Martin Aquilina, Chief Operating Officer | International Business Lawyer | Hazlolaw - Business Lawyers

CONTACT

+ 1 (613) 706-1757 ext.308
[email protected]

LANGUAGES

French | English | Italian
Spanish | Dutch | German

MARTIN AQUILINA

COO | International Business Lawyer

EDUCATION

Master of Laws (LL.M.) (International and European Law) – Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Netherlands
Certificate of Accreditation in Common Law – National Committee on Accreditation
License in Civil Law (LL.L.) – University of Ottawa
Certificate in Italian Language – Università per Stranieri di Perugia
Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com.) – University of Ottawa

Member of the Ontario Bar
Member of the Quebec Bar

Member of American Bar Association (International Law Section)
Member of Canadian Association of International Development Professionals
Board Member, La Maison de la Francophonie

REPRESENTATIVE WORK

Providing opinion on Islamic finance mechanisms for multi-million dollar Saudi Arabian project

Providing strategic advice on multi-jurisdictional estate dispute (Canada, Slovakia, Switzerland)

Acting for Canadian engineering company in its dispute with a Mozambique government entity on World Bank-funded project

Obtaining an emergency injunction to block payment of a counter guarantee payable to a Saudi Arabian counterparty

Mediating a seven figure claim relative to a faulty product sold by a Dutch manufacturer

EXPERTISE

Cross Border Transactions

Mergers & Acquisitions

Corporate Finance

International Commerce

Regulatory Compliance

Business Disputes

International Law Consulting

Enforcement of Foreign Judgements

ARTICLES

Was ist das auf Deutsch? WhatsApp’s T&Cs to be provided in German to consumers in Germany

To choose or not to choose: enforceability of choice of forum clauses in Canada

Cross-border succession issues: What will happen to your beautiful Italian villa after you die?

Uniform Rules For the Enforcement of Foreign Judgments: next year perhaps?

Multinational Corporations Beware! What Happens in Vegas May Not Stay in Vegas

Arbitrate this: the applicability of arbitration exclusion in the Recast Brussels Regulation

Disarming the “Italian Torpedo” – Law Suits in the European Union

Martin Aquilina is a seasoned international business lawyer with twenty years of experience in structuring domestic and cross-border transactions, including purchases and sales of businesses, joint ventures, corporate partnering and loan transactions. Furthermore, he regularly advises Canadians doing business overseas and foreign clients doing business in Canada. Given his broad knowledge of foreign legal systems, he is called upon to assist in sorting out a wide panoply of situations with an extra-territorial element, such as foreign inheritance laws. Over the years, Martin has built a reputation as an astute negotiator and he particularly enjoys tackling complex business and legal issues on behalf of his clients.

Martin is a former partner of Gowlings, one of Canada’s premier and biggest law firms. Prior to entering private practice, Martin also held positions at the Supreme Court of Canada, the Correctional Service of Canada and as head of the legal department of MD Management, the financial services division of the Canadian Medical Association. Most recently before joining HazloLaw – Business Lawyers, Martin was based in Geneva, Switzerland, serving as legal adviser to the Global Fund, an international financing organization that has approved funding of over $23 billion to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in 151 countries.

Martin combines his strong technical skills with first-hand leadership experience to deliver value to his clients. Supported by his drive to best understand the human and, often, cultural variables that frequently underpin legal and business issues, Martin’s unique combination of skills and experience is particularly well-suited to situations that call for a principled and pragmatic approach to unravelling and resolving complex real-life problems.

Martin’s broad professional experience with international business law includes negotiating tax exemptions with the Ministry of Finance of an African country for domestic recipients of international funding and enforcing foreign judgements against Canadian assets. Examples of successful mandates include, structuring and taking public the first publicly-traded mortgage investment corporation in Canada and obtaining a ground-breaking ruling in the infamous Bre-X Minerals case.

Martin’s blog on various legal issues, mostly concerning international law, can be accessed at www.leyoftheland.com.