Course Chairs
Fred R. Pletcher — Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Vancouver
Leo Raffin — McMillan LLP, Vancouver
About the Course Chairs
Fred Pletcher is chair of the National Mining Group and a partner in the Securities and Capital Markets Group at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Vancouver. His practice is focused on mining, corporate finance, mergers & acquisitions, corporate governance, securities, and general corporate commercial work. Fred’s clients include Canadian and international mining companies, issuers underwriters, acquirers, targets, and special committees. He also advises Canadian public companies, boards of directors and special committees on corporate governance matters, and day-to-day securities compliance issues.
Fred was recognized as a leading Canadian lawyer in the 2013 Lexpert® Special Edition on Global Mining and was listed in the 2015 (and since 2012) editions of the Lexpert®/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada (Corporate Finance & Securities, Mining). He graduated from Columbia University with an LLM in 1993 and was called to the British Columbia bar in 1993.
Leo Raffin is a partner in McMillan LLP’s Vancouver office and is co-chair of the firm’s national Capital Markets Group as well as co-chair of the Public M&A Group (BC). His primary practice areas are securities and corporate law—acting for technology, industrial, and natural resource issuers. His experience includes public and private offerings, mergers, acquisitions and takeover bids, proxy contests, corporate reorganizations, business alliances, licensing transactions, and corporate governance matters.
Leo was listed in The Legal 500 Canada 2015 as a leader in Corporate and M&A and in Best Lawyers in Canada 2015 as a leading lawyer in the areas of Securities Law and Technology Law. He was recognized as a leading lawyer in Global Mining in the 2014/15 Lexpert Special Edition and received a "BV" Peer Review Ranking from Martindale-Hubbell. Leo was called to the British Columbia bar in 1987.
Planning Committee
Charlotte P. Bell — Senior Policy Counsel, TSX Venture Exchange Inc., Vancouver
Corey M. Dean — DuMoulin Black LLP, Vancouver
Rory S. Godinho —Miller Thomson LLP, Vancouver
Paul L. Goldman — MLT Aikins LLP, Vancouver
James R. Munro — McMillan LLP, Vancouver
Stephen P. Robertson — Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Vancouver
Teresa Tomchak — Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP, Vancouver
Shannon D. Webber — General Counsel, Alterra Power Corp., Vancouver
Faculty
Desmond Balakrishnan — McMillan LLP, Vancouver
Alan Bayless, ICD.D — Longview Communications Inc., Vancouver
Charlotte P. Bell — TSX Venture Exchange Inc., Vancouver
Rory S. Godinho —Miller Thomson LLP, Vancouver
Michael Moretto — Manager, Corporate Finance, BC Securities Commission, Vancouver
James R. Munro — McMillan LLP, Vancouver
Fred R. Pletcher — Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Vancouver
Leo Raffin — McMillan LLP, Vancouver
Lucy H. Schilling — DuMoulin Black LLP, Vancouver
Julie K. Shin — Director, Listed Issuer Services, Toronto Stock Exchange, Toronto
Michael M. Stephens — Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, Vancouver
Teresa Tomchak — Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP, Vancouver
Shannon D. Webber — Alterra Power Corp., Vancouver
Bernhard J. Zinkhofer — McMillan LLP, Vancouver