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Ottawa-based Martin Vervoort is currently the in-house legal counsel for InterRent REIT and CLV Group. He began his law career in 1985 with Maclaren Corlett LLP as an articling student, eventually becoming a partner. While working at MacLaren Corlett LLP, Mr. Vervoort practiced in many different areas of the law, and his practice eventually evolved into a primarily real estate and corporate law practice.
With his 25 years of experience, Martin Vervoort joined CLV Group full time in 2011 as its first in-house legal counsel.
Mr. Vervoort is also an active member of the community. As a two-time recipient of CLV Group and InterRent REIT’s prestigious Ron Kolbus Coimmunity Service Award, he is passionate about giving back.
Q: Can you tell us a little about yourself. What about real estate and corporate law attracted you to change focus?
Martin Vervoort: I actually studied Canadian history before moving on to earn my law degree at Queens University. I did well in my property classes and enjoyed the subject matter, so when I accepted my first job working at MacLaren Corlett LLP, I eventually went on to hone my area of expertise in real estate transactional work.
What drew me to real estate law was the diversity of roles within the job title. Real estate lawyers help clients with a wide range of issues such as reviewing and preparing, inspection reports, leases, and purchase agreements. They draft documents such as financial and rental agreements, security agreement, leases, and deeds for higher priced purchases or conveyance transactions.
Q: What skills would you say are important to becoming a lawyer?
Martin Vervoort: In general, you’ve got to be willing to protect your client, no matter what the case is. Determination is a key component to becoming a successful lawyer. With respect to real estate law, the skills that I believe are most important are organizational and analytical skills. It is the real estate lawyer’s responsibility to know contracts in detail. In terms of being organized, you will often have to juggle many transactions at once. And then there’s the matter of meeting deadlines. If you can’t meet deadlines, you are in trouble.
Q: What advice do you have for young people starting out in their law careers?
Martin Vervoort: Gain all of the experience you can get your hands on. As a law student, take as many classes as possible in different subject matters to help you determine which course of law you want to pursue. I believe it is very important to get as much experience as you can in all areas of the law. as this is where you’ll be able to gain firsthand experience. Ask as many questions as you can. The more practical experience you have prior to graduation, the more marketable you will be when it comes time to start the job hunt.
Q: You are a two-time recipient of CLV Group and InterRent REIT’s Ron Kolbus Award for community involvement. Why is giving back important to you?
Martin Vervoort: I strongly believe in charitable endeavours and civic engagement. It’s one of the components that attracted me to accepting a full-time position with CLV Group and InterRent. Ourteam has been involved with several local and national charities over the years,and I strongly believe that philanthropy work within an organization is an important pillar to fostering employee morale and helping out the community.
Q: What are some of the organizations you have personally been involved with?
Martin Vervoort: Well I have always been active in giving back to the community. Since 2013, I’ve been an active board member of the Canadian Mental Health Association – Ottawa Branch and was the President and Chair of the Board from 2014-2016. I am strongly passionate about removing the stigma surrounding mental health issues.
Additionally, I became involved as a board member for Ottawa Festivals from 2007-2010 where I also served as the interim president. I was also involved with the Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival for eight years and was Chair for the Board for six of those years. I believe that participating in community events is very rewarding and is important to becoming a well-rounded individual and in my opinion, keeps you grounded.
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