issues, securities transfer issues, limitations issues and opinions. Transactions include:

  • Acting for a major Canadian Banks in respect of bridge loans made to private equity entities for acquisitions in a variety of industries with conventional credit facilities to the operating businesses on closing
  • Advice to independent board members in various circumstances

Bruce is actively involved in knowledge management at Cassels. He is leading the development of not-for-profit materials for the firm arising out of the modernization of not-for-profit corporate law by the recent coming into force of the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act and the anticipated coming into force of the Not-for-profit Corporations Act, 2010 by Ontario.

Bruce has always been an active legal writer. Recent publications include the firm’s Carrying on Business in Canada publication, and commentaries on the implications to business arising from the Limitations Act, 2002 (Ontario), Securities Transfer Act, 2006 (Ontario) and changes to the obligations of consumer product supply chain participants under the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act and the not-for-profit legislation referenced above.

Education

LL.B., University of Ottawa, 1972
B.A., Queen's University, 1967

Achievements

  • Martindale-Hubbell, BV Distinguished™ rating

Call to the bar

Ontario, 1974

Associations

  • American Bar Association
  • Canadian Bar Association
  • The Canadian Counsel for Public-Private Partnerships
  • International Bar Association
  • Ontario Bar Association

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