Goad and Goad LLP
Automatically compiled listing. Details may contain errors.2 lawyers · Established 1969 · Waterloo Region
One of 41 law firms listed in Cambridge, and one of 21 handling Business & Corporate Law.
Virtual appointmentsVirtual appointmentsAbout Goad and Goad LLP
Clients rate this firm highly on Google.
Individuals, businesses, government bodies and non-profits of every size and structure turn to Goad and Goad LLP for business, public and personal legal matters, and for help resolving disputes. Based in Cambridge, Ontario, its lawyers practise as barristers, solicitors and notaries public.
Steve Matheson and Jim Renick are the partners, Tim Goad is counsel, and Gary Goad has retired. Tim has stepped away from active practice yet still drops in with advice for the team, especially where long-standing clients are involved. Matheson practises through Steven D. E. Matheson Professional Corporation.
Matheson has worked as legal counsel ever since articling with a small Thunder Bay firm in 1998. Renick, in practice since 1992, holds a University of Toronto science degree in toxicology and environmental science, an LL.B. from the University of Windsor and a J.D. from the University of Detroit. The two first crossed paths about 15 years ago, when Matheson was in-house counsel for a large single-tier municipality and Renick was handling its outside legal work.
Some of the lawyers bring more than a decade of experience as in-house counsel to corporations. New clients can request a consultation with Goad and Goad LLP.
History
The firm traces its roots to 1969. That year Gary Goad, who grew up in Preston, articled with a Kitchener firm and went on to become a partner at Lochead, Sills, Osborne, Madorin, Bean & Goad. In 1972 Gary moved south of Highway 401 to Cambridge, Gary’s hometown, to practise alone. Goad and Goad itself began in 1980, when Tim Goad joined. The office then stood just down the street at 65 Cambridge Street, and it’s been at number 53 since 1987.
Gary had been practising for 11 years when Tim, the youngest sibling, was persuaded to join a very busy practice, and Tim’s law school classmate John T. Lynch came on board as well. Gary’s own work ranged across property, family and criminal matters, estates, business law and litigation. Gary retired on December 31, 2012.
Practice areas
Business & Corporate Law
Employment & Labour Law
Wills, Estates & Trusts
Real Estate Law
Administrative & Regulatory Law
Civil Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Municipal and local government
The firm has worked for municipalities, committees, boards and police boards for more than twenty years, both in-house and as external counsel, and has advised single-tier, upper-tier and lower-tier governments. Its municipal files include closed-session investigations, Drainage Act and expropriation work, OMB / LPAT hearings, and public private partnerships (3Ps).
Planning and land development
Outside government, the firm guides private and non-profit clients, from developers and corporations to community groups and individuals, through planning and development approvals. Jim Renick has acted for municipalities and for the development side since being called to the bar, and also keeps a general practice in real estate, wills and estates, and corporate/commercial law.
Business and corporate
Its business clients range from local manufacturers and commercial operations needing routine corporate support to technology companies with intellectual property questions. The work includes joint venture agreements (3Ps among them), estate freezes and tax-driven asset transfers. Steve Matheson, raised in an entrepreneurial family, has a particular affinity for this area.
Construction
On construction matters the firm acts for owners and contractors and for architects, engineers and other construction professionals. It has handled builders' liens, RFP and tender disputes, claims over delays and extra work, plus insurance and bond claims.
Employment and labour
The firm has been counsel both to very large corporations and to businesses with only one or a few staff, and it takes on HR work for some smaller clients that have no in-house HR experience. Its management training can use role-playing, case studies and mock trials. Employees who believe they’ve faced discrimination at work can have their claim assessed and get help deciding whether there are grounds for a complaint to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, and whether to go ahead.
Estates, wills and trusts
The estates group works hand in hand with accounting, trust, banking, insurance and investment professionals, and trusts are used mainly for advanced corporate structuring. When an estate is in dispute, whether over a contested will, a trust variation or a constructive trust claim, the firm represents clients at every level of court and in mediation and other alternative dispute resolution. It also acts for clients applying for adult guardianship, and Steve Matheson particularly enjoys steering estate trustees clear of the traps that catch the unprepared.
Charities and non-profits
For charities and non-profits, the firm handles applications for charitable status and the changes required under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (CNCA). Most governance work is preventive: drafting policies and procedures, adjusting by-laws and suggesting step-by-step improvements to how a charity is run.
Real estate
Real estate clients include businesses, individual owners, property managers and both public and private sector entities. Services include survivorship applications, used when someone registered on title has died, as well as sales and purchases by non-residents.
Good to know
Accessible parking
Free parking
Virtual appointments
In-person servicesHow Goad and Goad LLP works
For local governments, Goad and Goad puts the emphasis on practical, timely advice as issues emerge. On construction files its focus is on building suitable dispute resolution steps into contracts and helping clients settle disputes before they reach court, a final and very costly option. In employment cases the firm favours resolving matters quickly and securing better working conditions or, where necessary, a favourable exit package.
In the community
- Tim Goad's community involvement has included serving as president of the Montessori School of Cambridge while Tim's children attended, United Way work, membership in the Shades Mill Law Association (including a past executive role), and membership in the Waterloo Law Association.
- Steve Matheson volunteers in the community coaching hockey or soccer.
Lawyers 2
Who handles what
The neighbourhood
The office is in Cambridge, which sits where the Grand and Speed rivers meet. The city was created in 1973, when Galt, Preston, Hespeler and the settlement of Blair were amalgamated. Tim Goad was born and raised in Preston, one of those original communities.
Frequently asked questions
- Does Goad and Goad work for small Ontario communities that have no in-house legal staff?
- Yes. Very small communities with no legal staff of their own are among its municipal clients, along with conservation authorities and larger municipalities that sometimes need outside counsel to support their own lawyers. The firm regularly travels across the province to work with these clients and get to know their operations, communities and issues.
- Can Goad and Goad train our municipal recreation and public works staff?
- Goad and Goad offers training for municipal managers and staff, covering employment, WSIB and risk management topics as well as proper note-taking for recreation and public works employees.
- Where should my realtor send the Agreement of Purchase and Sale for a Goad and Goad closing?
- Send the firm Agreement of Purchase and Sale to Jodi Brewer, who handles real estate inquiries, at jodi@goadandgoad.com or realestate@goadandgoad.com. Jodi has been with the firm since 2002, and any other real estate documents go to the realestate@goadandgoad.com address.
- Our charity is facing a CRA audit. Can Goad and Goad help?
- Yes. Goad and Goad works with charities before, during and after audits. It recommends that an organization under audit bring in a lawyer to protect its rights and keep the process as painless as possible.
Where to find them
53 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, ON N1R 3R8 · 519-623-7660
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