overview
Bill is an associate practicing in the Competition and Antitrust Group. His practice covers all areas of competition law, including merger reviews, supplementary information requests, competition litigation, internal investigations, and cartel defence. In addition, Bill advises clients on compliance issues related to federal and provincial marketing, advertising and consumer protection matters.
Bill joined McMillan as a summer student in 2013, and returned to complete his articles in 2015. Bill subsequently practiced competition law in another prominent Canadian national law firm before returning to McMillan in 2018. He received his J.D./M.A. Economics at the University of Toronto. He is an active member of the leadership of the Canadian Bar Association’s National Competition Law Section and has volunteered to assist with a variety of competition law and policy related matters in the American Bar Association’s Section of Antitrust Law. Bill is fluent in English and Mandarin Chinese.
Representative Matters
- Acted for West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. in its agreement to acquire Norbord Inc. in an all-stock transaction valued at around $4 billion.
- Acting as Canadian counsel for Raytheon Company in its all-stock merger of equals with United Technologies Corporation
- Acted for Thoma Bravo in its acquisition of Aucerna and the negotiated divestiture of the oil and gas reserve software product, which is the first merger challenge since the appointment of the new Commissioner of Competition earlier in 2019
- Acted as Canadian counsel for ABB Ltd. in its US$2.6 billion acquisition of General Electric Industrial Solutions
- Acted for Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan in its US$36 billion merger of equals with Agrium Inc.
- Acted for Canexus Corporation in its C$900 million acquisition by Chemtrade Logistics Income Fund
- Acted for Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. in its C$3.9 billion acquisition by BCE Inc.
- Acted for Lowe’s Companies in its C$3.2 billion acquisition of Rona Inc.
- Acted for Hertz and Dollar Thrifty in the Competition Bureau investigation of alleged advertising practices
- Acted for Hudson’s Bay Company in the Competition Bureau investigation of alleged misleading advertising practices relating to mattresses
Presentations
Antitrust in the Labour Market
Anticompetitive Effects of Horizontal Shareholding
Publications
Do Not Go Directly to Jail – Just Yet Anyway: Competition Bureau Confirms its View that Buy-Side Agreements between Competitors are not Criminally Unlawful
Canada Enters into Cooperation Framework with the Competition Enforcement Agencies of the "Five Eyes" Countries
Competition Bureau Invites Comments to Revisions to the Competitor Collaboration Guidelines
ATPDR: Limited Exemptions for Foreign Air Carriers
CN Rail Acquires H&R Transport - Competition Analysis
Need to Collaborate with Competitors to Respond to the COVID Crisis? Competition Bureau is Ready to Provide Guidance
Cartels in a Time of COVID
YVR Makes Safe Landing: Competition Bureau Abuse of Dominance Case against the Vancouver Airport Authority is Dismissed
Canadian National Security Reviews: 10 Takeaways
News
McMillan LLP Acts for West Fraser in $4 billion Acquisition of Norbord
McMillan Highlighted in both Lexpert's Top 10 Deals and Top 10 Business Decisions
McMillan Named Competition Law Firm of the Year by Chambers Canada
Education
- University of British Columbia, B.A. Honours Economics - 2010
- University of Toronto Faculty of Law, Joint J.D./M.A. Economics - 2014
Year Of Call
- Called to the Ontario bar - 2015
Practices
cartels
class actions
competition and antitrust
competition policy advocacy
foreign investment review
marketing and advertising
mergers
unilateral conduct and distribution practices
Industries
automotive
oil and gas
pharmaceuticals
retail
telecommunications
waste treatment
Directorships and Professional Associations
- Canadian Bar Association – Competition Law Section – 2nd Vice-Chair of the Criminal Matters Committee for 2021
- Law Society of Upper Canada
- Canadian Bar Association (Chair Economics and Law Committee, Competition Law Section, 2017-present
- American Bar Association, Section of Antitrust Law
- Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers
Media Mentions