Best Lawyers in Canada for Biotechnology Law

With over 30 years’ experience in business law, Mireille Fontaine practices mainly in private equity, venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, securities Law and fund formation. She is a seasoned business advisor, recognised for her legal and business acumen, her availability, and her efficiency. She helps her clients achieve and exceed their most ambitious objectives. In addition, Mireille specialized in cross-border transactions namely between Canada and the United States, as well a...

James Hatton is a commercial solicitor with more than 30 years experience assisting companies to exploit the value of their intellectual property assets. He is the Partner responsible for the Technology Group at Farris LLP, the law firm frequently identified by Lexpert as the top corporate firm in Vancouver, British Columbia. James is frequently listed as a leading practitioner in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, repeatedly recommended in the fields of life sciences & health, and tec...

Jason practices corporate and securities law with a primary focus on mergers and acquisitions, complex commercial arrangements, including joint ventures, corporate finance and corporate law. Jason has extensive experience advising boards of directors and special committees on mergers and acquisitions (hostile and negotiated), corporate governance and shareholder activism. As a senior partner, Jason focuses on providing strategic advice on complex, high-impact transactions. Jason advises entre...

Sylvie Bourdeau practises in the area of business and mergers and acquisition law. Over the years she has been involved in numerous mandates involving the financial products and services and life sciences/pharmaceuticals industries. In addition to the numerous mergers and acquisitions and private financings mandates in which she has been involved in her practice, Sylvie’s also represented many clients in matters involving the drafting of complex commercial agreements, including for join...

Joanie is a partner within the Intellectual Property (IP), Agribusiness, Food and Beverage, and Life Sciences groups. She specializes in high-stakes IP litigation, and in the efficient elaboration and protection of IP portfolios. Joanie has an extensive knowledge of the IP legislative and regulatory landscape. She sees IP as more than obtaining, registering or using patents, industrial designs, trademarks or copyrights; for her, IP a way to advance knowledge, obtain return on investment, fina...

Véronique Barry's practice covers all aspects of commercial and corporate law, with a particular focus on drafting commercial contracts and on matters relating to life sciences and healthcare. Véronique has gained valuable experience in personalized medicine, clinical trials and other research projects, artificial intelligence and other innovative technologies, and the use of technology in healthcare. She has also developed a keen interest in access to information and protection...

Julie Gauvreau is a partner, lawyer, patent agent and trade-mark agent in Lavery’s intellectual property group. She holds a degree in microbiology from Université de Montréal and began her practice in 1998. She is a lawyer, a registered patent agent in Canada and in the United States, and a trade-mark agent. Julie Gauvreau has developed a successful patent practice with a full range of clients in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical fields. Her specialty resides in helping...

Nick’s legal practice combines extensive experience in strategic intellectual property (“IP”) portfolio development and IP litigation. Nick regularly advises early stage and established businesses in building their IP portfolios and monetizing these assets, with an expertise in business development (drug development, product acquisition and life-cycle management) and negotiating commercial contracts (licensing, manufacturing, development, supply, distribution and marketing a...

Jung-Kay Chiu is an intellectual property lawyer based in Toronto and the Canadian national chair of our intellectual property group. He has over 20 years of experience practicing in all areas of intellectual property law, with a focus on intellectual property acquisition, protection and exploitation in the field of biotechnology and medical devices. He has particularly deep expertise in drug delivery, stem cells, precision medicine, diagnostic biomarkers and surgical equipment. He has worked...

Jean Lee focuses on prosecuting intellectual property applications and managing IP portfolios, primarily in the field of life sciences, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and chemical arts. Her patent practice includes originating drafting, legal opinions, and patent office proceedings for a broad range of clients, including large multinational corporations, start-up companies, academic institutions, and medical and healthcare professionals. She has also obtained patent rights o...

Jay Zakaïb is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Biotechnology and Life Sciences Practice. Jay, who practices law in Ottawa, Ontario, has been recognized since 2025. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Jay is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

For over 20 years, Brian Kingwell has been engaged in patent prosecution and strategic patent portfolio counseling in the areas of molecular biology, biochemistry, chemistry, chemical engineering and medical devices. He has wide-ranging experience in obtaining patents for products such as a novel family of heterocyclic antibiotics, the InsectSelect™ protein expression vector, high oleic acid brassica juncea plants, in situ combustion processes for recovery of hydrocarbons, heavy metal w...

Julie Desrosiers practices intellectual property litigation. Julie regularly acts on behalf of high-tech corporations and advises clients on injunctions, seizures and proceedings to protect their intellectual property, trade secrets and strategic information. Julie’s practice is currently focused almost exclusively on patent litigation. A seasoned litigator, she has been involved in several important patent infringement cases in the pharmaceutical sector. She appeared before the Supreme...

Jay Lefton practices corporate and securities law. Jay advises clients on public and private mergers & acquisitions transactions, private equity matters and public and private financings, as well as assisting with strategic alliances, technology transfer and licensing. He works predominantly in the technology and life sciences sector. Assisting acquirers and target companies and their boards of directors, Jay advises on negotiated transactions and unsolicited takeover bids, most of which ...

Hector has over 30 years of practice experience providing legal advice to high growth public and private companies, many of which achieving valuations exceeding $1 billion over a broad range of industry sectors, including technology, life sciences, health and new media, mining, and clean energy advising on corporate domestic and cross-border public and private securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions and international partnering and licensing transactions, and boards of directors and in...

Paul Armitage is a partner in the firm's Vancouver office practising in the Intellectual Property and Technology Law Groups. His practice focuses on procurement, technology licensing, outsourcing, commercial contracts, privacy law, data security, cloud computing, e-commerce, and anti-spam and anti-spyware (CASL) compliance. Paul has extensive experience in the information technology, financial services, telecommunications, life sciences and health industries, as well as infrastructure and fac...