When people ask me what I am, I tell them I’m a writer—not a journalist, not a reporter. And I say this out of the greatest respect for journalists and reporters: what they do, what my rather demanding and perhaps old-fashioned definition of “journalist” encompasses, I really don’t do. I… write. And I  just happen to write, most of the time, about business and niche legal issues. But, although I write primarily long-form and column-form analysis for business and professional niche magazines, I have written for the business sections of both of Canada’s national daily newspaper. At the personal request of the respective editors, no less. The National Post, after reprinting some of my Lexpert features in previous years, approached me in 2006 to provide regular content for its Legal Post section (along with my very talented senior colleague Julius Melnitzer, under the editorship of Sandy Rubin), and I wrote for them regularly over 2006 and 2007. When I terminated my contract with the Post, The Globe and Mail asked me to contribute to the Law Page feature in its Report on Business section, and I produced a few pieces for them over 2008 and 2009, and, via my contract with Thomson Reuters’ Lexpert magazine, for various Report on Business Magazine sections, specials and inserts through to 2012.

Here’s a smattering of my articles from the dailies. The National Post collection is pretty complete; the Globe and ROB pieces erratic. But, shall we say, representative.

2010

Poison pill chill
, Report on Business Magazine, December 2010*

Creating flexibility, 
Report on Business Magazine, October 2010 (Special Lexpert edition/insert on pensions & benefits)*

Choose a climate-change regime, please, 
Report on Business Magazine, June 2010*

2009

Bringing down the house: restructuring Western real estate development projects requires co-operation to succeed
, Report on Business Magazine, November 23 2009  (Special Lexpert edition/insert on Insolvency and Restructuring)*

Dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s
, Report on Business Magazine, June 2009*

London layoffs cast a long shadow, The Globe and Mail, 17 June 2009: B.5.

The lonely guys of IP litigation, The Globe and Mail, 25 Mar 2009: B.7.

2008

Big pharma and generics duke it out at the supreme court over selection patents
, Report on Business Magazine, December 2008*

Canada Revenue Agency takes on transfer pricing
, Report on Business Magazine, December 2008*

Say goodbye to ‘us’ and ‘them,’ The Globe and Mail, 30 July 2008: B.5.

Still closing? Dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s, 
Report on Business Magazine, June 2008*

Calgary–Where lawyers aren’t afraid to litigate, The Globe and Mail, 04 June 2008: B.8.

Is the BlackBerry cutting into billable time? The Globe and Mail, 03 Sep 2008: B.7.

Gearing up for the next trust boom, The Globe and Mail, 30 Apr 2008: B.12.

Gloves are off in battle for oil sands clients, The Globe and Mail, 27 Feb 2008: B.10.

 *Written under contract to Thomson Reuters’ Lexpert

2007

Selling out? Nope, buying in; Fears of idea drain fade as Quebec biotech turns to Big Pharma to keep it off critical list, National Post, 26 Sep 2007: FP9.

Which way to the exit?; Oilpatch Juniors And Deal Lawyers Face Challenge To Fill Income Trust Void, National Post, 05 Sep 2007: FP7.

Scramble for niche in mid-market squeeze; Law Firms Focus On Clients, Talent To Survive In Competitive Industry, National Post, 29 Aug 2007: FP7.

Court protects worker’s casual drug use; Will Workplace Safety Be Trumped By Human-Rights Law? National Post, 22 Aug 2007: FP9.

Marketing by the book; The Proliferation Of Listings Has Law Firms Suffering Directory Fatigue, But Nobody’s Ready To Bow Out, National Post, 18 July 2007: FP8.

Oiling the Wheels of Finance: Calgary Energy Projects Push The Envelope, National Post, 11 July 2007: FP8.

IP Key To Big Pharma’s Big Money; Biotech Funding; Intellectual property makes or breaks deals, National Post, 27 June 2007: FP6

It’s good to be a real estate lawyer in B.C., National Post, 13 June 2007: FP15.

Cross-border deals spice up practice, National Post, 30 May 2007: FP16.

Unsettled times in Montreal, National Post, 09 May 2007: FP17.

M&A: Pop stars of the bar, National Post, 02 May 2007: FP15.

Law firms see silver linings in oilpatch clouds; Despite feeling betrayed by the federal government, Alberta firms see greenbacks in its green initiatives, National Post, 11 Apr 2007: FP10.

Dining on distress, National Post, 14 Mar 2007: FP16.

Calgary’s regulatory bar energized, National Post, 07 Mar 2007: FP16.

Alberta’s biotech advantage, National Post, 14 Feb 2007: FP16.

Tax law not for timid, National Post, 07 Feb 2007: FP6.

Corporate governance ranks have thinned: Turf war between accountants and lawyers is over, National Post, 24 Jan 2007: FP15.

West Coast frenzy: Olympics-related P3s help fill coffers of B.C. legal firms, National Post, 03 Jan 2007: FP7.

2006

Curtain rising on Enter A Inment law, National Post, 27 Dec 2006: FP8.

Forestry folks like litigating, National Post, 08 Nov 2006: FP18.

Alternative energy has mainstream deal potential, National Post, 01 Nov 2006: FP8.

Restructuring post-Farley, National Post, 25 Oct 2006: FP9.

Unheralded players step into the limelight, National Post, 18 Oct 2006: FP14.

Legal post: Canadian, eh?: Lexpert’s top 10 deals of 2005 show Canadian M&A has gone global, National Post, 18 Jan 2006: FP7.

2005

The year of dissent: (Part Two): Lexpert Magazine’s top 10 corporate deals of 2004, National Post, 19 Jan 2005: FP8.

The year of dissent: (Part One): Lexpert Magazine’s top 10 corporate deals of 2004, National Post, 19 Jan 2005: FP8.