Overview
Lesley practices in the areas of domestic and international tax law and has particular experience with corporate and individual income taxation, including cross-border transactions, corporate reorganizations, public and private company financings, estate planning and dispute resolution with the various taxing authorities in Canada.
Lesley has experience in mergers and acquisitions, reorganizations, IPOs, and estate planning for high net worth families. She has worked in a variety of sectors including farming, professional, media, retail, investment management, electronic commerce, financial services, universities, and transportation.
Lesley has written numerous client alerts about relevant income tax developments and has spoken at a number of conferences on Canadian and international taxation matters.
Prior to focusing exclusively on her tax practice, Lesley was a corporate and securities associate with another national law firm and she completed a secondment with the Alberta Securities Commission. Her past experience informs and complements her tax practice and she has a keen understanding of the intricacies involved in various corporate and securities transactions, including mergers, corporate reorganizations and financings.
Before joining Miller Thomson, Lesley was a member of the tax group in the Toronto office of a large international law firm
Notable matters
- Represented a sovereign investor regarding a CAD500 million cross-border infrastructure project.
- Represented a multinational engineering and construction company regarding its participation in private-public projects in Canada, including the development of a tax plan resulting in a successful project bid.
- Assisted in the design and implementation of a revised Canadian operating model for a multinational corporation.
- Assisted a multinational corporation with the tax efficient organization of its Canadian operations.
- Assisted in the international restructuring of over CAD12 billion of assets for a multinational business.
- Represented a Canadian public corporation in its cross border sale for over $12 billion.
- Successfully represented a large international client in obtaining the complete reversal of a large Canadian income tax liability.
Thought leadership
- Co-author, “Canada’s Efforts to Blunt the Economic Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic,” Tax Notes International, April 2020
- Co-presenter, “Planning in the Brave New World of Tax on Split Income,” Prairie Provinces Tax Conference, May 27, 2019
- Co-author, “Planning in the Brave New World of Tax on Split Income,” Canadian Tax Foundation, 2019
Professional memberships
- Canadian Bar Association
- Ontario Bar Association
- Canadian Tax Foundation
- Law Society of Ontario
- Law Society of Saskatchewan
- Law Society of Alberta
Bar admissions & education
- Alberta Bar, 2009
- Ontario Bar, 2012
- Saskatchewan Bar, 2018
- LL.M., University of Toronto, 2008
- LL.B., University of Saskatchewan, 2007
- B.A., Concordia University College of Alberta, 2003
