Whistler Blackcomb, a 2010 Olympic venue Click here to see full sized version.

Though the lighting of the flame is still four years off, British Columbia law firms are approaching the home stretch in the race for lucrative retainers associated with the 2010 Winter Games. When the Olympic Committee first announced that Vancouver-Whistler would host the Games, many firms set up planning committees to develop an Olympic strategy.

Vancouver’s Lawson Lundell LLP, for example, appointed two partners to monitor and respond to Games opportunities even before Vancouver was chosen as the official venue.

Managing partner Brian Fulton told The Lawyers Weekly, “Our client base is heavily weighted to private sector clients.  We are currently working with our clients on specific 2010 initiatives, some involving venue locations and others involving the supply of a broad range of services to the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.  The level of inquiries from our existing and new clients is starting to increase and we expect activity on the subject to continue to ramp up over the next 18 months in particular.” 

James Taylor, chair of Miller Thomson’s National Sports Law Group, told The Lawyers Weekly his group has identified four initiatives to increase business opportunities associated with the Games:

“1.  The members of our Sport Law Group are using their connections with the Olympic and general sporting bodies in Canada (such as the Vancouver Organizing Committee — which goes by the acronym VANOC) to discover what their needs are and so what supply and procurement opportunities will exist in association with the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

“2. Our Sport Law Group is then notifying other lawyers within Miller Thomson in the relevant practice areas about those opportunities (for example, if a venue is to be upgraded then we notify our construction law group).

“3. The Sport Law Group, and lawyers in the applicable practice areas, are notifying clients of procurement and other supply opportunities, so that clients have a chance to bid.

“4. The Sport Law Group is sending information through Miller Thomson’s international networks (i.e. beyond clients) about the increased economic activity in BC and Canada associated with the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.”

Taylor gave the example of relaying VANOC’s request for 3,000 barricades to one of Miller Thomson’s clients, who ultimately got the contract to supply them.

Miller Thomson also published a memo called “Opportunities Relating to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games,” which describes the economic impact of the Games in hard numbers: “VANOC is expected to directly spend $2 billion on goods and services for the planning and staging of the Games. It is expected that another $2 billion will be spent indirectly by sponsors, suppliers, licensees, sporting delegations, visiting tourists, athletic teams and official delegations. In addition, it is expected that the municipal and provincial governments will be spending more than $4 billion on infrastructure upgrades. These groups need services and products; opportunities for large and small companies to fulfill these needs are endless.”

The memo also notes that the Games “will generate 60 days of core activity. British Columbia will be the host to thousands of Olympic Games and Paralympic Games athletes and officials, 80+ participating countries and over 250,000 visitors. In addition to construction costs, it is expected that visitor spending will amount to $1 to $2.5 billion in the 2005 to 2011 period.”

Taylor added that about 220,000 tourists attended the Games in Salt Lake City in 2002.

McCarthy Tétrault’s 96-lawyer Vancouver office established its Olympic Committee immediately after the Games were announced. Lisa Vogt told The Lawyers Weekly “This is an exciting time for all of us.” She said the committee “meets on a regular basis to review opportunities. A number of our significant clients have already been involved in Games preparation either as venue providers, sponsors or suppliers.”

Daniel Steiner is the committee’s chair. He told The Lawyers Weekly, McCarthys is the regular counsel for Intrawest, which own Whistler Blackcomb ski resorts. “These being some of the Olympic venues, there are all sorts of Olympic-related negotiations and contracts associated with them.”

McCarthys also published an eight-page brochure called “Top of the Podium” which describes the relevance of 13 different areas of law to the Olympic Games.

Davis & Company’s Marketing Director Liza Aboud told The Lawyers Weekly about one Olympic-related project her firm is involved with, namely, the Canada Line rapid transit line running from the Vancouver airport to downtown Vancouver. She said it will be finished in November 2009, “just in time to transport Olympic visitors.”

Davis & Company’s Doug Buchanan acts for SNC-Lavalin Inc., in connection with the $1.8-billion public-private-partnership.

Another Davis & Company lawyer, Scott Dunlop, is counsel for Pacific Sports, the B.C. provincial authority responsible for elite podium athlete training and preparation.

Dunlop e-mailed to The Lawyers Weekly from Australia where he is vacationing: “Overall, the Olympics have meant an increase in interest in developing clinics/centres for preparing athletes at all levels. I do a fair bit of sports law and I have advised the Canadian Podium elite sports associations and sport medicine side of elite Olympic athlete preparation and training.”