Van Penick

Counsel

Download vCard
Download PDF
van.penick@mcinnescooper.comSend an Email
Print Profile

Office
Halifax
Tel: 902.444.8593
Fax: 902.425.6350

Assistant
Rosiland Flint
Languages
English

Services

Profile

Van is a Partner in the Halifax office. He is a member of the firm’s Board of Director’s, Chair of the Board’s Audit and Finance Committee and past Chair of the Energy Law Group. Van specializes in oil and gas law and in debt finance and general business law. He is recognized by Lexpert Magazine as one of the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada and by Best Lawyers in Canada for his practice in Energy and Natural Resources law.

On the oil and gas side, Van has handled constitutional, statutory and regulatory issues related to natural resources on the Continental Shelf and has led substantial purchase and sale transactions involving offshore rights. He is familiar with farm-in, joint operating, unitization, royalty and right of first refusal. He gave recent presentations on LNG regasification terminal due diligence, the confidentiality of seismic information and oil and gas purchase and sale agreements. In a related area, Van advises wind developers and their lenders on renewable energy projects. Van is a past Director of the Canadian Petroleum Law Foundation and is a current Director of the Canadian Institute of Resources Law. He taught oil and gas law at the Dalhousie Law School for twenty years.

On the finance and business side, Van handles business acquisitions and sales, credit agreements and related security documentation regularly. He has acted as a lender-side lead counsel in large-scale syndicated loan transactions, settled shareholder disputes and fielded PPSA jurisdictional questions.

Van enjoys close ties to the arts in Nova Scotia. He is an Honourary Life Governor of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and a current Director of the NSCAD Press. He is current Director of Symphony Nova Scotia Foundation and past President of the Symphony and the Nova Scotia Youth Orchestra.

Education

Canadian Gas Association Regulatory Course (2000)
LL.B., Dalhousie University (1976)
A.B. (Music), Princeton University (1968)

Highway 104 – Western Alignment

Client: Province of Nova Scotia Date: November 15, 1997 Value: $120 million   The Western Alignment Highway, a 45 km, privately owned toll road between Masstown and Thomson Station, was constructed by Atlantic Highways Corporation, a subsidiary of Canadian Highways International Corporation. It opened to the public in November 1997 within 20 months of construction

Bar Admissions

Nova Scotia (1977)

Newfoundland & Labrador (1992)

Muskrat Falls, NL Hydroelectric Project is “A game changing opportunity for the Atlantic Region”

July 31, 2012

Atlantic Canadians received more good news on the energy sector front with the finalization of 20 months of detailed contractual negotiations between Nalcor Energy and Emera Inc. Nalcor CEO Ed Martin stated the 1,500 page contract between Newfoundland & Labrador and Nova Scotia "creates flexibility to maximize any surplus power and represents a strong partnership