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Interlaw’s Partner Firm in Toronto, Canada Advises on Formation of Professional Women’s Hockey League
Aird & Berlis, Interlaw’s partner firm in Toronto, Canada, has advised on a historic matter which will see the launch of a single viable professional women’s hockey league in North America, featuring the best women hockey players in the world, in 2024.
The Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) was formed in May 2019 to promote the need for a sustainable and viable professional women’s hockey league in North America.
The Mark Walter Group and Billie Jean King Enterprises (the Investor Group) spent months negotiating a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with a formal union, the Professional Women’s Hockey League Players Association (PWHLPA), that was formed by the members of the PWHPA. In a groundbreaking step towards the launch of the new league, the members of the PWHLPA have ratified the CBA, marking the first time a women’s professional sports union has ratified a CBA prior to the start of competition.
Aird & Berlis acted as Canadian counsel for both the PWHPA and the PWHLPA on corporate/commercial matters and assisted with negotiations of the CBA. The team was led by Jessie Lewis (corporate/commercial) and included Jennifer Bishop (corporate/M&A), Dasha Peregoudova (labor/employment), Stephen Zolf (media/broadcasting), Amy Grenon and Ken Clark (intellectual property), all of whom are members of the firm’s sports, media and entertainment group.
