Ms Carol Lyons Partner McMillan LLP - Lawyer Biography - International Law Office

International Law Office

Lawyer Biography

Ms Carol Lyons

Professional Activities

  • Partner since 1994
  • Member of the firm's Business Law Group

Carol Lyons practices in the corporate/commercial law area with an emphasis on transactional work. She advises clients on mergers and acquisitions, corporate reorganizations, contract procurement, including requests for proposals (RFPs), and formation of strategic alliances (including divestment/outsourcing of business functions).

Carol specializes in working with clients in the insurance, health care and other regulated industries. Her practice includes assisting insurers and reinsurers with the regulatory approval process in the context of transactions and other corporate changes as well as advising on regulatory compliance generally.  She also advises on pension law matters.

Carol was seconded to IBM Canada Ltd. in 1993-1994 as legal advisor to IBM Business Development.

Carol Lyons acted as corporate secretary for two property and casualty insurance companies from 1989 to 1994 and is currently lead director and an audit committee member of a leading Canadian reinsurance company as well as a past advisory board member and audit committee member of an Ontario insurance reciprocal.

Special Recognition

Practical Law Company's PLC Cross-border Insurance and Reinsurance Handbook 2010 as a recommended practitioner in Insurance (non-contentious)

Memberships

  • Canadian Bar Association
  • Ontario Bar Association

Directorships & Business Interests

  • Lead Director, SCOR Canada Reinsurance Company
  • Audit Committee member, SCOR Canada Reinsurance Company
  • Past Director, Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario

Representative Transactions

Carol's transactional work includes:

  • Routinely assisting corporations in a variety of industries/sectors with incorporation and licensing, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, corporate reorganizations, jurisdictional changes as well as divestment/outsourcing of business functions
  • Regularly advising with respect to commercial contractual matters, including procurement of goods and services, formation of joint ventures and strategic alliances

Carol's regulatory and corporate governance work includes:

  • Routinely assisting domestic and foreign insurance and reinsurance companies in connection with incorporation and licensing of Canadian subsidiaries, qualification, licensing, run-off and closure of Canadian branch operations as well as portfolio transfers, reorganizations and amalgamations
  • Advising insurers and reinsurers with respect to statutory compliance and required regulatory approvals in a variety of contexts, including transactional and operational matters, related-party transactions
  • Assisting corporate counsel and boards of directors with the preparation and implementation of board and committee governance handbooks and related policies
  • Regularly advising health care (e.g. community care access centre corporations), government-funded organizations, with procurement and corporate governance matters

Practice Areas

Business law

  • charities & not for profit
  • corporate
  • corporate governance
  • mergers & acquisitions

Insurance

  • corporate insurance
  • products for the insurance industry
  • regulatory

Mergers & acquisitions

Privacy

  • health privacy law - ontario

Services to women entrepreneurs

Industries

Financial institutions / financial services

  • financial institutions
  • insurance

Health care & life sciences

  • health care

Insurance

Education and Year of Call

  • Called to the Ontario bar - 1989
  • University of Toronto, JD - 1987
  • University of Toronto, BA - 1984