Vancouver (January 18, 2021) — Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG) welcomes Chris Roine to the firm as counsel in the Indigenous Law Group and Corporate & Capital Markets Group. He will be based in BLG's Vancouver office.

Prior to joining the firm, Chris was director general for the western negotiations branch of Crown-Indigenous Relations, where he led a team of federal negotiators and oversaw negotiations with First Nations in British Columbia and the Yukon on behalf of the Government of Canada. He was previously senior counsel at BC Hydro, where he led many aspects of First Nations engagement efforts. Prior to that Chris represented Indigenous organizations for many years in private practice, in a broad range of commercial transactions, ventures and First Nations governance matters.

"With his extensive experience in leading negotiations and working with First Nations communities, Chris will be an asset to the firm and our clients," said Prema Thiele, head of BLG's Corporate & Capital Markets Group. "His experience representing Indigenous communities, Crown corporations and the federal government will be valuable to our clients, and demonstrates BLG's interest in seeking collaboration and reconciliation in our mandates wherever possible."

BLG's Indigenous Law Group is one of the largest and most experienced in Canada, and includes partners and associates of Indigenous descent in many of our offices. With a growing practice advising Indigenous groups, governments, financial institutions, companies and others in many sectors across Canada on commercial transactions, projects, strategic alliances and partnerships and many other matters involving or impacting Indigenous communities, our corporate clients rely on us to help establish strategic partnerships with Indigenous-owned businesses.