Desiree Katz

Associate

Winnipeg

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Education & Qualifications

  • Manitoba Bar (2018)
  • JD (Manitoba, 2017)
  • B.Comm. with honours (Manitoba, 2014)
  • In-Depth Tax Program – Years 1 to 3 (Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada, 2023)

Services and Industries

Desiree is an associate lawyer in the firm’s Winnipeg office practising in the areas of taxation, corporate/commercial law and wills, trusts and estates.

Desiree has extensive experience in advising clients with respect to taxation and estate planning. In particular, Desiree assists clients with corporate tax planning, personal tax planning, corporate reorganizations and tax efficient business structuring. Desiree also has experience with distribution planning, the implementation and use of family trusts, succession planning and inter-generational transfers of businesses, personal estate planning and drafting testamentary documents. Desiree regularly advises clients at all stages of the business cycle. She works with a broad range of industries including medical, dental, cannabis, retail and service oriented businesses.

In July 2023, Desiree completed the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada’s In-Depth Tax Program (IDTP). The three-year program provides tax practitioners with a strong foundation of technical knowledge in core tax issues. Desiree uses the skills she gained from completing the IDTP to help achieve the best outcomes for the firm’s clients.

  • Member, Board of Directors, Jubilee Fund (2023-present)
  • Member, Board of Directors, Manitoba Women’s Enterprise Centre (Manitoba, 2023-present)
  • Member, Board of Directors, DASCH Inc. (2022-present)
  • Member, Board of Directors, Nurse Next Door (2019-2022)
  • Executive Member, Young Lawyers’ Section, Manitoba Bar Association (Manitoba, 2018-present)
  • Teaching Assistant, The Royal Winnipeg Ballet (2009-2011)
  • Member, Canadian Bar Association
  • Member, Manitoba Bar Association (Manitoba)
  • Member, Canadian Tax Foundation
  • Advised dental/medical professionals with respect to their corporate structuring and acquisition/sales
  • Advised cannabis retailer on matters related to regulatory advertising procedures
  • Assisted with corporate restructuring of agriculture and powersport equipment retailer
  • Recognized as One to Watch, Tax Law, Best Lawyers in Canada (2024-present)
  • Tradition Law LLP Wealth and Succession Prize for highest standing, Trusts, Wills and Succession, and Taxation of Trusts and Estates (2017)
  • Legal History Book Prize for highest standing, Canadian Legal History, Osgoode Society (2016)
  • Selected to Participate in Davies’ Corporate Securities Moot (2016)
  • Dean’s Honour List, Faculty of Law, Pitblado Scholarship (2015)
  • Dean’s Honour List, Faculty of Management (2012, 2013)
  • Dean’s Honour List, Faculty of Arts (2011)
  • Presenter, “Testamentary Trusts – Understanding the Fundamentals to Draft, Implement and Advise,” Mid-Winter Conference, Manitoba Bar Association (2024)
  • Presenter, Canadian Tax Foundation Prairie Provinces Conference (June 2022)
  • Co-author, “A Potpourri of Issues in the Tax Lifecycle of an Estate File,” Canadian Tax Foundation (June 2022)
  • Panellist, Mid-Winter Conference, Manitoba Bar Association (2022)
  • Author, “Benefits of Using a Discretionary Family Trust,” Pharmacists Manitoba (January 2022)
  • Presenter, “GST Issues in Real Estate Transactions,” 2021 Hot Topics in Real Estate, The Law Society of Manitoba
  • Presenter, Mid-Winter Conference, Manitoba Bar Association (2020)