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The lending work conducted at Bennett Jones comes largely as a result of the firm's established presence in the commodities and natural resources sectors. The firm negotiated a $4.5 billion syndicated revolving credit facility for EnCana and secured a $3.85 billion loan in connection with Canadian Natural Resources' acquisition of Anadarko Canada. While not a traditional banking firm, the firm does have a consistent track record in representations for RBC. Lending assignments include Bennett Jones advising RBC as the leader of a $1.36 billion lending syndicate for UAP Holding's acquisition of Agrium.

Bennett Jones is a premiere energy firm with an established presence in western Canada. "Bennett Jones are excellent. They're probably the best known firm in Calgary and we use them a lot," says one client. Although established in the west, Bennett Jones has begun to develop its brand more effectively in eastern markets. Recently, the firm's growing Toronto presence was enhanced by the recruitment of Francis Allen from Borden Ladner Gervais.

Bennett Jones advised Precision Drilling Trust in its eventual acquisition – through a series of unsolicited offers – of oil services provider Grey Wolf in December 2008. Estimated at a $2 billion value, the acquisition was finalised after three unsolicited bids by Precision and the procurement of financing commitments during the worst of the credit crisis.

Also in December 2008, Bennett Jones again advised the acquirer in Riverstone Holdings' acquisition of Gibson Energy Holdings. Valued at C$1.25 billion ($1.13 billion), the acquisition of Gibson Energy gives private-equity player Riverstone assets including crude storage and processing facilities, and over 290 miles of pipeline.

With a reputation for oil and gas work in western Canada, Bennett Jones has made a concerted effort to further its brand in the infrastructure market to the east. Working with Infrastructure Ontario and the Niagara Health System, Bennett Jones secured $759 million in commitments for a greenfield medical centre in St Catharines, Ontario. The DBFM (design-build-finance-maintain) project was the largest ever conducted by Infrastructure Ontario and was the most sizeable to receive financing since credit conditions worsened significantly in October 2008. In other hospital work, Bennett Jones advised TD Bank (Toronto-Dominion Bank) as the lender in $142 million designated for proposed developments and renovations to the facilities at Kingston General Hospital in Ontario.

In the largest PPP (public-private partnership) for Canadian schools, Bennett Jones represented TD Bank, again as the lender, to a project developing 18 greenfield elementary and junior high schools in Alberta. The schools are to be divided equally between Edmonton and Calgary. As part of the short-term debt tranche, TD Bank's $15 million investment has a repayment horizon of 22 months, following the openings of the new school facilities.

Bennett Jones is renowned in the Canadian market for its representations of creditors and noteholders. Rick Orzy and Kevin Zych are recognised by peers as unquestioned leaders of the overall practice, present on files for Ainsworth Lumber, Nortel Networks, Quebecor World and Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation in the last year. But despite this flurry of recent activity, peers note an increasing number of conflicts of interest that have sent work to rival firms.

In the CCAA proceedings for Quebecor World and Smurfit-Stone, Bennett Jones landed the roles of advising the committees of unsecured creditors for both companies. Filing for protection in January 2008, printer Quebecor World is attempting to restructure an estimated $3 billion in debt commitments. One year later, in January 2009, the paper maker Smurfit-Stone entered into simultaneous CCAA and Chapter 11 proceedings in Canada and the US with the hope of refinancing the company's $4 billion in debt holdings.

Noteholder work includes Bennett Jones' advice to the cross-border noteholder group in the Nortel Networks bankruptcy. With an estimated $4.5 billion in outstanding debt, the telecom products manufacturer filed for Canadian and US bankruptcy protections in January 2009.