Chris is a corporate/commercial lawyer who focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and complex commercial matters.
Chris’s practice focuses on transactional and commercial matters, including mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and complex commercial transactions for start-up and mid-market companies in technology, food, beverage and agribusiness, healthcare and other regulated industries. He has broad experience with a range of private equity, venture capital and other institutional investments as well as complex acquisitions, mergers, divestitures, minority investments, and cross-border transactions.
In addition to transactional work, Chris’s experience includes advising clients on all aspects of their corporate and commercial arrangements, including reorganizations and other corporate restructurings, as well as assisting with their corporate governance.
Chris also regularly advises applicants, licensees, retailers, brands, service providers, Indigenous communities and businesses and members of adjacent industries on all manner of cannabis-related mandates. He was seconded to one of North America’s leading licensed producers and has taught cannabis law and regulation at two major Canadian universities.
- Counsel to various beer and liquor companies and brands on licensing, brokerage, retail and acquisition matters
- Counsel to various consumer product good companies on their Canadian distribution and sale arrangements
- Counsel to Indigenous tobacco manufacturers and brands on licensing, distribution and sale matters
- Counsel to clients in the health-care industry on initiatives, arrangements and transactions with patients or physicians and health-care compliance
- Counsel to various manufacturing and equipment companies on their supply chain, distribution and sale/financing arrangements
- Counsel to various Canadian licensed producers of cannabis and hemp on a wide range of matters, including commercial transactions, white label agreements, licensing agreements, import/export arrangements (including hemp-derived CBD), regulatory matters (including edibles, extracts and topicals) and promotional requirements
- Counsel to Canadian retail cannabis companies on commercial, regulatory and promotional matters
- Counsel to Indigenous communities and businesses on the development of and compliance with cannabis licensing frameworks
- Counsel to cannabis accessory manufacturers on commercial, regulatory and promotional matters, including entry strategies
- Counsel to celebrity, sport and media personalities in relation to intellectual property licensing and services agreements in the cannabis industry
- Counsel to advertising agencies, content creators and media companies on their cannabis regulatory compliance strategies
- Counsel to businesses in adjacent industries on the development, marketing, sale and transportation of cannabis products, including regulatory compliance issues
- Member, Law Society of Alberta
- Member, Law Society of Ontario
- Member, Canadian Bar Association
- Recognized as a Top Lawyer, Cannabis Law, The Best Lawyers in Canada (2022)
- Recognized as One of Canada’s Leading Lawyer for Business, Cannabis Law, Chambers Canada: Canada’s Leading Lawyers for Business (2020-2022)
- Recognized as a Top Lawyer, Cannabis Law, The Legal 500 Canada (2020-2022)