The move helps Cozen's efforts build out its Canadian cross-border, M&A, and family law practices
Cozen O’Connor has added 13 lawyers to its expanding Vancouver office, the Philadelphia-based law firm announced Tuesday. Every lawyer joins the firm from Clark Wilson LLP.
Three of the incoming lawyers – Virgil Hlus, Cam McTavish, and Chantal Cattermole – will serve as shareholders.
“We are very focused on becoming a full-service firm in Canada,” Rory Godinho, a partner at Cozen who co-chairs the firm’s Canadian capital markets and securities practice, told Canadian Lawyer. The three incoming shareholders “are all in very important management roles to help us grow various practices, not just their own practices.”
“We’re reaching critical mass very quickly, but we're very strategic in who we look for and why we approach certain people,” Godinho adds. “It’s a very unique opportunity for people to come in and really be involved in the growth of the firm.”
Tuesday’s move marks Cozen’s latest investment in its Vancouver office, which opened in 2021 after the firm registered with the BC Law Society in 2018. The firm has boosted its presence in the city over the past two and a half years, during which its lawyer headcount grew from three to 28. In 2023, the firm hired Vancouver employment litigator Andrea Piercy to lead the expansion of its employment law practice in Canada.
Cozen opened its first Canadian office in Toronto in 2005. It has another office in Montreal.
Godinho said the firm is eyeing more growth in Canada. He noted Cozen has acquired about 360 new lawyers across North America over the last three years.
Hlus, who joins Cozen as chair of the firm’s Canadian/US cross-border practice group after 30 years at Clark Wilson, says the new role will give his US clients access to a broader range of resources. “We can be a full-service firm to them in the US. We can be almost a full-service firm to them in Canada,” Hlus says.
He adds, “It's very rare that you get a chance to be on the ground floor to help build out a full-service Canadian law firm that is associated and part of a larger international firm.”
Cattermole, who joins Cozen as chair of the firm’s Canadian family practice, also pointed to Cozen’s broad access to international resources as a selling point. In addition to family law, Cattermole advises families with the multi-generational and intergenerational transfer of wealth. “Working with Cozen and the depth of practice that it has in the US is really helpful in supporting our client development,” she says.
McTavish will serve as Cozen’s Canadian M&A practice chair after spending two decades at Clark Wilson. The new role will allow him to work on transactions that are national in scope and better support clients with operations in the US.
“It's just a fantastic opportunity to grow with our clients and to attract new clients,” he says.
