Laurie LaPalme (She/Her/Hers) leads Dentons Canada’s National Corporate and Regulatory Insurance practice and is Co-Lead of the National Insurance sector group. With more than 20 years of experience advising domestic and foreign life and general insurance companies, insurance agents and brokers, reinsurance companies on corporate and regulatory matters, transactions, corporate reorganizations, and governance issues, clients note that Laurie is “absolutely an expert and that comes across clearly in the work,” taken from a Chambers Canada client interview.
Clients benefit from her deep understanding of the Canadian and global insurance markets, and how to navigate the regulatory landscape to help their businesses grow and operate in Canada.
Laurie’s corporate and insurance regulatory practice involves mergers and acquisitions, portfolio transfers, demutualization, corporate reorganizations, formation of insurers, federal and provincial licensing, corporate governance, compliance matters and working with both federal and provincial regulators.
She advises on the establishment and operation of captive insurers, self-funded deductible programs and other risk retention and transfer structures. She also advises on entry into Canada, including the incorporation, organization and financing of companies, the drafting of shareholder, partnership and joint venture agreements, purchase and sale agreements, and drafting of a range of commercial agreements, including outsourcing, security, and service agreements.
Laurie works closely with members of our risk management team to ensure clients are proactively protected in all of their business operations.
She regularly organizes and presents seminars to clients and professional associations, and has authored numerous articles on various insurance regulatory issues of current interest.
Recognition
Laurie has been commended for her extensive knowledge and experience in the following respected publications:
- The Legal 500 Canada: Corporate M&A
- The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory: Financial Institutions Regulation
- Chambers Canada: Insurance: Transactional and Reinsurance
- Who’s Who Legal Canada: Insurance and Reinsurance
In the Media
- Quoted in “Dentons hires nine-member insurance team from Cassels”, The Globe and Mail, February 2021
Insights
- Co-author, “Update: Canada’s Federal government revokes the emergency orders previously declared under the Emergencies Act (Canada),” Canada Insurance Law Review, February 25, 2022
- Co-author, “Federal government invokes the Emergencies Act: Implications for insurers in Canada”, Canada Insurance Law Review, February 18, 2022
- Co-author, “The wait is over – Final reinsurance guidance issued by OSFI”, Canada Insurance Law Review, February 16, 2022
- Co-author, “BCFSA launches public consultation process for Information Security incident reporting rules for financial institutions”, Canada Insurance Law Review, January 25, 2022
- Co-author, “Why insurers and intermediaries operating in Ontario should review the new Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices (UDAP) rule”, Canada Insurance Law Review, January 13, 2022
- Co-author, “OSFI launches consultation process for Draft Guideline B-13: Technology and Cyber Risk Management”, Canada Insurance Law Review, November 17, 2021
- Co-author, “OSFI issues final version of Guideline E-4 (Foreign Entities Operating in Canada on a Branch Basis)”, Canada Insurance Law Review, July 12, 2021
- Co-author, “RIBO considers changes to the multi-firm principal broker model”, Dentons Insights, April 21, 2021
- Co-author, “Corporate & regulatory insurance in 2021: Three verdicts on the impact of globalization on Canada”, Lexpert, March 25, 2021
- Co-author, “Issuance of restricted licences discontinued by the Insurance Council of British Columbia”, Dentons Insights, March 4, 2021
Memberships
- Member, American Bar Association
- Member, Canadian Bar Association
- Member, Ontario Bar Association
Areas of Focus
Practices
- Corporate
- Banking and Finance
Industry Sectors
- Insurance
- Reinsurance
- Insurance Regulation
Education
University of Western Ontario, 1998, LLB
Wilfred Laurier University, 1995, BBA (Hons)
Admissions and Qualifications
New York, 2001
Ontario, 2000