R. Daren Baxter, KC, TEP

About Daren

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Daren is a Partner in McInnes Cooper’s Halifax, NS office whose law practice is focused on tax, estate planning and corporate law. He provides a comprehensive range of tax services to corporations, trusts, non-profit organizations and high-net-worth individuals, focusing on tax planning for businesses and their owners. He advises on business mergers and acquisitions, domestic and cross-border tax planning, complex corporate structuring and reorganizations, and disputes with the Canada Revenue Agency.

Daren received his Queen’s Counsel designation in 2011 (now known as King’s Counsel). He is a Registered Trust and Estate Practitioner with a particular knowledge of trusts, estate planning, and business succession. His skillfulness extends to taxation of corporations and their shareholders, and the design and implementation of various tax-effective planning strategies.

Daren has been recognized by Best Lawyers in Canada since 2009 in the area of tax law and was an advisor on trust law to the Law Reform Commission of Nova Scotia. He received the Best Lawyers 2018 & 2022 Tax Law “Lawyer of the Year” award in Halifax. He is also ranked in The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory.

Daren is a member and frequent lecturer of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), the Canadian Tax Foundation, and the Canadian Bar Association. He speaks regularly on taxation and estate planning at national and local continuing education programs for these and other professional bodies.

Daren was twice elected by his partners as a member of McInnes Cooper’s Board of Directors from 2011 to 2017. During that time, he served on the firm’s Pension Committee, Audit Committee, and the Governance & Management Compensation Committee.

Daren was the president of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society in 2016-2017. Before serving a three-year term on the Society’s Executive, he was elected by his fellow lawyers three times as a member of the Society’s Governing Council. He previously chaired the Society’s Governance and Nominating Committee, Finance Committee, Limited Liability Partnerships Committee, and its Incorporation of Law Firms Committee, in addition to serving on various other committees.

Daren was also Vice-Chair of the Nova Scotia Securities Commission from 2004 to 2010, and a member of the Commission for 10 years. In this role, he represented the Canadian Securities Administrators on the Joint Forum of Financial Market Regulators (the forum through which pension, securities and insurance regulators coordinate, harmonize and streamline the regulation of financial products and services in Canada).

Daren completed the Directors Education Program offered by the Institute of Corporate Directors and Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. He was previously an elected member of the Board of Directors of a TSX listed company and served on its Audit Committee.

Daren is an avid automobile enthusiast and a high-performance driving instructor for the Porsche Club of America and BMW Clubs Atlantic Canada. He is the proud father of two children – his daughter is an aspiring singer & actress, and his son is a three-time Canadian Karting Champion and the 2023 F1600 Canada Champion.