Harold Feder Interviewed for Article on Estate Freezes
This article appeared in the National Post Financial Post on Monday, June 7, 2010. It provides a brief overview of estate freezes and how, when and why they are used.
http://www.financialpost.com/small-business/advice/estate+freeze+help+minimize/3122905/story.html
Posted June 2010
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Ron Prehogan Honoured For Exceptional Commitment to Jewish Community
Ron Prehogan is being honoured for exceptional commitment to the Jewish community. On June 2, 2010 Ron was honoured with the Gilbert Greenberg Distinguished Service Award for his dedication to the Ottawa Jewish community. The award is the highest tribute the Ottawa Jewish Community bestows on an individual for exceptional service over the course of many years. Initiated in 1980, it bears the name of the late Gilbert Greenberg, a Vaad past-president who exemplified the qualities of leadership the award seeks to recognize each year.
Here is an article written by Cynthia Nyman Engel, published in the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin on
May 24, 2010:
The first time he was invited to sit on the Jewish Community Council of Ottawa/Vaad Ha'lr's executive committee, Ron Prehogan's answer was definite. "No," he said. "My kids are still living at home. Call me after they're out of the house."
The balebatim were patient. They knew Prehogan had been very effective as president of the Jewish Community Centre (JCC), they wanted their man and were prepared to wait for him. When the time was right the phone rang again. "OK," the caller said, "your kids are out of the house. Now will you join us?" He did.
To read more, click here: http://www.equitasconsultants.com/events_details.asp?id=968
Posted June 2010
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BrazeauSeller.LLP Becomes Corporate Sponsor with Jewish Federation
(Monday, January 25, 2010 - Ottawa) The Jewish Federation of Ottawa is pleased to announce that Ottawa law firm BrazeauSeller LLP has become a Corporate Sponsor in support of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa's Annual Campaign.
"Our firm is extremely proud of its long-standing contributions to the Ottawa Jewish community, including chair positions on the boards of various organizations including the Federation itself", says firm partner Ron Prehogan. "Becoming a Corporate Sponsor enables us to further assist the good work of the Federation and its beneficiary agencies."
The Jewish Federation of Ottawa Annual Campaign launched in September 2009 with a goal of raising five million dollars. Monies raised through the Campaign support 24 Jewish agencies in Ottawa.
The mission of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa as the central Jewish communal organization is to preserve and enrich Jewish life in the Ottawa area, Canada, Israel and overseas, by planning for the evolving needs of the community, raising and allocating funds for communal priorities, coordinating community action and representing the views of the community.
Posted January 2010
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BrazeauSeller.LLP Celebrates 20 Years
On November 1, 2009, BrazeauSeller.LLP officially turned twenty. To celebrate the occasion, we invited close friends and clients to an evening of food and socializing at Juniper Food & Wine Bar in Westboro. The evening was enjoyable for all, and made complete with a heartwarming speech by one of the founding partners of the firm, Howard Yegendorf. We are very thankful to our clients, friends and staff for helping us get to where we are today. We are very much looking forward to the next twenty years!
Click Here to See Photos of the Event
Posted January 2010
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BrazeauSeller.LLP Wins Outstanding Small Business Philanthropist!
BrazeauSeller.LLP was nominated by the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation for the Outstanding Small Business Philanthropist Award by the Association of Fundraising Professionals. The award ceremony took place at the Chateau Laurier on Wednesday, November 4th.
Outstanding Small Business Philanthropist: This award is presented to a small business that demonstrates philanthropic commitment to local charitable organizations. This company exhibits outstanding civil and charitable responsibility and its generosity encourages others to give back to the community.
BrazeauSeller.LLP is a medium-sized law firm that has been serving the Ottawa business community for twenty years. The firm prides itself in providing the highest quality client service and distinguishes itself through its relationships with its clients and the community.
BrazeauSeller.LLP was taught early on by one of its mentors that it is important to 'give back' and just as important to ask others within our community to give. BrazeauSeller.LLP has adopted this approach to community and charity ever since.
Over the years, the Partners of BrazeauSeller.LLP have contributed to a wide variety of charitable organizations and educational institutions. They've done so through financial contributions as well as through donating significant amounts of time to sitting on various Boards and volunteering their efforts.
BrazeauSeller.LLP hopes that by its efforts it can demonstrate how a small professional organzation or small business can make a difference, and that it can help establish a standard of 'giving' that is matched by other professional organizations and small businesses in our community.
Posted November 2009
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BrazeauSeller.LLP at the Forefront of Privacy Law Issues in Canada
In a groundbreaking decision by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, BrazeauSeller.LLP associate lawyers James Katz, David Spears and Stephanie Lewis successfully argued on behalf of their client, Richard Warman, that Canadian privacy laws could not be used to block the Court’s mandatory rules requiring the disclosure of relevant documents during the litigation process. This decision, which can be found at http://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2009/2009canlii14054/2009canlii14054.html , is the first Ontario Court decision to deal squarely with the issue of individuals right to privacy on the Internet and the right of a plaintiff in an action for defamation to compel known defendants to disclose relevant information (such as IP and email addresses) that could be used to identify anonymous co-defendants. This decision is currently under appeal, which will be heard by the Divisional Court in the spring of 2010. James Katz, who argued the motion on behalf of his client, was recently interviewed by the Law Times regarding his perspective on the Court’s decision, and was quoted in the resulting Law Times article.
BrazeauSeller.LLP associate lawyer Jordan Plener was recently featured in the national media for his role in the recent Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada decision requiring Facebook to bring its practices in line with Canadian privacy standards. During an internship at the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (“CIPPIC”) in his final year of law school, Jordan Plener was one of the key individuals involved in drafting a privacy complaint against social networking giant, Facebook. Despite graduating from law school, Jordan has remained a key figure in representing CIPPIC with the media, as well as in addressing Facebook’s response to the Privacy Commissioner’s findings. Media coverage of Jordan Plener’s role can be found at:
http://www.ottawasun.com/news/ottawa/2009/08/17/10488191.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aTfJHVEesAYM
Posted September 2009
On April 8, 2010, Associates James Katz and Stephanie Lewis appeared before the Divisional Court (an appellate court) on behalf of their client, Richard Warman. Mr. Warman, a well-known anti-hate speech advocate, is currently suing the owners of a far-right Internet chat room and several anonymous bloggers who posted allegedly defamatory statements about him beginning in 2007. The main issue on this appeal was whether or not the owners of the Internet site in question should, in the normal course of litigation, be required to automatically disclose during discoveries the Internet Protocol Addresses and email addresses of the anonymous bloggers in question. The Superior Court of Justice ruled in March of 2009 that the owners of the Internet site were required to produce this information to Mr. Warman, as the information sought was relevant and not protected by any form of privilege or privacy interest, and the owners of the Internet site appealed to the Divisional Court. The Divisional Court is expected to issue its ruling in the coming months. A recent news report concerning the recent Divisional Court hearing can be found here:
http://www.vancouversun.com/Court+decide+posters+ability+remain+anonymous/2875088/story.html
Posted April 2010
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"FINTRAC Fines Financial Services Businesses"
The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (“Fintrac”) is the federal government agency tasked with detecting and preventing money laundering and terrorist financing in Canada. FINTRAC collects and analyzes financial transactions enforcement and Canadian Security Intelligence Agency (CSIS) where it has reasonable grounds to suspect that the information would assist in the investigation of money laundering and terrorist activity financing offences or threats to the security of Canada. FINTRAC was established pursuant to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (Canada). This Act imposes a variety of reporting and record keeping requirements on certain businesses operating in Canada.
Money services businesses are required to register with FINTRAC. FINTRAC has recently fined two money services businesses (one in Toronto, one in Montreal) for failing to register pursuant to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (Canada). For more details, see the attached report from Tara Perkins as published in the Globe and Mail (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/fintrac-fines-seen-as-warning-shot-in-fight-against-money-laundering/article1258163/).
If you have any questions about the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (Canada) or FINTRAC, please contact Fred Seller, Partner (fseller@brazeauseller.com) or Trina Fraser, Partner (tfraser@brazeauseller.com).
Posted August 2009
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Lawyer Achieves Certified Specialist Designation
Howard Yegendorf has been granted the Certified Specialist designation in Civil Litigation by the Law Society of Upper Canada. Howard has been practicing for 27 years, primarily in the areas of Litigation and Personal Injury Law.
The Law Society's Certified Specialist Program assists members of the public and the profession to identify lawyers who have met established standards of experience and knowledge in certain fields of law and who have maintained a high standard of professional practice. For more information about the Law Society's Specialist Certification Program, visit their Web site at: http://rc.lsuc.on.ca/jsp/csp/index.jsp.
To qualify for the Certified Specialist designation, a lawyer must have practiced for at least seven years prior to the date of his or her application for certification and at least five years in Civil Litigation, and comply with specific practice concentration and experience requirements. In addition, the lawyer must comply with the professional development and professional practice requirements to achieve and maintain certification.
Posted July 2009
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Client Identification and Verification
Overview
As of December 31, 2008, lawyers in Ontario (and most other provinces in Canada) are subject to new “Know Your Client” rules. These requirements have come into place as part of the world-wide initiatives to safeguard against money laundering, terrorist financing and fraud.
What Does This Mean For You?
At the start of every new matter (even if we have previously acted on your behalf), we are now required to obtain the following information from you:
Individual Clients:
- full name and occupation
- business address and telephone number
- home address and telephone number
- depending on the nature of the matter, we may also need to review and copy a piece of your photo identification (eg. driver’s license, passport)
Organizational Clients (corporations, partnerships, trusts, etc.):
- organization name, business address and telephone number
- description of business activity
- organization’s incorporation number or business identification number and its place of issue
- the name, position and contact information of all individuals authorized to provide and give instructions on behalf of the organization
- depending on the nature of the matter, we may also require the name, address and occupation of each person who owns 25% (or more) of the organization or its shares; the name and occupation of each director; and a document verifying the organization’s existence (eg. certificate of good standing, certificate of status, a trust agreement or a partnership agreement)
Privacy
In complying with these new requirements, we understand that you may be concerned about your privacy and the sharing of your personal information. We wish to assure you that all information and documentation that you provide will remain secure. While we are committed to complying with the “Know Your Client” rules set by the Law Society of Upper Canada, we are also committed to our obligation to keep all client information confidential. We thank you in advance for your cooperation in this process. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at any time.
Posted January 2009