Like placing a square peg in a round hole, the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act is a tight fit for a construction company dealing not only with conventional secured and unsecured creditors - but also with a multiplicity of lien and trust claimants trying to preserve their special rights under provincial Construction and Builders' Lien legislation in the context of federally governed proceedings. The likelihood of chaos was high from the outset, yet these challenges were largely overcome in Comstock. Some of the accomplishments in Comstock include:

• the making of an order permitting financing on a super-priority basis to meet imminent payroll obligations, all without notice to a multitude of lien and trust claimants
• the establishment of a protocol which preserved the rights of lien claimants, thereby facilitating the uninterrupted flow of project funds, without the necessity for lien registration
• creating a means of financing specific projects by their owners as well as other creative mechanisms for financing the restructuring proceedings
• demonstrating the importance of preparation, negotiation and consensus building as key building blocks for developing and promoting a compromise among stakeholders in complex proceedings - it's less about winning legal arguments along the way and more about constructive dialogue and collaboration

Comstock is factually rich, replete with situations familiar to those who practise in either arena, construction or insolvency law, and will be recognized as a case where diverse rights and interests were confronted with a view to achieve a successful restructuring

Hear from a dynamic group of speakers who collectively represented the interests of the Company, the Monitor, secured creditors, equipment suppliers, lien and trust claimants project owners and other key stakeholders in this complicated restructuring.

PROGRAM CHAIRS

David Chaiton, Torkin Manes LLP, OBA Insolvency Law Section Executive
Jeff Armel, GSNH LLP, OBA Construction Law Section Executive

SPEAKERS

Paul vanEyk, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (Toronto), Monitor
Robin Schwill, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP (Toronto), lawyer representing Monitor
Harvey Chaiton, Chaitons LLP, lawyer representing Bank of Montreal, operating and DIP Lender
Alex MacFarlane, Gowlings LLP (Toronto), lawyer representing Comstock
Stan Naftolin, GSNH LLP, lawyer representing large lien claimant
Brendan Bissell, GSNH LLP, lawyer representing large lien claimant