Overview
Jane Shackell has practiced business law for over 30 years, advising senior executive teams and corporate boards on mergers and acquisitions, partnership and shareholder agreements, franchising, and owner succession. Jane provides practical and timely counsel as a trusted adviser to clients in diverse industries. She is also one of British Columbia’s foremost Fairness Advisors for public sector procurement, advising owners on fairness issues related to public-private partnerships and conventionally-procured projects.
Jane offers practical and experienced advice to clients in a number of key areas:
Private M&A: advising on business acquisitions and sales, including share and asset transactions.
Corporate and commercial: assisting with partnerships, shareholder agreements, reorganizations, corporate finance, day-to-day management issues related to business contracts and relationships including commercial leases, licensing and sponsorship arrangements, strategic contracts and development, and governance.
Franchising: advising franchisors on acquisition, development and management of franchise systems, including standard documents, regulatory compliance, dispute resolution, and other matters.
Fairness Advisory: acting as Fairness Advisor to project boards and procurement teams for public sector development and services projects.
Jane is a Life Bencher of the Law Society of British Columbia, having served four consecutive terms as a Bencher. She is a past member of the Canadian and British Columbia Human Rights Tribunals. She holds the designation “Chartered Arbitrator” and practices as an arbitrator in commercial and employment matters.
Jane has served the Law Society’s bar admission program and the University of British Columbia as an instructor on professional responsibility and ethics issues. She is experienced with corporate governance issues and the role of directors, and has chaired the Continuing Legal Education Society’s course in directors’ and officers’ liability.
Jane is the past Chair of the Board of Governors of Capilano University, and past Governor of the Justice Institute of BC. She also serves as a Trustee of the Granville Island Trust. She was a founding member and director for its first ten years of West Coast LEAF, part of a national women’s organization promoting equality through test-case litigation under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Notable matters
- Jane has been Fairness Advisor to many of BC’s largest public sector procurement projects, including Port Mann/Highway 1, BC Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Emily Carr University, Roberts Bank Terminal 2, Pattullo Bridge Replacement, and Broadway Subway Extension.
Corporate directorships
- AlumniUBC, Advisory Council
- Granville Island Trust Advisory Board
- Life Bencher, Law Society of British Columbia
- Founding Director, West Coast LEAF
- Past Chair of the Board of Governors, Capilano University
- Past Governor, Justice Institute of BC
Professional memberships
- Canadian Bar Association
- Law Society of British Columbia
- ADR Institute of Canada
- Past Member, Canadian and British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal
Bar admissions & education
- British Columbia Bar, 1985
- LL.B., University of British Columbia, 1984
