Areas of practice.

Our real estate lawyers have substantial expertise in the areas of real estate and property law, providing exceptional service to buyers and sellers of residential and commercial real estate.

Each of our professionals have received government accreditation in the migration of title (the conversion of the title of real property from the old Registry System to the new Land Registration System) and can assist clients with the formation of the agreement to sell or purchase a property, interface with lenders to ensure that clients’ financing arrangements meet with their satisfaction and provide clients with personal service on their closing date. We are committed to ensuring that real estate transactions are handled efficiently and professionally.

We provide arbitration and mediation services and also advise clients in labour and employment law matters including wrongful dismissal, collective agreements, employment standards, human rights, occupational health, safety and other related areas.

Our lawyers regularly appear before courts and tribunals that deal with various disputes in this area and ensure that clients are kept up to date on issues that may concern them and their organization. We work closely with our clients to develop, implement and maintain appropriate internal policies and procedures to deal with employment, labour and wrongful dismissal issues.

We are proud to be involved in the Nova Scotia business sector, acting on behalf of small, medium and large public and private companies including charitable and non-profit organizations that are engaged in a variety of business activities.

We have a long history of representing clients in various corporate and commercial matters including contract preparation, shareholder agreements and franchising, general and limited partnerships, incorporations and re-organizations, mergers and acquisitions.

Our lawyers have extensive experience in representing individuals in disputes with insurance companies including general and injury claims. Whether a claim has arisen from a motor vehicle accident, medical malpractice, a slip and fall, property damage or otherwise, our objective is to bring about a fair resolution to the dispute in a timely manner. We work promptly in commencing negotiations with the insurer, and where negotiations fail, our team of experienced litigators are ready, willing and able to pursue our clients’ claims through the courts.

You never know when a dispute may arise that requires some aspect of civil litigation or even a lawsuit. Our team of experienced civil litigation lawyers has provided representation to litigants in all types of disputes including insurance, professional malpractice, employment, corporate, commercial, construction, real estate and estate law. We are committed to using alternative dispute resolution techniques for the timely and cost-effective resolution of our client's cases. Our litigators regularly appear before all levels of courts, including the Court of Appeal, and participate in hearings before a variety of provincial and federal administrative tribunals.

Few areas of the law affect a person as personally as family law matters. Our team offers a full range of legal services in this area, including:

• Division of property including pensions

• Partner and spousal support

• Separation agreements

• Divorce

• Child support, access, and day-to-day care arrangements

• Applications to amend child support, access, and care arrangements due to changes in circumstance

• Adoptions

• Guardianship applications

If negotiations can bring about a satisfactory resolution, we provide advice and prepare the required agreements. If litigation is necessary to obtain a resolution, we provide representation through the process. Our lawyers also work proactively to prepare prenuptial agreements (pre-marriage), marriage contracts (prior to or during marriage) and cohabitation agreements for common law and same-sex couples (prior to or during cohabitation).

We offer a broad range of estate planning and administration services for wills, estates and probate. We carefully review and analyze our clients’ personal circumstances to determine how best to assist them in achieving their estate planning objectives. We help our clients plan for incapacity through powers of attorney and through advanced medical directives (living wills) to provide guidance for family members in difficult times.

We have extensive experience in assisting executors and trustees in the probating and administration of estates, as well as acting for executors, trustees, beneficiaries and dependants who require representation in disputes that may arise over the course of an estate’s administration.

Our lawyers possess extensive experience in the areas of arbitration and mediation, with senior partner E.A. Nelson Blackburn, Q.C. being a member of the Atlantic Provinces Arbitration and Mediation Institute. He has arbitrated a broad array of issues including employment, commercial and construction matters and is known for rendering prompt and well-reasoned decisions. His many years of experience in litigation and general practice have proven to be a considerable asset in guiding parties toward resolution.