Derek's practice focuses on general commercial real estate, including acquisitions and dispositions, leasing, financing transactions, construction, mortgage enforcement and lease remedies.
Derek is the editor of the firm's Real Estate Law Newsletter. He is also the Real Estate Group's representative on the firm's Environmental Team where he assists clients in the negotiation of both rooftop and groundmount solar leases.
Prior to joining A&B, Derek was responsible for all legal aspects of a substantial Canadian real estate portfolio, including office, retail, data centre and manufacturing assets for IBM Canada Ltd. Duties included provision of legal advice for business critical matters such as leasing, acquisitions and dispositions, strategic outsourcing pursuits, general real estate, construction and procurement. In addition, in this role Derek was responsible for negotiating and managing contracts for outsourced real estate services, including contracts for facilities management, construction, engineering and building operations. Prior to joining IBM, Derek practised at another prominent Toronto law firm for a number of years.