Areas of Practice
Your outside in-house counsel
At Volkenant Law Group, we aspire to tailor our legal services to meet the unique needs of our clients and, in particular, non-profit organizations and charities.
We help organizations from a variety of sectors and we work together within our team and with our clients to serve as an extension of organizations in order to provide consistent, contextual and reliable legal support.
Legal Services
We offer a wide range of services to our clients in the following practice areas:
- Applications for charitable status and advice on all charity compliance matters
- Contracts and agreements including agency, joint venture, service, and facility use agreements, leases and planned giving instruments
- Charity mergers and acquisitions
- Canada Revenue Agency compliance audits
- Development, capital programs, planned giving and fundraising
Dedicated Lawyers:
- Incorporation, amalgamation, reorganization and windup
- Corporate filings, registered and records office services and records maintenance
- Constitution and bylaw review and revision
- Governance, director, membership and volunteer advice, agreements and disputes
- Shareholders agreements, dividends and corporate transactions
- Sale of business transactions
Dedicated Lawyers:
- Employment and volunteer discipline and disputes
- Director discipline and disputes
- Member discipline and disputes
Dedicated Lawyers:
- Planning and structuring of employment relationships and volunteer relationshipsÂ
- Preparation of contracts and employment documents including employment agreements, volunteer agreements, independent contractor agreements, Human Resources manuals and confidentiality and non-compete agreements
- Structure, implementation and administration of pensions and benefit plans
- Day-to-day employment concerns and issues
- Investigation of serious discipline matters
- Wrongful dismissal claims and human rights complaints
- Employment standards requirements for wages, employment records, hours of work and overtime, annual vacation pay, maternity and other leaves, and termination of employment
- Variances and exemptions under employment standards and dealing with complaints, investigations and determinations
- Employment or employment standards issues that may arise on a sale, purchase or restructure of an organization or business
Dedicated Lawyers:
- Real estate offers to purchase, options, acquisitions and sales
- Real estate development, including subdivision and consolidations, meeting Municipal zoning, development permit , building permit and PLA requirements, review, preparation and registration of development agreements, site servicing agreements, statutory rights of way, easements and restrictive covenants
- Ground lease review, preparation and registration
- CMHC and BC Housing funding commitment and operating agreement review
- Financing including mortgages, mortgage renewals and all collateral security agreements
- Establishing and facilitating life lease programs
- Preparing disclosure statements and providing development marketing advice
Dedicated Lawyers:
- Review and preparation of commercial leasesÂ
- Review and preparation of residential tenancy agreements
- Review and preparation of facility use and licence agreementsÂ
- Review and advice regarding vendor contract terms
- Review and preparation of commercial contracts including service agreements, sale of good agreements and non-disclosure agreements
Dedicated Lawyers:
- Employment and human rights policies including codes of conduct, harassment and bullying, sexual misconduct, workplace investigations, workplace safety, employee privacy and dispute resolution
- Board policies including governance, whistleblower, conflict of interest, confidentiality, privacy, and risk managementÂ
- Space rental policiesÂ
- Benevolence policiesÂ
- Gift acceptance policiesÂ
- Investment policies
Dedicated Lawyers:
- Wills and Trusts (including Family and Alter Ego Trusts)
- Representation Agreements, Living Wills and Advance Directives
- Powers of Attorney and Committeeships
- Probate and Estate Administration and advising executors and beneficiaries generally Â
- Planned giving instruments and agreements to facilitate charitable giving
- Risk Management and Asset Protection strategies
- Property transfer tax and probate fee planning and implementation
- Providing advice for caregivers and trustees of incapable adults
Dedicated Lawyers:
Sector Expertise
Different sectors have different legal needs. We have extensive experience working with organizations in a variety of non-profit and charitable sectors, including:
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Senior Housing and Care Facilities
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Churches
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Environmental Organizations
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Athletic Clubs and Organizations
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Social Service Organizations
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Affordable Housing and Transitional Housing Providers
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Religious Organizations
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Health Care Providers
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Social Enterprises
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Cultural Organizations
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Local and International Poverty Relief Organzations
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Independent Schools
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Veterans' Organizations
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Foundations
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Animal Support and Conservation Organizations
Let's Work Together for Good
Contact us to explore how we can serve your mission. We look forward to working with you to make a meaningful impact.