Background
David Whelan is the Managing Partner of our Calgary office. Mr. Whelan was admitted to the Alberta Bar in 1984 after having obtained his B.C.L. and LL.B. degrees from McGill University in 1983. Prior to that, he received a B.Sc. (Mechanical Engineering) from Queen’s University in 1979.
Areas of Practice
Mr. Whelan practices in the areas of corporate commercial law, banking and corporate restructurings. Mr. Whelan also has expertise in the area of derivatives and swap transactions, and in drafting and negotiating energy contracts in the Alberta power market.
Professional Experience
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Mr. Whelan has a broad range of experience dealing with commercial transactions and banking matters, as well as insolvency and restructuring matters. Representative matters handled by Mr. Whelan include:
- Asset acquisitions and dispositions involving oil and gas properties, drilling rigs, chemical plants and other businesses;
- The establishment of a new manufacturing facility in Alberta including all corporate, leasing, construction and financing work;
- Asset based lending transactions, including higher risk loans to borrowers in financial distress, and factoring;
- Equipment leasing and financing, including structured sale/leaseback transactions;
- Debt restructurings and corporate reorganizations under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and the Business Corporations Act;
- Negotiating ISDA agreements;
- Negotiating and drafting energy contracts, including “green power” contracts and agreements for the purchase and sale of emission reduction credits and verified emission reductions.
Professional and Community Activities
- Member of the Firm’s National Council and National Executive Committee
- Past Practice Group Leader of the Calgary office’s Financial Services Group
- Past Chairman of the Canadian Bar Association’s Southern Alberta Insolvency Subsection
- Instructor (1989-2000), Bar Admission Course (Creditor’s Rights)
- Member of the Canadian Bar Association
- Board Member of the Fernie Alpine Ski Team
Conferences and Publications
- Emission Reduction Credit Contracting - Emerging Systems and Issues in Contracting (Insight Information - 2006).
- Priorities: A Secured Lender’s Guide (The Canadian Institute – 2000).
- The Effect of Insolvency on the Validity and Enforceability of Commercial Loan and Security Documentation (The Canadian Institute - 1995).
- Enforcing Security Under Part V of the Personal Property Security Act (Legal Education Society of Alberta - 1994).
- Technical Update - Spring 1994 (Canadian Insolvency Practitioners Association - 1994).
- Revenue Canada and Secured Creditors: The Ongoing Battle for Priority (CBA, Alberta Branch - 1993).
- The Rights of Employees in an Insolvency (The Canadian Institute - 1992).
