Canadian firm on a roll with second govt win

CANADIAN top 10 law firm Goodman Phillips & Vineberg has won two contracts on behalf of foreign governments in two months.

The Republic of Chile recently asked the firm to assist in drafting a new bilateral free trade agreement with the government of Canada.

This follows Goodman Phillips winning a contract in January to draft new securitisation laws for Morocco.

The laws will affect financial institutions' abilities to use pooled assets as security.

The new Chile contract will initially focus on the free trade agreement's complex rules of origin, used to determine which locally produced goods qualify for special free trade status.

Goodman Phillips is hoping to win further work from the Republic of Chile.

In a second stage to the contract, which is still to be awarded, the firm proposes working to ensure the bilateral trade agreement between Chile and Canada fitted within the existing North American Free Trade Agreement and World Trade Organisation treaties.

It also hopes to achieve work in financial services and customs and duty sectors.

Work on the free trade agreement will be led by Goodman Phillips partner Jon Johnson, who has helped negotiate and draft rules of origin provisions in two other trade agreements between Canada and the US.

Johnson will be assisted by partners Joel Schachter and Douglas Robertson in Toronto and associate David Shapiro from the firm's Montreal office.

Goodman Phillips is also still working on a foreign government contract it achieved over a year ago. Partner at the Hong Kong office Ermanno Pascutto is conducting the first comprehensive review and reform of the territory's Companies Ordinance.