CCCA’s 2005 National Spring Conference in Toronto was a great success! More than 300 delegates from around the world attended the conference and participated in our superlative workshops. The fabulous Opening Night Gala Reception, featuring The Jeff Healey Band got everyone into the mood and the energy never stopped throughout the event.

On Sunday afternoon, legal and business experts from Beijing and Hong Kong joined our Toronto and Vancouver experts to present a pre-conference workshop on “Doing Business in China”, focused on the practical aspects, both legal and non-legal, of doing business in China. Delegates reported that they found the presentations to be high-level and extremely useful. CCCA wishes to thank our distinguished speakers for their excellent work: Rick MacKenzie, VP Law, BMO Financial Group; Bing Ho, Managing Partner, Baker & McKenzie LLP, Beijing; Leo Seewald, Managing Partner, Goodmans LLP, Hong Kong; Neil Tait, Chairman’s Advisor on China, BMO Financial Group; David Fung, President & Managing Director, ACDEG International Inc.

The conference officially began with an excellent keynote address by Jessica LeCroy, U.S. Consul General to Toronto, followed by our Opening Plenary which matched CEO’s with their General Counsel for a rousing discussion on “What CEO’s Need and Want from their General Counsel”. Delegates then had a choice of four different workshops including an all-star Competition Law workshop with Thomas Leary, U.S Federal Trade Commissioner, Sheridan Scott, Canadian Competition Commissioner and Terry Calvani, Director of Cartels for the Competition Authority of the Republic of Ireland. Christopher Browne, of Tweedy Browne LLP, and David Beatty of the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance led the Corporate Governance workshop.

The Monday luncheon keynote speaker was the Hon. John Manley who regaled delegates with stories about his experience in international politics. Afternoon workshop sessions included Multi-jurisdictional Litigation Management and the second of two CLO Roundtable Sessions. The day concluded with a reception graciously held by Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP.

Tuesday began bright and early with an informative and insightful keynote presentation on managing legal counsel around the world by E. Chris Johnson Jr., VP & Regional General Counsel for GM North America. Morning workshop sessions included Securities Regulation and International Outsourcing Agreements. The late morning workshops included Small Law Departments and also Strategic Alliances. With 17 workshops, the program had something for everyone!

We had a standing-room only crowd for “Lunch with Jan Wong”. Jan shared fascinating observations on the development and changes in China based on her thirty years of study and work there as the Correspondent for The Globe and Mail. The closing plenary with Harvey Strosberg, Hon. Mr. Justice Warren Winkler, John Campion, Doug Tyler and Jim Sullivan was an entertaining and lively debate on class actions in Canada. The program ended with a passionate talk by the Rt. Hon. John Turner on his “Adventure in Democracy”, monitoring the recent Ukraine elections. The conference officially closed with a reception generously sponsored by Meritas.

CCCA wishes to thank all its sponsors, exhibitors and speakers for helping to make this one of our most successful events ever! For further insight into this event, we invite you to view the following: Conference Agenda, Expert articles on International issues published in the Spring Conference edition of CCCA’s Inside Counsel magazine, and additional articles by Spring Conference Silver Patrons, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Corporate Governance in the European Union, and Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, International Commercial Arbitration.