George Addy is the partner who leads the firm’s Competition & Foreign Investment Review practice. He focuses on all aspects of competition law, including strategic advice and representation before competition authorities in Canada and abroad dealing with cartels, mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, abuse of dominance and other reviewable trade practices.

George is frequently consulted by Canadian and foreign-based clients and law firms on the competition law aspects of major mergers in virtually every sector of the economy, including financial services, energy, communications, transportation, services, retail, food and agricultural. His practice also includes advice and representation in relation to the full range of criminal matters under the Competition Act, Investment Canada matters and general administrative law. He has represented clients in numerous provincial and federal court proceedings as well as in judicial inquiries. George has acted as counsel to private sector clients, the Canadian Competition Bureau and the Attorney General of Canada in proceedings before the Competition Tribunal and in criminal antitrust proceedings. He has testified before the House of Commons and Senate Committees on issues involving telecommunications, banking, transportation and other sectors. He recently appeared before the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce on May 13, 2009 as Chair of the Canadian Chamber Board Policy Committee, providing witness testimony as part of the Committee's Examination of the Competition Act (Part 12) contained in Bill C-10, the Budget Implementation Act, 2009.

Prior to joining the firm, George had a distinguished career in public service, private practice and the private commercial sector. He was head of the Mergers Branch of the Competition Bureau from 1989 to 1993 and was appointed by Cabinet to head the Competition Bureau in 1993, a position he held until 1996. As a leading expert in competition and antitrust law and head of Canada's competition agency, George represented Canada internationally at bilateral and multilateral meetings. He returned to the private sector in 1996 as Executive Vice-President and Chief General Counsel with TELUS Inc., Canada's second largest telecommunications company. George then returned to private practice and joined the firm in 2002.

Representative Work

• Representing Google in relation to the Service Agreement with Yahoo Inc.
• Represented TSX Group Inc. in its acquisition of Bourse de Montréal Inc. in a transaction valued at $1.3 billion.
• Represented Mars Inc. in its acquisition of Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company in a deal valued at $23 billion.
• Represented BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company, in an unsolicited bid to acquire Rio Tinto in a share exchange offer that values Rio Tinto at approximately US$147 billion.
• Represented Canada Pipe during its investigation by the Competition Bureau regarding its distribution practices. After a hearing at the Federal Court of Appeal, this matter was resolved by negotiated Consent Agreement.

Recognition

• Cited in The Best Lawyers in Canada in the area of Competition/Antitrust Law.
• Cited in Euromoney Legal Media Group's The Best of the Best Top 25 competition and antitrust counsel in the world as a world leading competition/antitrust law practitioner. Recognized as a leading lawyer in Global Competition Review's International Who's Who of Competition Lawyers.
• Cited in Chambers Global’s The World's Leading Lawyers and Leaders in their Field as a leading individual in competition/antitrust law.
• Listed in the Canadian Legal Lexpert® Directory; the Lexpert®/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada; the Lexpert® Guide to the Leading U.S./Canada Cross-border Lawyers in Canada; the Guide to the Leading 100 Canada/U.S. Cross-border Litigators in Canada and its Guide to the Leading 100 Canada/U.S. Cross-border Corporate Lawyers in Canada.
• Listed as a leading lawyer in PLC Which Lawyer? Yearbook.
• Recognized as a highly recommended practitioner in Canada by Global Counsel 3000.
• Cited as a leading competition law counsel in Law Business Research's The International Who's Who of Competition Lawyers.
• Received Martindale-Hubbell's highest rating.

Articles and Publications

George has been published extensively in Canada, the United States and abroad on the subjects of competition law, trade practices and the interface between competition policy and trade policy. He is the co-author of the first Canadian loose-leaf service on competition law, Competition Law Service, published by Canada Law Book Limited.

Teaching Engagements

George is a past lecturer at the University of Ottawa Law School in the French Common Law Program.

Speaking Engagements

George is a frequent speaker in the areas of competition law and trade practices.