Benefit and Pension Lawyers | FMC Law Firm | Disability, Retirement Compensation, Pension Regulation and Administration, Business and Employee Pension Plans

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Mary Picard is a member of the Legal Advisory Committee of the Financial Services Tribunal of Ontario.

FMC is ranked by PLC Which Lawyer? as one of Québec's leading firms in Employee Benefits & Pensions Law.

The Best Lawyers in Canada 2011 recommends Paul F. Baston and Mary M. Picard as leading employee benefits law lawyers.

Pensions | Benefits

In the complex world of Canadian pensions regulation and administration, clients need a law firm that can lead them through the maze. If your pension plan is regulated in Quebec but you have members in Ontario and Alberta, you need a national law firm. If your industry is federally regulated but you have divisions that operate under provincial regulations, you need a law firm with experience in both. If special tax or investment rules apply, you need a full service law firm that can bring in tax and securities expertise when needed. If you are buying an insolvent business with past pension or retiree benefits, or if you need help with any aspect of employee benefits of a company that is in financial difficulty, you need a law firm that has a team of insolvency, labour and pension experts who have worked on Canada's most prominent corporate insolvencies.

In Canada, that law firm is Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP.

Our Pensions and Benefits Group is one of the most experienced in Canada. We act for private and public sector employers with both unionized and non-unionized workforces. We advise on the pension issues involved in mergers and acquisitions. We represent clients before courts and tribunals across the country. We help employers, administrators, trustees and pension committees understand their options and responsibilities and structure their programs to deal with today’s challenges as well as tomorrow’s. Our primary concern is prompt, effective response that results in cost-efficient solutions to our clients’ problems.

REPRESENTATIVE WORK

	Counsel to Grant Forest Products Inc. on the CCAA and US Bankruptcy Court approved acquisition of its OSB facilities by Georgia-Pacific LLC for US$400 million
	Nortel Networks – Canadian Counsel for the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Nortel Networks Inc. and certain of its direct and indirect subsidiaries in the cross-border CCAA/Chapter 11 proceedings
	Counsel to a committee of executives who are responsible for monitoring the investments of hundreds of millions of dollars in pension assets, who need advice on their potential personal liability
	Assisting a new, U.S.-based owner of a Canadian business to understand and limit the liabilities associated with its newly acquired pension plans
	Establishing procedures for governance of more than a billion dollars of pension assets in several pension plans, for a business that recently acquired several divisions
	Negotiating with unions, pension regulators, and former employees for a number of employers who are dealing with the "Monsanto" requirement to determine and distribute surplus relating to partial wind-ups of pension plans

	Counsel to Industry Canada with respect to the Government of Canada's role as one of the lenders involved in Air Canada’s arrangements to raise $1.02 billion in additional liquidity through a series of financings and other transactions
	Counsel to Armtec Infrastructure Income Fund on its $48.4 million acquisition of Pre-Con Inc.
	Represented Canadian manufacturer on claim by multiple plaintiffs concerning obligation to continue funding of retiree health benefits
	Successfully represented Kraft Canada Inc. before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Kraft Canada Inc. v. Karen Pitsadiotis, Canada’s first decision to apply the doctrine of rectification to correct an error in the text of a pension plan
	Represented Armtec Infrastructure Income Fund on the $120 million acquisition of Con-Force, the related $60 million public offering and on the $105 million amended/restated credit facility
	Counsel to Canada Post regarding significant administration issues including service buybacks, interpretations of benefit entitlements, and negotiation of third party agreements
	Successfully negotiated and implemented for AFG Industries a significant pension surplus sharing deal
	Advise on ongoing basis the pension committees of large Canadian employers, including American Express and Bridgestone Firestone
	Obtained favourable ruling on surplus distribution from terminated Quebec pension plan
	Advisor to an international pipeline operator in respect of its pension and benefit plans
	Counsel to large Canadian unionized employers engaged in multi-million dollar dispute regarding calculation of pension benefits
	Defence counsel for a pension plan sponsor in the leading Ontario appellate case dealing with a novel issue concerning surplus dilutions resulting from plan mergers on the sale of a business
	Counsel to several multi-employer pension plans and benefit plans established for the members of various trade unions
	Advisors to employers and employees in respect of the creation and maintenance of retirement compensation arrangements (RCAs) and supplementary executive retirement plans (SERPs)

PUBLICATIONS

	Freedom 55 Lost? The Recent Treatment of Pensions in Insolvency Proceedings
	Navigating Pension and Benefit Issues on Termination of Employment
	More Changes to Federal Pension Legislation, including Pension Investment Requirements Applicable to Many Canadian Pension Plans - May 2010
	Ontario Pension Reform: Time to Amend Your Pension Plan? - May 2010
	Changes to Federal Pension Legislation - April 2010
	Have Your Say About Pension Reform - March 2010


	Key Contacts Mary M. Picard +1 416 863 4469 Show Regional Contacts Show All Contacts

News

	FMC proudly recognizes the 89 lawyers included in The Best Lawyers in Canada 2011, highlighting the leading lawyers in Canadian business law

	FMC Partner Mary Picard speaks to The Bottom Line on the recent amendments to federally-regulated private pension plans

	FMC Pensions and Benefits Partner Mary Picard speaks to The Lawyers Weekly about the benefits of letters of credit

	FMC Partner Mary Picard appointed to government Advisory Council on Pensions and Retirement Income

Events

	Canadian Pension and Benefits Institute Regional Conference, Niagara-on-the-Lake, October 4 - 6

Montréal • Ottawa • Toronto • Edmonton • Calgary • Vancouver

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