Having trouble viewing this email? Click here

To download a printable version of this newsletter, click here

Summer 2017

Nasdaq hosts The Einstein Legacy Project

Nasdaq hosted The Einstein Legacy Project (ELP) at their MarketSite in Times Square on May 1st, 2017. Mr. Ronnie Appleby, ELP Honourary Chairman, rang the Nasdaq stock market closing bell. The mission of the Albert Einstein Legacy Project, founded by Canadian Friends of Hebrew University, is to inspire and support the next generation of brilliant minds on the planet to bring fresh thinking to the global challenges facing humanity. In so doing, The Einstein Legacy Project seeks to engage young people in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and make STEM an appealing career aspiration for young adults.

BIG DEALS

327-333 Queen Street West, Toronto

Real Estate Group partner, Neill Kalvin, associate Zale Skolnik, and law clerk Helen Wright, acted on behalf of Crestpoint Real Estate Investments Ltd. on the acquisition of 327-333 Queen Street West, Toronto, a 15,700 square foot retail building located Queen Street West between Spadina and University Avenue in downtown Toronto. The transaction was completed on March 9, 2017. The building benefits from a prominent location in Torontos downtown core with access to shops, restaurants and public transit in one of Toronto's most vibrant communities.

Click here to read more about the property ►

Iconic One Bloor Street East Condominium Commences Closings

A team led by Real Estate Group partner, Leor Margulies, along with associate Zale Skolnik and senior law clerk Audrey Weaver, completed the condominium registration, and the closing of the first tranche of over 360 units in the first week of May 2017, of this architecturally stunning 75-storey high-rise condominium located at the epicenter of the city. It is the second tallest residential building to be constructed in Toronto and contains over 790 residential condominium units and 85,000 square feet of high-end retail space, which was sold last summer to First Capital Realty.

Photo Credit: https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1583/26196060771_6c7e90e16b_b.jpg

BIG WINS

Litigation Department Obtains an Injunction against the Landlord's Interference with the Tenant's Use of the Patio

On May 29, 2017, the Litigation Group partner Robert Choi, successfully obtained an injunction against a commercial landlord in Yorkville. The landlord attempted to deprive a tenant cafe's use of the patio for approximately six months (at the start of the patio season), on the basis that various repair work needed to be done over the patio area. The landlord was already in litigation against the tenant regarding its use of the premises, so the landlord's sudden notice of the repair work gave rise to a reasonable apprehension that the landlord was acting in bad faith.

Click Here to read more ►

LAWYERS PUBLISHED

Beating the Mortgagees to the Money
By Robert Choi

Stephen King once shared a quote, in jest, about the life of the writer: If you wrote something for which someone sent you a cheque, if you cashed the cheque and it didnt bounce, and if you then paid the light bill with the money, I consider you talented.

Click Here to read more ►

The Right Fit
By Barbara Green interviewed by Ted McIntyre

Some battles are never easy—or comfortable—to fight, especially those that involve firing an employee. It's an area many corporate heads find intimidating: How much cause do I need to terminate an individual? What documentation do I require before releasing them to avoid litigation—either with cause or without?

Click Here to read more ►

Changes Coming to CRA's Voluntary Disclosures Program
by Arin Klug

The relief granted under Canada Revenue Agency's Voluntary Disclosure Program (VDP) has historically made the program an attractive option for taxpayers who wish to disclose previous tax reporting inaccuracies and omissions. However recently proposed changes to the VDP will limit the relief available under the program in the future.

Click here to read more ►

LAWYERS SPEAK

2017 ICSC Shopping Centre Law Conference

On April 23, 2017 at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto, Darrell M. Gold, a partner in our Real Estate Group, led three well-received roundtable discussions on the topic: The Rules of Professional Conduct in the Context of Lease Negotiations - an inter-active discussion on how lawyers should handle lease negotiations based on the rules governing lawyer conduct. The relevant rules require a lawyer to act in good faith, be courteous, be punctual, follow through on commitments to counsel and avoiding sharp practice and taking advantage—without fair warning—of counsel mistakes. Attendees included landlords, retailers, in-house counsel, and property managers.

John Fox's Speaking Engagements

John Fox has been a particularly busy speaker this Spring speaking about housing and affordability. With the all three levels of government becoming more engaged in housing at the same time as existing non-profit housing providers are coming to the end of their federal funding, there is a lot to talk about:

On April 4 he was at Peel Region's Housing and Homelessness summit speaking to Housing Providers. With many housing providers looking to lever extra density to support future operations, the Region asked John to talk about legal implications of partnering with private developers and how to contract for construction services. A month later, on May 4, John was at the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association conference in Halifax giving a similar presentation to housing providers from across the country. At the end of May, John will be in Cobourg at the request of the County of Northumberland to again discuss both development opportunities and funding programs with the County and its non-profit housing providers.
On April 6 he spoke at Housing Services' Inc.'s session on the end of operating agreements. As federal operating agreements expire, housing providers are trying to sort through what is changing and what is not. John's presentation walks them though those changes.
On May 1, John was asked by the Province's Community Hub Secretariat to facilitate a session on the creation of Community Hubs through the use of school sites, a session that featured Minister of Education Mitzie Hunter. We are expecting changes in the way school sites are dealt with in the near future.
On May 3rd John chaired a session at the Land and Development Conference on inclusionary zoning, working with non-profits and other legislative changes impacting the development industry. With major changes to the Province's level of engagement in housing development, including inclusionary zoning, rent control changes and, since that session, the end of the OMB as we know it, major changes are happening and not everyone agrees on whether these interventions are a good thing.

You can read John's blogs on housing matters on our website here ►

EVENTS

11th Annual PURIM Lunch & Learn

Our 11th Annual Purim Holiday Lunch & Learn was held on Friday March 10, 2017 and hosted by Darrell M. Gold, a partner in our Real Estate Group. Once again it was a HUGE success! Guests were treated to a lively inter-active discussion with guest speaker Rabbi Yair Spitz, principal of Yeshivat Or Chaim. In the spirit of Purim, guests made donations to the Chabad Yeshiva of Toronto. This year's event was held in the memory of the students killed and wounded in the March 6, 2008 terrorist attack at Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

Click here to view Purim 2017 event photos ►

Texas Hold'em Poker Tournament 2017

On May 10th, 2017, Robins Appleby LLP hosted our Annual Texas Hold'em Poker Tournament. Over 90 players and 120 guests joined our lawyers for an evening of dining, schmoozing and cards. There were some nail biting moments for our poker tournament players. With able counsel from our firm's great lawyers, the champions were able to evaluate their risks and ultimately make informed and strategic decisions that helped them take the crown.

Congratulations to our poker tournament champions:
In 1st place: Ralph Consoli and Harrison Diamond
In 2nd place: Dale Abrams and Kenneth Kaufman

Click below to see the photos of the evening ►

Baycrest Hockey Pro-Am

On May 5 and 6, 2017, Team Robins Appleby once again participated in the Scotiabank/Baycrest Hockey Pro-Am to raise money for research at Baycrest. Team Robins Appleby raised over $70,000 this year which brought our 11 year total to more than $875,000. The money raised goes to support research, education, care and innovation in the fields of Alzheimers and other dementias at Baycrest. This is a photo of our team including Captain Schlesinger, Coach Appleby and 4 time Stanley Cup Champion, Mike "Kruzer" Krushelnyski.

OUR CLIENTS

Northam Wins Three BOMA Toronto 2017 TOBY Awards

Congratulations to our client Northam Realty Advisors Limited, a three time winner of The Outstanding Building of the Year (TOBY) for 2017. The TOBY is awarded to the top scoring buildings that demonstrated excellence in real estate management practices and is widely recognized as the Oscars of the commercial real estate industry. The award winning buildings are: 165 Commerce Valley Drive West, 483 Bay Street and King James Place (143-145 King Street East). Northam is indeed among the best of the best in commercial real estate management.

OWN THE PODIUM

Own the Podium

Robins Appleby LLP is ' Owning the Podium '

Our office home is located in a period piece of the sixties and Oxford is giving these old timers a facelift. The improvements include the redevelopment of the pedestrian concourse, the outdoor facilities including a new signature podium proudly identifying Robins Appleby LLP as the top tenant of the building.

OUR LAWYERS

Interview with Arin Klug

How long have you been with Robins Appleby LLP?

I have been a lawyer at Robins Appleby for just over 4 years.

What do you specialize in at Robins Appleby LLP?

I am a member the firm's Tax & Estates Group where I draw on my knowledge of tax, trusts, and estates to deal with all aspects of personal and business succession planning. I have also had to opportunity to advise charities and non-profit organizations on issues such as corporate governance, charitable registration, and compliance.

What characteristic do you think a person needs to have to be a successful Tax & Estate lawyer?

There is no single characteristic that I can point to - a successful Tax and Estates lawyer has a diverse set of skills. The first step in being able to help a client achieve his or her business and/or personal planning objectives is to take the time to understand the client's particular situation and needs - this requires excellent listening skills. Formulating a comprehensive plan that will assist a client in achieving his or her objectives requires strong technical knowledge of tax and estates law, which changes regularly, is often very nuanced, and can at times be staggeringly complex. Finally, a successful Tax and Estates layers has the communication skills to covey these difficult and complicated concepts to the client in a practical and comprehensible manner.

How do you spend your spare time?

My spare time is mostly spent with my young family - we are what you would call a "baseball family". You can often find us playing ball at the park, out at a Blue Jays game, or on a baseball road trip in cities like Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Cleveland, or Boston.

We spent the last off-season watching old Blue Jays games from the "glory days", listening to my six year-old son's thoughts on the MLB trade market, and teaching my two year-old daughter the words to "Take me out to the ballgame".

When I walk into your office for the first time, looking around, what would your office tell me about you?

My office would tell you that I am very much a "visual" person - the hallmark of my office is my large white-board, which I use to sketch out various corporate structures that I am working on at the time. Other than that, my office is pretty unremarkable.

How is that different from your personal life?

At home I leave the drawing on the walls to my children. Unlike my office, my home is quite remarkable, thanks to my wonderful family.

What are you reading right now?

I am a classic "DIYer" I like to get my hands on anything and everything that I can build or fix around the house. I just purchased the components to assemble and program a micro-computer a project I will be working on with my son and so I have been reading a bunch of "how to" and programming guides recently (full disclosure, I also have a Computer Science degree).

If you met yourself in the first year of law school, what advice would you give him?

I would advise myself to enjoy the experience, not sweat the small stuff, and short the U.S. housing market.

New Subscribers

Click here to add your contact info
so you can receive our newsletter. ►

The comments contained in this newsletter provide general information only and should not be relied upon as legal advice. Further particulars on the matters summarized in this newsletter, their implications and suggested courses of action, can be obtained from Robins Appleby LLP using the contact information provided herein. This e-mail is being sent to you as a contact of our Firm.

Robins Appleby LLP | 2600-120 Adelaide St. W., Toronto, ON M5H 1T1
T. 416.868.1080 F. 416.868.0306