855 2nd St SW, Suite 3500, Bankers Hall, East Twr, Calgary, AB
Year called to bar: 2004 (AB)
Birch is the Practice Group Leader of the Blakes Calgary Employment & Labour group and practises in the areas of employment and privacy and cybersecurity law. In her employment practice, Birch provides advice to clients in respect of all laws relating to workplace issues, including recruiting, hiring, discipline, terminations, employment and labour standards, human rights, disability and benefits, and alcohol and drug testing. She assists clients with drafting and reviewing employment and privacy-related documentation, ranging from employment and independent contractor agreements, severance packages and confidentiality agreements to non-competition and non-solicitation agreements, as well as workplace policies and handbooks. She is well versed in litigation, tribunal and arbitrations matters, including wrongful dismissal, provincial and federal privacy commission, employment and labour standards and human rights commission matters. Birch has extensive transactional experience, regularly advising on the privacy, cybersecurity, labour and employment aspects of Canada’s most significant mergers and acquisitions. She is a former director of the Canadian Association of Counsel to Employers and member of the Canadian Advisory Board of International Association of Privacy Professionals.
Petroamerica Oil Corp. and Suroco Energy Inc. fended off a hostile bid by Vetra Holding S.a.r.l. and Vetra Acquisition Ltd. and completed a plan of arrangement pursuant to which Petroamerica acquired all the issued and outstanding shares of Suroco for an approximate total value of $108.6 million.
