Condominium Development

Harris, Sheaffer LLP has a particular expertise in the area of condominium development law. We are widely recognized as leaders in this field and have been involved in the registration of over 500 condominium projects, including highrise, townhome, industrial office, commercial, resort, hotel, fractional and mixed use projects. Harris, Sheaffer LLP has been a pioneer in the creation of innovative technologies and documentation to ensure the timely registration of condominium projects and the legal protection required for our developer clients. Our Condominium Registration Process Poster is a "must have" for anyone in the condominium development field, and Mark Freedman's book, Condominiums in Ontario simplifies the nuances of the Condominium Act for anyone working in the condominium field, including lawyers, condominium board members and owners, property managers, surveyors and engineers.

Condominium Corporation Counsel

Harris, Sheaffer LLP serves as corporate counsel to numerous condominium corporations in the Greater Toronto Area. We provide legal advice and assistance with respect to managerial, operational, financial and administrative problems arising from the condominium lifestyle.

Commercial Real Estate

Harris, Sheaffer LLP features a broad commercial real estate practice, with expertise in land acquisition, registration of plans of subdivision, new builder sales, greenfields and brownfields development.

Construction and Development Financing

Institutional

The partners of Harris, Sheaffer LLP have been principal advisors for over 25 years to Schedule A financial institutions. Our expertise extends to all legal aspects of real estate and commercial financing.

Mezzanine

Harris, Sheaffer LLP acts for institutional and private lenders of higher risk loans to the real estate sector. Coupling our expertise as development and leasing lawyers with our loan expertise has made our firm a perfect fit for lenders requiring legal services in this area.

Commercial Leasing

Harris, Sheaffer LLP acts for both landlords and tenants on commercial leasing matters. Our landlord clients include Real Estate Investment Trusts and entrepreneurs - while tenant clients include multi-national corporations, national and local retailers and industrial and office users.

Personal Tax and Estate Planning

We provide our individual clients with comprehensive advice concerning tax and estate planning. We help to plan and implement long term estate planning requirements in conjunction with our clients and their other professional advisors (e.g. financial planners, accountants, insurance brokers) to ensure that their overall needs are addressed.

Key service areas include:

• Advising clients in all aspects of tax planning, wills and estate, trusts, probate and family and personal planning.
• Succession planning for owners of independent businesses.
• Preparation of powers of attorney, wills, trust agreements, personal contracts and shareholders agreements.
• Advising on all aspects of estate planning and administration.

Corporate and Commercial

We provide a wide range of services to our business clients, focusing primarily on professionals and owner managed businesses. Understanding our clients' objectives is a high priority in order to provide counsel that considers all factors influencing the total picture. Whether our client is a large manufacturing company or a consultant working from home, we view ourselves as a strategic ally and partner in helping our clients make the most of their business opportunities.

Key service areas include:

• Mergers and acquisitions.
• Shareholders' agreements and succession planning.
• Tax reorganizations.
• Cross border transactions.
• Contract negotiations.
• Employee stock options.