Law Times

PAGE 10 Family business course counsels broad approach FOCUS the people he has to meet when N s list of BY MICHAEL McKIERNAN Law Times on- shar eholde r s never used to feature near the top of Terry Hutchinson' taking on a new business client. But that all changed after he Sauder School of Business. " enrolled in the Family Enterprise Advisor Program offered by the University of British Columbia' s As a lawyer, you usually look at who runs the business and who are the board of directors," he says. "All of a sudden, with a fam- ily business, you can find a sole shareholder with a non-owning spouse who has great influence and input into the direction of the company. The Saint John, N.B., corporate " lawyer and partner with McInnes Cooper flies into Toronto once a month for sessions with advis- ers from a variety of professions, including lawyers, accountants, financial advisers, and insurance planners. Many of Hutchinson' clients are family-run companies and he says the program has given him a new understanding of how different that type of business is from any other. "This program tries to get you participate in which assets." Having educated families in the s management of their own affairs, Cunningham says the centre soon started hearing complaints that professional advisers were falling short. Three years ago, it started the program to fill the gap. " CHERYL GOLDHART An experienced, knowledgeable and creative family law Mediator / Arbitrator who is not one of "the boys" Cheryl Goldhart has close to 25 years of family law experience, more than a decade of experience as a Dispute Resolution Offi cer and she is certifi ed as a Specialist in Family Law by the Law Society of Upper Canada. Cheryl will work with you and your clients to achieve an expedited and just resolution. To retain Cheryl as your Mediator and / or Arbitrator call 416-967-6111 x 31 or email cgassistant@goldhartlaw.com. For more information about Cheryl and her services, visit our website at www.goldhartlaw.com. Untitled-2 1 NEWLY REVISED & UPDATED FOR 2012 Don't spend valuable time and resources updating your precedents when DIVORCEmate has already done the work for you! Separation Agreements and Marriage Contract/Agreement ✔ New clauses based on the pension reform set out in the Family Statute Law Amendment Act, 2009 (first introduced as Bill 133), effective January 1, 2012 ✔ Extensive clauses for the valuation and division of pensions governed by Pension Benefits Act ✔ Clauses include reference to new FSCO Pension Forms (applicable Pension Forms also now available in Forms One) Don't miss out on a great program that is easy-to-use, comprehensive, well-drafted and can be applied to a full range of possibilities - from the most basic to the very complex. DIVORCEmate One...From Marriage Contracts to Divorce Judgments and Everything in Between. a product of Untitled-3 1 Toll Free: 1-800-653-0925 or 416-718-3461 x446 e: sales@divorcemate.com www.divorcemate.com www.lawtimesnews.com 12-02-07 6:57 PM armer_LT_June18_12.indd 1 12-06-12 10:45 AM 12-06-11 3:19 PM to take off your hat as a special- ist in one particular area, take a step back, and look at the whole family enterprise as a system," he says. "Instead of going in there with a simple fix like a shareholder agreement or a tax restructuring plan, you need to understand all the inner relationships and family dynamics that are going on." The 11-month program con- sists of eight courses, each last- ing between one and two days. The school runs two classes per year, in Toronto and Vancouver. Judi Cunningham, executive director of the school's Business Families Centre that runs the program, says lawyers and other advisers who consult too narrow- ly risk causing upset in the family. "If the matriarch or the patri- actionally driven, so lawyers will say to families, 'You figure out what you want and come back to me, Advisers tend to be very trans- families want the lawyer to help them come to that decision." Cunningham says interest '" says Cunningham. "But the has been surprisingly low among lawyers compared with other professions. But Vancouver law- yer Noel Golden is hoping his completion of the course will help him stand out. The former Borden Ladner Gervais LLP partner founded his own firm, the Golden Advisory Group, earlier this year after completing the program. "This was an opportunity to learn from leaders at the fore- front of this developing practice and it' arch is the only one involved in making all the decisions, it can sometimes be detrimental to the family as a whole because you get fights over things that really don't need to be fought over. It might be good from a tax perspective but it' actually not good for the family." The school's Business Families s Centre dates back to 2001. The idea is to help families that run businesses make better decisions. "We help them to under- approach I have to practice. It has swung so that now I work towards a consensus-driven approach. I want to achieve acceptance and understanding from all the key stakeholders in the business and the family. s changed the fundamental of the program from Vancouver, is a partner at Farris Vaughan Wills & Murphy LLP. She says she benefited from exposure to the different approaches other profes- sionals take to the same problems. "Most lawyers only deal with Sally Dennis, another graduate " stand all the conversations they need to have and the structures they need to have in place to make the best decisions around the management of all assets," says Cunningham. "It's not about money management but more about deciding who will other lawyers, so you get used to speaking a certain language and a certain way of approaching prob- lems," she says. "But when you work with family businesses, it's not that simple. You've got to factor in the perspectives of the other family advisers and the perspective of the family themselves." LT MARMER PENNER INC. & BUSINESS VALUATORS LITIGATION ACCOUNTANTS MATRIMONIAL & OTHER LITIGATION SUPPORT FORENSIC ACCOUNTING BUSINESS VALUATION SHAREHOLDER/PARTNERSHIP DISPUTES GOODWILL IMPAIRMENT TRANSFER PRICING EXPERT TESTIMONY QUANTIFICATION OF DAMAGES 94 Cumberland Street, Suite 200 Toronto, Ontario M5R 1A3 Tel: (416) 961-5612 Fax: (416) 961-6158 2 Bloor Street West, Suite 2603 Toronto, Ontario M4W 3E2 Tel: (416) 961-5612 Fax: (416) 961-6158 Email our partners at: sranot@marmerpenner.com jdebresser@marmerpenner.com June 18, 2012 • Law Times

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