Leading Canadian project finance partner Brian Kelsall has resigned from McCarthy Tétrault, Canada’s largest firm. He will join heavyweight rival Ogilvy Renault on 18 August with Ella Plotkin, who became a projects partner early this year.
Kelsall, who will be based in Toronto, will focus on building the firm’s international practice and in particular its presence in London.
Ogilvy, a Montreal powerhouse, is known for its banking practice, and clients include the Royal Bank of Canada. It is also known for the high profile of several of its partners, including former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and the former UN Ambassador Yves Fortier QC, the firm’s chairman. It already has a strong projects practice, headed by senior partner Jacques Demers. The blend of heavy-hitters Demers and Kelsall will create the number one projects practice in Canada.
Barry Ryan, head of McCarthys’ financial services practice group, said: “Brian’s a fine lawyer… But he was one of five senior project finance partners in our group who all have international reputations. We still have the largest project finance practice of any of the Canadian firms, with some 35 lawyers.”