Rick Van Beselaere is a senior lawyer with 38 years of experience in commercial law, financing, insolvency, restructuring, bankruptcy, and debtor-creditor law. Rick is one of Saskatchewan’s most experienced counsel in the area of reorganization and restructuring under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA) and the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA).

In addition, Rick has long-standing experience in credit enforcement and security realization, including debt and security enforcement, foreclosures, receiverships and bankruptcies, negotiating and drafting forbearance agreements and priority agreements, and assessing priority disputes.

Rick is recognized in The Best Lawyers in Canada for Insolvency and Financial Restructuring Law from 2008-2018. He is also part of the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, Insolvency & Financial Restructuring, 2017-2021. In 2020 Rick was recognized by the National Post when awarded Lawyer of the Year in Saskatchewan in banking and finance law.

Rick has extensive experience in environmental law, including contracts relating to environmental offset credit generation, aggregating and trading, and regulatory compliance. Rick was retained by the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment to provide advice and consultation on the formulation of its climate change legislation and regulations.

Rick has acted as Saskatchewan counsel on several P3 projects, including DBFMO, DBFM, and DBF models, as well as design-build transactions. He has acted in respect of project financing and has experience with differing project delivery methods.

Rick is a regular presenter at credit workshops for financial institutions and credit departments and has authored certain sections on commercial mortgages and commercial credit transactions for the Law Society of Saskatchewan’s Bar Course Admission program.

Rick has long-standing experience in a number of areas of law:

Secured transactions: construction financing, acquisition financing, secured and unsecured financing, priority, and subordination agreements.

Credit enforcement and security realization: debt and security enforcement, receiverships and bankruptcies, forbearance agreements, and assessing priority disputes. Rick is one of Saskatchewan’s most experienced counsel in agricultural enforcement.

Climate change regulation, compliance, opportunities and commerce: advice to the Ministry on the structure and drafting of the climate change legislative framework, including guidance documents and policy considerations.

Corporate restructuring and reorganization: strategies and options to address credit challenges (for business owners and their customers and suppliers) and advice to creditors on how to initiate, navigate or to respond to enforcement/realization processes, manage and mitigate risks, and maximize recovery, recoverability, and effectiveness.

Rick is a Life Member of the Regina Queen City Kinsmen Club, being one of a few to hold the highest honour that Club bestows on members.  Rick has served on several committees to manage some of the largest events that the Kinsmen and Kinettes sponsor or deliver (such as Kinsmen Telemiracle, Kinsmen Car Awards, and Kinsmen Big Valley Jamboree and Kinsmen Rock’n the Valley).

Rick is one of three founding directors of the Regina Inner City Family Foundation.