The Rogers Saga and What It Can Teach Us About Family Business Succession Planning

You’re invited to the FVEPC kick-off session scheduled for Tuesday, Nov 16 at 5:00 pm. We hope you’re able to join us for a “Dinner Apart” featuring a presentation by Nicole Garton on The Rogers Saga. Please, enjoy a $30 dinner through Skip the Dishes, Uber Eats or another one of your favorite take-out establishments. Following our Zoom dinner meeting, please email your receipt and preferred email address to which we can e-transfer your refund to coordinator@fvepc.com by Nov 30.

Nicole will speak to us about the drama that has spilled out of the boardroom and into the public eye, and has gripped Canadian’s attentions, “The Rogers Saga and What it Can Teach Us About Family Business Succession Planning.” Before his death in 2008, Ted Rogers put in place an elaborate succession plan for the company he had built over 47 years. He had two fundamental wishes: For future generations of the Rogers family to keep control of Rogers Communications Inc, and to affect a separation between the ownership of RCI shares and the voting rights of shareholders. Now, 13 years later, RCI is dealing with two competing boards of directors, two competing board chairs, and a family feud being played out in the courts and in the media. Nicole Garton will discuss the Rogers case, and she considers how the Rogers saga could have been prevented, using the tools of trust law, conflict management, and a governance structure based upon transparency and regular communication. Nicole Garton, BA, LLB. LLM, C. Med, FEA, TEP is the principal of Heritage Law and the co-founder of Heritage Trust. She has been a lawyer focusing on wills, estates, and family matters since 2001. Nicole is Past Chair of the Canadian Bar Association Wills and Trusts Subsection (Vancouver), a Chartered Mediator (C.Med), and a certified Family Enterprise Advisor (FEA), as well as a member of the EPCV and the FVEPC. Nicole is the author of the article “The Rogers Saga and What it Can Teach US About Family Business and Conflict”, and her recently published e-book “Harnessing Conflict: How Family Businesses Can Survive and Thrive”, as well as “The Heritage Trust Estate Administration Boot Camp: A Complete Guide on How to Probate and Administer an Estate in British Columbia”. About us Now in its 24th year, the FVEPC Fraser Valley Estate Planning Council exists to promote communication and education for professionals involved in the planning and administration of estates.