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OLIVER B. HAMILTON, LAWYER
BA, MBA, LL.B, FRM, TEP
My versatile legal practice encompasses business, real estate, wills, and succession and estate planning, including family trusts. I provide strategic legal advice concerning matters such as share/asset sales, shareholders’ agreements, corporate governance, negotiations to resolve business disputes, non I profit/charity law issues, commercial/residential real estate transactions, leasing, and real estate development. My broad corporate practice extends to issues concerning intellectual property and employment.
Prior to practicing law, I gained thirteen years of international trade experience in the energy, cement, steel, and transportation sectors. My career in the industry ranged from managing corporate strategy aimed at effective use of information technology, corporate finance, international trade, logistics multi-modal transportation networks, and bulk commodity supply chains, to heading a team to build a CRM/ERP application for a USA national company. For over a decade, I provided management consulting advice, including financial, marketing, and risk analysis using complex statistical methods to a variety of large and small companies.
My financial and technical knowledge, combined with analytic and practical business acumen acquired through international work in several industries, informs my legal advice. I have helped clients successfully complete ventures ranging from small entrepreneurial start-ups to large complex engagements, all of which required successful teamwork.
I am uniquely positioned to provide my clients with practical solutions and options, having both legal and business perspectives. The extensive skills gained through working in various industries throughout North America and internationally afford me a broad perspective and balanced understanding to apply to each client’s particular legal issues. My varied experience and analytic background enable me to identify potential pitfalls and opportunities in order to deliver well-rounded legal advice to better manage risks and pursue opportunities for my clients.
I provide strategic and legal guidance to the boards and executives of several not-for-profit (NPO) charities and societies, both as clients and on a pro bono/volunteer basis, including as a volunteer director of Habitat for Humanity (Greater Vancouver) and on the Administration and Finance committee of the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster. I instruct online courses in the British Columbia Institute of Technology’s Non-profit Management Certificate program covering not-for-profit (social enterprise) charity law, governance, government relations, and financial management, and previously taught online courses for Simon Fraser University and Booth University in Manitoba.
I hold a B.A. (economics/math) and LL.B (JD) degrees from the University of British Columbia and an MBA degree from Simon Fraser University. In 2002, the International Journal of Technology Management in London, UK published my MBA thesis paper: “Growth patterns of Canadian high-tech firms and Gibrat’s Law”.