Paul provides a broad range of domestic and international legal and business advice to his clients, with a focus on the establishment, financing, acquisition, governance, succession and disposition of joint ventures, partnerships, corporations, and limited liability and flow-through entities. He has been professionally involved in creating workable and efficient international structures for clients in a variety of foreign jurisdictions in North America, the United Kingdom, the European Union and Asia, as well as various jurisdictions in Central and South America, the Caribbean and Africa.
Paul also has an active domestic and international trusts and estates practice that includes the representation of individuals, families, and charitable organizations, both in Canada and abroad. A substantial focus of his practice is the provision of advice to private clients, including the owners / managers of businesses, family corporations and individuals and clients with significant domestic and international holdings. He has assisted in trusts utilized to split the taxation of income both before and after death, asset protection trusts, offshore business and personal trusts, trusts for those requiring special care, trusts with charitable purposes and trusts for business succession planning purposes.
Paul has multi-disciplinary legal expertise, combined with expert know-how, to provide pragmatic and solution-oriented Art Law advice and direction. Paul’s Art Law practice encompasses wills and estates matters, live, online and private treaty purchase and sale transactions, intellectual property and moral rights issues, dispute resolution, and complex financing and acquisition strategies, meaning we can offer full-service Art Law and luxury asset legal advice.
Director – Corporate Secretary Experience
Paul has thirty years of extensive domestic (Provincial and Federal) and international Board level leadership experience with a wide-range of corporate for profit, not-for-profit / charitable, and politically focused organizations headquartered in Canada, the United States, the E.U. / U.K., Japan, China and other jurisdictions. Paul has extensive experience as Board and Committee Chair and Corporate Secretary responsibilities, combined with experience in the application of best Environmental, Social, and Governance practices with an emphasis on the enhancement of overall enterprise financial performance and return on investment.
Education
The University of Hull, Kingston upon Hull, England, U.K. (LL.B., with honours, 1986)
The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (J.D., 1989)
Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, Program of Instruction for Lawyers (Taxation of American Corporate Enterprises and International Trade Law: Diploma, 1995)
Professional Membership
The Law Society of British Columbia
The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners
The Canadian Bar Association
The Association of Art Lawyers (U.K.)
Community Service
- Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem Knights Hospitaller – Investiture in the Sovereign Order of St. John on June 4th, 2018, in recognition of extensive work over thirty years, in the charitable and not-for-profit sectors, as a volunteer, director, governor and legal counsel.
- British Columbia Liberal Party – Party President – November 2018 to date November 2021
- The Hamber Foundation – Governor – March 2018 to date
- The Sir John A. Macdonald Historical Society – Chair of the Society (2021) and Committee member (2001) to present. The Society honours the achievements of Canada’s first Prime Minister
- Dr. Michael Smith Science Fair Endowment – Director and Legal Counsel – May, 2015 to September, 2017
- British Columbia Liberal Party – Vancouver-Quilchena Riding Association President – September 2013 through November 2015
- Our Lady of Perpetual Help School – President Parent Support Group – September, 2010 through June 2015
- Ascenta Foundation for Health and Education Outreach – Director – May 1, 2008 through January 2016
- Vancouver Civic Non-Partisan Association (NPA) – President – May, 2003 through January, 2007
- University Court of The University of Hull (England, United Kingdom) – Member of Court – April, 2000 through July 2015