Kathleen is a partner at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP. She is recognized as a leading Canadian tax lawyer in numerous publications, including The Best Lawyers in Canada 2020 and Chambers Canada: Canada’s Leading Lawyers for Business 2019. Although Kathleen and I corresponded over e-mail about this Q&A and we did not meet each other in-person to talk, I still feel like we made a good connection and I got to know her quite well. So without further ado, here’s the discussion that we shared:
Please explain, in a nutshell, what is the main focus of your tax practice. (i.e., tax planning or litigation? Corporate tax or personal tax? International or domestic? Private equity, public company, or owner manager? Little bit of everything? etc.)
I like to maintain a broad Canadian/international tax practice, although these days I do only corporate/business-related tax planning and dispute resolution, and no personal tax. I do feel I benefitted from being involved in personal tax (including trusts and estates) as well in the earlier years of my practice, as this provided me with a broader knowledge base. I have a number of U.S. multinational corporate clients that I advise on anything they are doing in Canada, including M&A transactions. Another large part of my practice is advising Canadian pension and endowment funds with respect to their various types of investments in Canada and around the world.
What are three words that you would use to describe yourself?
Reliable, sensible, analytical (these relate to my professional life!)
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