Lawyer Profile Detail
George S. Takach
TITLE
Partner
AREA OF EXPERTISE
Outsourcing
Private Equity
Private Transactions
Technology & Licensing
LAW SCHOOL
University of Toronto
BAR ADMISSION
Ontario, 1985
Biography
George S. Takach is a senior partner in the firm’s Toronto office and Industry Group Leader of the Technology Group. George brings significant value to clients in their tech company M&A/financing deals, their sophisticated tech licensing/outsourcing and offshoring transactions, and their more challenging e-commerce activities.
McCarthy Tétrault is Canada’s pre-eminent firm for technology law. Since its inception in 1997, the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory has found McCarthy Tétrault to have the strongest computer and information technology law practice in Canada. In the 2009 edition of Chambers Global, McCarthy Tétrault is the only law firm listed in Band 1 for Information Technology and has more lawyers included in the 2009 edition of the International Who’s Who of Internet E-Commerce Lawyers than any other Canadian law firm.
George’s deep experience in tech M&A/financing allows his clients to get deals done more quickly and cost effectively. Past deals where he has brought his value-added skill set to clients include (client in bold):
- multiple acquisition transactions for Aastra Technologies Inc., (one of Canada’s leading public high tech equipment manufacturers) including purchases from Ericsson, Nortel, EADS, DeTeWe and Ascom;
- multiple acquisition transactions for Constellation Software Inc., (one of Canada’s leading public software companies) including purchases from Maximus and Gary Jonas Inc.;
- multiple sale transactions acting for private Canadian technology companies being sold to multi-national public tech companies, including: Opalis Software to Microsoft; Cybermation Inc. to CA Inc.; Chantry Networks to Siemens; InSystems to Standard Register; Jewelstone Systems to AGF;
- venture and related-type financings of earlier stage Canadian tech companies, including Fresco Microchip (Celtic House, Ventures West); CPAS Systems (Tier Technologies); Cube Route (CIBC);
- a range of other M&A/financing transactions involving technology companies and tech-related assets, including: acquisition by Exact Software of Longview Solutions; and sale by Scotiabank of its fixed income indices business to TSX Group.
In the area of sophisticated tech licensing, outsourcing and offshoring deals, George’s creativity and broad experience allows clients to resolve difficult issues more quickly and to get the relationship off on the right foot. In the area of outsourcing and offshoring, George has a national practice with the following illustrative clients whom he has assisted with outsourcing/offshoring agreements:
- a Montréal-based bank;
- a Canadian-based, global life sciences company;
- a Saskatchewan-based utility;
- a Montréal-based transportation company;
- three Toronto-based banks;
- a Montréal-based natural resources company;
- a Hamilton-based steel company;
- a Toronto-based financial institution;
- a Montréal-based manufacturing company;
- a Toronto-based retailer;
- a Vancouver-based utility; and
- a Montréal-based communications company.
George helps clients craft sensible and workable solutions to complex e-commerce-related legal and compliance challenges. He brings a steady and experienced hand to bear on the invariably unprecedented legal issues generated by novel e-commerce business processes. In the e-commerce/Internet law area, his extensive practice includes:
- advising companies on how to create legally compliant online customer experiences, including enforceable "click consent agreements," workable electronic voting processes, etc.;
- advising governments on law reform initiatives aimed at facilitating e-commerce;
- helping organizations comply with privacy and data protection laws; and
- crafting and negotiating co-branding, Web-linking and other e-commerce-related agreements.
George is the author of four books: Computer Law, second edition; The Software Business, second edition; Contracting for Computers, fourth edition; and Information Technology Agreements, 2010 (www.needtoknowpress.ca). Since 1990, he has been an Adjunct Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, where he teaches a course in Computer Law. George is in demand as a speaker to legal and technology industry audiences and a regular writer on legal technology topics.
Since its inception (and most recently in 2009), George has appeared in the LEXPERT/The American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada, as a leading lawyer in the areas of technology and corporate mid-market. George is recognized in The Best Lawyers in Canada as a leading lawyer in information technology law and technology law. He is listed in the 2010 edition (and since 2007) of Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business, as a leading lawyer in the area of information technology. Since its inception in 1997, he has been listed in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, a guide to the leading law firms and practitioners in Canada, as a leading lawyer in the areas of technology and computer & I.T. law. George is listed in the 2009 edition of the International Who’s Who of Internet and E-Commerce Lawyers.
George received his BA and his JD (Dean’s Honour List) from the University of Toronto. He also has his MA in international relations from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University in Ottawa. He was called to the Ontario bar in 1985.
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