Lexpert reveals the leading corporate and commercial lawyers in British Columbia after conducting its exhaustive annual peer review. For the complete roster of British Columbia’s top corporate and commercial lawyers and law firms, check out our practice area rankings list.
Corporate law refers to the rules and regulations that govern the way corporations operate and do business. Commercial law applies to the rights, relations and conduct of persons and businesses engaged in commerce, merchandising, trade and sales.
David A. Allard
Law firm: Lawson Lundell LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1987
David A. Allard specializes in mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and securities law. He is a partner at Lawson Lundell LLP, a business law firm with offices in Vancouver, Kelowna, Calgary and Yellowknife. Allard advises private and public companies on transactional and general corporate commercial matters, corporate reorganizations and restructurings, and corporate governance issues. Among his major representative transactional work includes the sale and purchase of numerous large-scale manufacturing and processing operations and businesses, multi-jurisdictional structured sales, private equity and venture capital investments, convertible debt financings, early stage financings and corporate restructuring transactions and proceedings. Allard is a regular lecturer on business law matters and contributor to continuing legal education publications.
Cameron G. Belsher
Law firm: McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1988
Cameron G. Belsher is a partner at McCarthy Tétrault LLP’s Vancouver and Toronto offices. He specializes in corporate finance, and mergers and acquisitions. Belsher has acted as lead counsel on substantial debt restructurings, cross-border and domestic M&A involving public and private companies in the distribution, mining, technology and resort industries, proxy contests, initial public offerings, joint ventures, and public and private equity and debt financings. He also conducts significant work with pension fund and private equity clients. McCarthy Tétrault is one of Canada’s leading full-service law firms with offices in the country’s major commercial centres, New York and London.
Mitchell H. Gropper
Law firm: FARRIS
Year called to the Bar: 1966 (BC); 1970 (ON)
FARRIS senior partner Mitchell H. Gropper boasts an extensive experience in corporate and securities law, with a focus on complex transactions, including real estate matters, corporate finance, reorganizations, and mergers and acquisitions. He has acted for purchasers and sellers in M&A transactions and has advised boards of directors and special committees. Gropper has been involved in going-private and related-party transactions. He has also advised on financial reorganizations and debt restructurings, including as special legal advisor to Vancouver for the Olympic Village and several reorganization transactions. His firm is a full-service law firm that represents some of the largest public and private institutions and corporations in British Columbia.
Robin Mahood
Law firm: McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Year called to the Bar: 2006 (BC); 2004 (New York)
Robin Mahood is a partner at the business law group at McCarthy Tétrault LLP’s Vancouver office. He advises public and private corporations on mergers and acquisitions, securities, day-to-day governance, continuous disclosure obligations and commercial matters. His recent transactional experience includes advising Canadian and international acquirers and targets in respect of domestic and cross-border M&A transactions in the renewable energy, mining, retail, forestry and life sciences industries. Mahood has also advised issuers, underwriters and investors on cross-border and domestic public offerings of equity and debt, including initial public offerings and private placements of equity and high-yield debt.
John F. Anderson
Law firm: Stikeman Elliott LLP
Year called to Bar: 1991
John F. Anderson is a partner at Stikeman Elliott LLP. He devotes his practice to corporate and securities law, with a focus on public mergers and acquisitions. Anderson is also well-versed in private M&A, joint ventures, corporate governance, and corporate finance and securities. He boasts industry expertise in technology and resources, particularly in mining, forestry and energy. Anderson has worked on many of British Columbia’s most significant resources transactions in the past 20 years. In the technology sector, his focus is on providing one-stop legal services for startup companies. Stikeman Elliott is one of Canada’s leading business law firms catering to both domestic and international clients.
John-Paul Bogden
Law firm: Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1999 (MB); 2000 (BC)
John-Paul Bogden specializes in mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions, infrastructure and projects work, and general corporate law. He is a co-leader at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP’s private equity group, which has been recognized as one of Canada's leading private equity practices. Bogden is also partner at the business law firm. His clients include startups, venture-financed businesses and large publicly traded corporations. Bogden devotes a significant portion of his practice to working with private equity funds, including buyout, infrastructure and venture capital funds, and their portfolio companies in investment, add-on, recapitalization and exit transactions. He also represents technology-based businesses in relation to both operational and transactional matters, and investment banks and other corporate finance professionals in relation to M&A and financing transactions. Bodgen is also frequently engaged as special M&A counsel by seller groups and investment banks undertaking competitive auction processes. He regularly speaks at business law conferences and is a member of several industry associations.
Read more about Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP on cannabis sector litigation
Brian R. Canfield
Law firm: FARRIS
Year called to Bar: 1991 (BC); 1995 (Washington State); 2007 (AB)
Brian R. Canfield is a partner at FARRIS and serves as a strategic advisor for his business clients. He is often asked to handle difficult negotiations, tight timelines or similar challenges for his clients in buying and selling businesses or real estate, raising financing, facilitating regulatory approvals, settling shareholder or other disputes, restructuring and other matters. Canfield boasts extensive experience in assisting both public and private clients, including boards and special committees, with a special emphasis on established and emerging entrepreneurs. His clients operate in many key industries including automotive, construction, financial, food and beverage, hospitality, infrastructure, real estate and resources.
Gordon R. Chambers
Law firm: Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1987
Gordon R. Chambers is a partner at Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP, one of Canada’s largest business law firm. He advises on all aspects of securities law, including mergers and acquisitions, public and private offerings of securities, and continuous disclosure and other ongoing regulatory requirements applicable to public companies. Chambers also represents special committees of boards of directors and assists in proxy contests. He acts for clients in diverse industries, with a focus on mining companies, including dual-listed issuers.
Read more about Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP on stakeholder engagement
Peter H. Finley
Law firm: Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1982
Peter H. Finley is a partner and chair of the corporate and commercial group at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP’s Vancouver office. He boasts extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, partnerships and real estate matters, including investment properties, acquisitions and dispositions and real estate financing. Finley is also an expert in market financing and acts on a variety of transactions involving tax-driven structures. He advises private and public companies. His firm handles complex business and litigation matters and consists of more than 700 lawyers in 10 offices worldwide.
Joseph A. Garcia
Law firm: Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1997
Joseph A. Garcia specializes in corporate finance, and mergers and acquisitions at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, where he also serves as a partner. He advises public and private companies, investment dealers, venture capital and private equity funds and acts as independent counsel to boards of directors. Garcia has extensive experience advising on all types of domestic and cross border, M&A and corporate finance transactions, including public and private equity and debt financings, takeover and issuer bids, share and asset acquisitions and divestitures, and regulatory and stock exchange compliance work. Prior to his career in law, Garcia worked in corporate finance with a national investment bank and in clinical research with a multinational pharmaceutical company.
Elizabeth J. Harrison
Law firm: FARRIS
Year called to the Bar: 1973
Senior partner Elizabeth J. Harrison practises in the corporate, mergers and acquisitions, and securities fields at FARRIS. She has represented boards of directors, investment bankers and public corporations in M&A transactions, prospectus offerings, private placements, takeover bids, open market transactions, acquisitions of control, related-party transactions, privatizations, proxy contests and other securities-related matters, strategic planning, and reorganizations. Harrison regularly lectures in the corporate and securities fields. She has served as advisor to the Canada Business Corporations Act and the Business Corporations Act (BC). She was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1986.
Albert J. Hudec
Law firm: FARRIS
Year called to the Bar: 1981 (AB); 1994 (BC)
FARRIS partner Albert J. Hudec boasts more than 30 years of experience in all legal aspects of securities and corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and independent committee representation, and public and private financings of equity and debt, with an emphasis on the North American technology and resource industries, including mining, forestry, LNG, and oil and gas. He devotes his practice to cross-border M&A, including takeovers and arrangements, board and special committee representation and venture capital financings. Hudec also has extensive experience in the areas of Aboriginal law, with a focus on benefits agreements and commercial transactions, and wine law, with a focus on sale of wineries, commercial agreements, policy and regulatory matters. He writes and speaks frequently on a variety of legal topics relating to corporate finance, corporate governance, Aboriginal law and wine law.
Ted I. Koffman
Law firm: McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1987
Ted I. Koffman is a partner at McCarthy Tétrault LLP’s office in Vancouver. He devotes his practice to providing general counsel to businesses, with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions, private equity, venture capital, outsourcings, and formation and financing of business ventures and corporate reorganizations. Koffman regularly advises on various technology companies, venture capitalists and investors in numerous equity and debt financings. He boasts extensive experience in cross-border transactions. Koffman is also a regular lecturer at various programs and conferences on the legal aspects of buying and selling businesses, outsourcing agreements and the formation of business ventures.
Gregory D. Lewis
Law firm: Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1988
Greg Lewis is a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP, an international business law firm with more than 3,700 lawyers and other legal staff based in North and Latin America, Europe, Asia, Australia, the Middle East and Africa. He leads the firm’s Canadian infrastructure team and co-heads its North American infrastructure team. Lewis specializes in projects and commercial transactions in infrastructure, energy and other industry sectors. He has assisted clients on a range of major projects, including public-private partnerships, port developments, hydro power projects, co-generation projects, purchases and sales of businesses in a variety of sectors and related corporate and project financings.
R. Hector MacKay-Dunn
Law firm: FARRIS
Year called to the Bar: 1978 (BC); 2014 (ON); 2014 (AB)
R. Hector MacKay-Dunn is a senior partner at FARRIS. He boasts more than 30 years of experience in providing legal advice to high-growth public and private companies in a broad range of industries, including life sciences, health, mining, clean tech and tech. MacKay-Dunn advises on corporate domestic and cross-border public and private securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions, international partnering and licensing transactions. He also represents boards of directors and independent board committees on corporate governance matters.
William J. McFetridge
Law firm: Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1979
William J. McFetridge has more than four decades of experience in providing professional strategic counsel and advice to clients in a range of industries, including transportation, marine, construction and forestry. He is particularly knowledgeable on the process of buying and selling businesses. McFetridge also boasts extensive experience in structuring and negotiating joint venture arrangements and long-term supply agreements. Prior to entering law, he trained and practised as a chartered professional accountant, a background that he draws on to deal with a variety of corporate and commercial matters.
Steven R. McKoen
Law firm: Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1998 (BC); 2002 (New York)
Steven R. McKoen practises securities and corporate law at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, where he is a partner. He focuses on domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, reorganizations, corporate finance and corporate governance. McKoen acts for issuers, underwriters and private equity clients in a variety of sectors, including mining, forestry, high-tech and bio-tech. He has been a bencher of the Law Society of British Columbia since 2016 and was an adjunct professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of British Columbia for eight years.
Read more about Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP on financing the mining industry
Andrew McLeod
Law firm: Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1996
Andrew McLeod is a partner who specializes in securities law at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP. He acts for both public and private companies in the local, national and international level, advising in all aspects of their business including financings, restructurings, mergers and acquisitions, negotiation of commercial agreements and ongoing governance and disclosure matters. McLeod regularly represents investors, boards of directors, special committees, investment bankers and other participants in financing and M&A transactions in all industries, particularly mining and technology. His practice also includes acting for private equity and venture capital investors and companies receiving such investments. He is a regular author and speaker on structuring cross-border transactions, venture capital investing and advising tech clients.
Sven O. Milelli
Law firm: McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Year called the Bar: 2005 (BC); 2000 (New York)
Sven O. Milelli is British Columbia regional managing partner at McCarthy Tétrault LLP. He advises public and private corporations in a wide range of industries regarding mergers and acquisitions, public and private securities offerings, joint ventures and corporate governance matters. Among his recent transactions are advising Canadian, US and international acquirers and targets on domestic and cross-border M&A, takeover bids and joint ventures in renewable energy, trucking and logistics, technology and software, oil and gas, forestry, pharmaceuticals, financial services, retail liquor, publishing, and pulp and paper industries. Milelli has also advised issuers and underwriters on cross-border, US and domestic public and private offerings of equity and debt, including initial public offerings, bought deal financings and secondary offerings.
Denise Nawata
Law firm: FARRIS
Year called to the Bar: 2005 (AB); 2006 (BC)
Denise Nawata is a corporate-commercial partner at FARRIS. She devotes her practice to the fields of corporate finance and securities, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance. Nawata also focuses on complex business transactions for both public and private companies at various stages of their corporate growth. She acts for clients in a wide range of industries, including natural resources. Nawata boasts extensive experience in mining, and oil and gas transactions, technology and life sciences.
Bradley A. Newby
Law firm: FARRIS
Year called to the Bar: 1995
Bradley A. Newby focuses on corporate commercial, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and securities, and corporate governance law as a partner at FARRIS. He has extensive experience in advising corporations, private equity firms, professional managers and entrepreneurs on a wide range of complex business transactions. Newby is widely regarded for his practical deal-making abilities.
Fred R. Pletcher
Law firm: Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG)
Year called to the Bar: 1993
Fred R. Pletcher is the national leader of the mining group at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, where he is also partner. He advises on all aspects of mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, commercial transactions, corporate governance, continuous disclosure and shareholder activism, with a focus on the mining industry. Pletcher boasts considerable experience in Canadian and international mining joint ventures, project development and construction, tenure issues, royalties and commodity sales. His clients include public and private companies, boards of directors, special committees, underwriters, investment funds and real estate investment trusts. BLG is the largest of Canada’s few AmLaw Global 100 firms, with five full-service offices located in each of the country’s principal business markets.
Gary R. Sollis
Law firm: Dentons Canada LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1978
Gary R. Sollis is a partner in Dentons Canada LLP’s Vancouver office. He represents clients in the areas of corporate and securities law, with a focus on acquisitions, financings and reorganizations. Sollis has acted for a variety of public and private companies in financing transactions, including public offerings, private placements of debt and equity, special warrant financings, and public and private limited partnership offerings. He has also assisted clients in connection with takeover bids, mergers, proxy contests, spin-offs, joint ventures and acquisitions of private businesses. Sollis is an adjunct professor of securities regulation at Faculty of Law at University of British Columbia. He has also lectured on corporate and commercial law topics for the Continuing Legal Education Society and the British Columbia Professional Legal Training Course.
Daniel E. Steiner
Law firm: Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1998 (ON); 1999 (New York); 2002 (BC)
Daniel E. Steiner is a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP’s business Group and leads the firm’s mergers and acquisitions team in Vancouver. He advises public and private companies, private equity funds and pension plans regarding M&A, joint ventures, purchase and sale of businesses, formation and financing of business ventures, and general corporate law matters. Steiner has extensive experience in Canada-US and domestic transactions. He has advised clients in the infrastructure, technology, manufacturing, resource, entertainment, hospitality and transportation industries.
Michael G. Urbani
Law firm: Stikeman Elliott LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1997
Michael G. Urbani is a partner at Stikeman Elliott LLP’s corporate and securities group, and a member of the firm’s professional ethics committee. He devotes his practice to corporate finance, securities, mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance. Urbani acts for private and public entities and investment dealers in public financings and private placements in Canada and the US. He also represents clients on takeover bids, M&A, and corporate and commercial matters involving public and private corporations. His clients span a range of industries, including mining, high-tech, biotech, hospitality, communications and forest products.
Bob J. Wooder
Law firm: Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1995
Bob J. Wooder is a partner at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP’s capital markets group. He specializes in corporate finance, and mergers and acquisitions. Wooder advises public and private companies, and financial institutions. He boasts extensive expertise in advising on takeover and issuer bids, private equity financings and as independent counsel to boards of directors.