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Navigating market shifts and optimism: Success in Vancouver and Kelowna sets Lawson Lundell LLP’s sights on Calgary’s tech evolution
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Lawson Lundell LLP’s expansion of its technology group in Western Canada has been a testament to adaptive resilience amid market fluctuations. Auspiciously founded just as the tech bubble was bursting in 2000, the firm’s foresight and strategic positioning proved pivotal, providing legal services to an industry that has seen steady growth across the region since.
Valerie Mann, partner at Lawson Lundell as well as the founder and chair of the Tech Law Group, underscores the disciplined evolution triggered by market changes in Vancouver.
“It really disciplined the market – and the stronger companies and the venture funds that invest in them thrived over the next period of time,” Mann notes. “What precipitated diving into the tech space was economic diversification in Vancouver. For our firm, which had its roots in the resource sector in BC, a growing tech industry supported by venture capital was a logical area of expansion in the late 1990s, early 2000s.”
The firm quickly became involved in acting for tech companies, but also venture funds and angel investors.
Fast forward to 2016 when the Tech Group was seeing real growth in the Okanagan: “Kelowna was replicating the growth trajectory we saw in Vancouver, and we wanted to get in on the ground floor,” says Mann. Once they made the decision to go, they established themselves with an office and a team very quickly, and the warm welcome the firm received after the Kelowna office’s official opening in February 2017 “was validation we made a good decision – there was a need in that market that we were clearly filling.”
“Today, we have one of the most established, and active, venture and private equity fund practices in Western Canada,” says Mann, who spends a significant portion of her practice acting for funds.
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“There are some real opportunities, and we’re excited to see Calgary expand the sector with significant ecosystem support, and we are ready to support it and grow with the tech industry there”
Valerie Mann,
Lawson Lundell LLP
However, he adds, nonprofits have been resilient. “Most of our insureds are not only recovering back to their pre-pandemic state, but are in fact expanding,” he says.
Parvathy Sree, vice president of nonprofit underwriting for AmTrust Financial Services, agrees. She says some nonprofits, such as homeless shelters and schools, adapted particularly well to the challenges.
“Nonprofits with good management and decent financials were able to survive the last year and are seeing the fruits of their hard work and diligence,” Sree says, but she cautions growing organizations to be diligent with loss control and risk mitigation, emphasizing that while claim counts are down and court cases are in limbo, things could change.
Both Mann and Michael Macaulay, office administrative partner of the Kelowna office and lead in the Tech Group there, emphasize the depth of expertise within the team, particularly in areas like IP protection, commercialization, privacy, and data protection, which complement the firm’s transactional practice.
Mann notes, “The commercial tech team lawyers have come from in-house backgrounds with tech companies and innovation centres. That gives them an appreciation for what a client is trying to do when protecting and commercializing their IP and a sense of the complexity of the agreements clients enter into.”
The commercial and IP team members work with the transactions team, including Mann and Macaulay, who assist clients with financings, mergers and acquisitions, and other corporate transactions.
Macaulay highlights the firm’s seamless interconnection between Vancouver, Kelowna, and the burgeoning tech scene in Calgary.
“The firm operates across offices incredibly well,” says Macaulay. “The ability to draw on the bench strength in Vancouver to service client needs and for larger transactions is what allowed us to open the office in Kelowna initially as a very small team focused on the tech sector.”
“A big element of practising in this space is stewardship for entrepreneurs and new ventures, making sure there’s outreach and that they have an ability to grow and are being educated on deal terms, structures, and legal pitfalls to avoid,” says Macaulay. “That involvement is why we wanted people in the Okanagan: to be a part of that community of entrepreneurship and help build something bigger.”
Mann and Macaulay express confidence in the present climate, noting the wealth of capital and experience, indicating significant opportunities on the horizon. “We’re starting from a place that’s significantly better than previous corrections in the tech sector in Western Canada, and I’m really excited to see where we go from here,” Macaulay says.
“There are some real opportunities, and we’re excited to see Calgary expand the sector with significant ecosystem
“The firm operates across offices incredibly well. The ability to draw on the bench strength in Vancouver to service client needs and for larger transactions is what allowed us to open the office in Kelowna initially as a very small team focused on the tech sector”
Michael Macaulay,
Lawson Lundell LLP
Over the next five years, both Sree and Smith fear that social inflation and large jury awards could impact pricing and risk selection in the nonprofit space. Smith cautions that we’re not out of the woods yet with COVID-19 litigation, which is something Convelo is watching closely.
Davis points to cyber as another key issue nonprofits will have to tackle.
“I think cybersecurity is going to be a challenge for the whole industry and is something that we pay really, really careful
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Depth of expertise a differentiator
Depth of expertise a differentiator
Tech bubble burst disciplined the market
Published 20 NOV 2023
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Tech bubble burst disciplined the market
support, and we are ready to support it and grow with the tech industry there,” says Mann.
Lawson Lundell’s Tech Group remains proactive and ready to seize the potential of Western Canada’s continuously evolving tech landscape.
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Directly employs 220,000 British Columbians
Generates over 15,000 job openings per year
Brings in $22 billion in GDP
Comprises 11,000 companies across BC
Grew twice as fast as the rest of BC’s economy in 2022
BC’s Tech Industry
Lawson Lundell’s Tech Group involvement with industry associations and other key players in the startup ecosystems in the firm’s core markets demonstrates a dedication to fostering growth and supporting entrepreneurship. “We have been supporters of accelerators, industry associations, and university entrepreneurship programs for over two decades,” says Mann.
From left to right: Carolyn Walters, Paul W. Matthews, PEng (AB), Michael M. Macaulay, Valerie C. Mann, Nika Pidskalny, Cecilia Barnes, Kellan E. McKeen, Colin Luke, and Richard Okimaw
Lawson Lundell’s Tech Group
Tech bubble burst disciplined the market
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“A big element of practising in this space is stewardship for entrepreneurs and new ventures, making sure there’s outreach and that they have an ability to grow and are being educated on deal terms, structures, and legal pitfalls to avoid,” says Macaulay. “That involvement is why we wanted people in the Okanagan: to be a part of that community of entrepreneurship and help build something bigger.”
Mann and Macaulay express confidence in the present climate, noting the wealth of capital and experience, indicating significant opportunities on the horizon. “We’re starting from a place that’s significantly better than previous corrections in the tech sector in Western Canada, and I’m really excited to see where we go from here,” Macaulay says.
“There are some real opportunities, and we’re excited to see Calgary expand the sector with significant ecosystem support, and we are ready to support it and grow with the tech industry there,” says Mann.
Lawson Lundell’s Tech Group remains proactive and ready to seize the potential of Western Canada’s continuously evolving tech landscape.