Paul Milne, an accomplished consultant and former family business lawyer, is uniquely qualified to help guide business families through the transition planning process.
He grew up in a family business and experienced firsthand his own family business’ transition and difficulties. After becoming a lawyer, and through his many years in practice, he worked with family businesses providing a mix of legal and business transition consulting expertise. After retiring from Simpson Wigle Law, LLP, in December 2017, he started an independent consultancy. Paul Milne Consulting is uniquely focused on helping business families in transition.
Paul’s approach is a customized one, based on the particular business family and their needs. Paul consults with small and large-scale family enterprises, and has a wide network of national and international specialists that complement his expertise.
A sought-after speaker and business mentor, Paul is a Fellow of the Family Firm Institute, has a law degree, an MBA, and more than four decades of experience to bring to his engagements.
Paul is a long-term contributor to his community. He is also an avid trekker who has climbed some challenging mountains and hiked trails in different parts of the world.
| Certificate in Family Business Advising with Fellow Status The Family Firm Institute, USA |
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| Certificate in Family Business Advising The Family Firm Institute, USA |
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| Bachelor of Laws Degree (LL.B) Osgoode Hall Law School York University, Toronto |
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| Master of Business Administration (MBA) University of Toronto – Emphasis: Finance and Management |
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| Bachelor of Arts (BA) Economics Major University of Toronto |
A partner emeritus of Simpson Wigle LAW, LLP, a 31-lawyer law firm with offices in Hamilton and Burlington, and a family business consultant. Areas of practice included:
- Acting as counsel to owners of family businesses with emphasis on corporate organizational planning from a legal perspective and development and implementation of transition plans for business families.This included working with other professionals in an interdisciplinary manner facilitating transition planning, career planning for family members and design and development of governance systems, such as advisory boards, boards of directors and family councils.This also included facilitating annual family retreats and values clarification retreats for business families.
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- Estate planning and incapacity planning for owners of family businesses, their families and other individuals.
| 2017 | Attorneys for Family Held Enterprises, Mid-Year Conference, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A. |
| 2017 | Attorneys for Family Held Enterprises, Annual Continuing Education Conference, Miami, Florida, U.S.A. |
| 2016 | Attorneys for Family Held Enterprises, Annual Continuing Education Conference, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. |
| 2016 | Family Firm Institute, Global Conference, “Adapt, Evolve, Transform”, Miami, Florida, U.S.A. |
| 2015 | Attorneys for Family Held Enterprises, Regional Conference, New York, New York, U.S.A. |
| 2015 | Attorneys for Family Held Enterprises, Annual Continuing Education Conference, Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S.A. |
| 2015 | Family Firm Institute, Global Conference, “Myths and Realities”, London, England |
| 2014 | Attorneys for Family Held Enterprises, Annual Continuing Education Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A. |
| 2014 | Family Firm Institute, Global Conference, “Family and Enterprise-Complexities, Constituencies, Constellations”, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. |
| 2013 | Family Firm Institute Conference “Educate, Connect, Inspire”, San Diego, California, U.S.A. |
| 2012 | Family Firm Institute Conference “The Field, the Families, the Future”, Brussels, Belgium |
| 2011 | Family Firm Institute Conference “Next Generation, New Generations”, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. |
| 2011 | “Family Wealth Advising – A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Consulting and Advising Families of Wealth”, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. |
| 2010 | Family Firm Institute Conference “New Game? New Rules”, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. |
| 2010 | Attorneys for Family Held Enterprises, “Annual Continuing Education Conference”, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. |
| 2009 | Family Firm Institute Conference “Risky Business – Assessing and Managing Risk in the 21st Century Family Enterprise”, New York, New York, U.S.A. |
| 2009 | Attorneys for Family Held Enterprises, “Annual Continuing Education Conference”, Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.A. |
| 2008 | Family Firm Institute Conference |
| 2008 | Attorneys for Family Held Enterprises, “Annual Continuing Education Conference”, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.A. |
| 2007 | Attorneys for Family Held Enterprises, Regional Meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A. “Board Governance for Private Enterprises”. |
| 2007 | Family Firm Institute Conference “Culture Plus Adaptation – Family Enterprises in a Diverse World”, Miami, Florida, U.S.A. |
| 2007 | Attorneys for Family Held Enterprises “Annual Continuing Education Conference”, Asheville, North Carolina, U.S.A. |
| 2006 | Attorneys for Family Held Enterprises, Regional Meeting in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A., “Best Practices and Management Issues for a Trusts & Estates Practice Group Focusing on Business Owners” |
| 2006 | Family Firm Institute Conference, “Values-Based Advising: A Formalized approach for Professionals, Consultants and their Clients”, San Francisco, California, U.S.A. |
| 2006 | Attorneys for Family Held Enterprises, “Annual Continuing Education Conference”, Napa City, California, U.S.A |
| 2005 | Family Firm Institute Conference, “Varied Architectures – The Art and Science of Designing Family Enterprises”, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. |
| 2005 | Attorneys for Family Held Enterprises, “Annual Continuing Education Conference”, Napa City, California, U.S.A |
| 2004 | Family Firm Institute Conference, “Revolutionary Ideas for the Family Business Field”, Boston, Mass., U.S.A. |
| 2004 | Attorneys for Family Held Enterprises, “Counsellor at Law” Regional Conference, Michigan, U.S.A. |
| 2004 | Attorneys for Family Held Enterprises, “Annual Continuing Education Conference”, New York, New York, U.S.A. |
| 2003 | Family Firm Institute Conference, “Demonstrating Leadership – Benchmarks for the Family Business Professional”, Toronto, Canada |
| 2002 | Family Firm Institute Conference, “Building Communities of Practice in the Family Business Field”, Dallas, Texas, U.S.A. |
| 2001 | Family Firm Institute Conference, “The Challenges Facing the 21st Century Family Business”, London, England |
| 2000 | Business Families Foundation “Facilitators Training Course”, Montreal, Quebec |
| 2000 | The Sixth Annual Family Business Conference, “The Entrepreneurial Family Business: How to Build and Sustain a Healthy Family Enterprise”, Glasgow, Scotland |
| 2000 | Family Firm Institute Conference “Family Business: 2000″, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. |
| 1999 | Family Firm Institute Conference, “Family Business Strategies for the New Millennium”, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. |
| 1999 | “The Business of Family Business”, UCLA, Family Firm Institute, Los Angeles, U.S.A. |
| 1997 | The 1997 Family Firm Institute Conference “Progress and Prophecy”, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A. |
| 1996 | The 1996 Family Firm Institute Conference “Power Up the Family Business”, Philadelphia, PA., U.S.A. |
| 1993 and 1995 | Canadian Association of Family Enterprise Annual Meetings and Seminars, Quebec City and Ottawa |
| 1991 | Wharton School of Business, Philadelphia: Programme on succession planning for family business |
CPA Consultant, 2001, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants – The Family Business History: A Catalyst to a Successful Succession Plan; Co-Author with Phyllis M. Cowan;
Estates, Trusts and Pensions Journal, 2001 – Solicitors’ Obligations – Suggestions for an Estates Practice
Estates and Trusts Journal, 1997 – The Family Business History: A Catalyst to a Successful Succession Plan; Co-Author with Phyllis M. Cowan.
Canadian Association of Family Enterprise
The Family Firm Institute, USA
Attorneys for Family Held Enterprises, USA
Paul believes in giving back to his community. He has a strong, long-standing commitment to the Hamilton-Burlington area, where he has served on a significant number of legal, health and family business organizations’ boards and committees over the years.
| Director, Centre for Surgical Invention and Innovation, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario | |
| Director, Family Firm Institute, USA | |
| Member, Consulting Services Executive Committee – American Institute of Certified Public Accountants | |
| Editor, Estates, Trusts and Pensions Journal, a Canadian national publication | |
| Director, Business Advisory Centre, Hamilton-Wentworth, Vice Chairman, Member of Executive Committee, Chairman of Governance Committee. |
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| Director, Hamilton Civic Hospitals: Chairman, Strategic Planning Committee and Member, Governance Committee Member, Transition Committee to negotiate merger with Chedoke-McMaster Hospitals Member, Collaboration Agreement Drafting Team, Hamilton Civic Hospitals and St. Joseph’s Hospital, Hamilton |
| 2007 | Summit Mount Kilimanjaro – 19,300 feet – Tanzania, Africa |
| 2009 | Second Summit Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Africa |
| 2011 | Trek to Base Camp Mount Everest; Summit Kala Patar Mountain – 18,500 feet |
| 2013 | 640 kilometer Camino Trek from St. Jean Pied de Port in France to Santiago in Spain |
| 2014 | Trek from Irish Sea across England to the North Sea along Hadrian’s Wall |
| 2015 | Swim across the Dardanelles Strait, Turkey |
| 2016 | Trek, Bruce Trail, Wiarton to Tobermory, Ontario, Canada |
Paul at base camp Mount Everest, Nepal.
Paul crossing a gorge on the way to base camp
Mount Everest.
Paul walking the Camino Frances de Santiago.
Paul trekking Hadrian’s Wall, Northern England.
Paul at the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.
Paul descending the Grand Canyon, Arizona.