Alberta captive legal expert switches to BLG

Rick Da Costa has joined Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG) as a partner and national leader, corporate and regulatory insurance & reinsurance.

According to BLG his practice covers a broad range of issues related to insurance, reinsurance and captive insurance. He was the first to successfully re-domesticate a captive insurance company to the Province of Alberta under its new captive insurance legislation and continues to be a heavily active leader in Alberta’s development of a captive insurance hub and resultant captive ecosystem.

Da Costa helps to structure and create new captives, redomesticate existing captives, and supports captive insurance managers. He also has first-hand experience dealing with change management and all that comes with the rapid growth and measured contraction of an insurer’s portfolio.

He has also assisted Canadian insurance regulators with enhancing their respective insurance laws.

“Rick is well-known for providing an exceptional legal experience for clients by using law as a tool to resolve business issues,” said Stephen Redican, national leader of BLG’s specialised business law group. “His years as in-house counsel at Zurich have given him invaluable insight into realities faced by senior leaders and corporate counsel in the insurance and reinsurance industries.”

“BLG is Canada’s Law Firm - the country’s oldest and largest,” said Da Costa in a statement on LinkedIn. “With this massive national platform, including a significant presence in Quebec and Alberta, I can provide my friends with an even better and more expansive legal experience.

“Thank you to BLG for creating this role for me, to Cassels for being my first home, and to everyone who’s helped me along the way.”

Da Costa previously worked as a partner at Cassels Brock & Blackwell, where his team helped to structure and license captive insurance companies in Alberta.