Matthijs van Gaalen, a Hamilton-based partner who played a key role in developing a unique portfolio lending practice, has been named one of Canadian Lawyer's Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers for 2021, landing in the Business category.

The rankings, based on an annual survey among readers, showcase the "best and brightest" lawyers across a number of practice areas. It remains Canadian Lawyer's most well-read feature, according to the publication.

Harnessing proprietary software he played a key role in developing, van Gaalen works with commercial lenders to automate the legal aspects of their mid-market financing transactions – saving them significant time and money in the process.

The proprietary portfolio management system, called LendR, facilitates the generation of all security and transactional documentation, offers clients online access to essential file and workflow information, and underpins a highly profitable mid-market financing practice.

Ultimately, van Gaalen's ability to author the logic and coding for the automation of legal documents has allowed for several timely and effective technological developments.

Through the use of this software, alongside effective staffing and a culture of innovation, the portfolio lending practice has established a high benchmark in terms of affordability, timeliness, and quality of service, with respect to mid-market lending transactions. Indeed, van Gaalen's leadership in this space continues to challenge bankers' expectations of legal services providers.

"I'm thrilled to be named alongside some of the country's most influential lawyers. This recognition was made possible by the efforts of all the lawyers and clerks in the portfolio lending practice, who work extremely hard on all our financing transactions," said van Gaalen. "We're always striving to channel innovative ideas into our workflow, and LendR is just one of the ways we've been successful in doing so," he added.

In 2018, Gowling WLG earned the award for "Innovation in the Business of Law" at the Financial Times' Innovative Lawyers Awards North America ceremony, based on the successful rollout of the LendR software.

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