Dickinson Wright Appoints Mark Shapiro to Lead Canadian Practice

Dickinson Wright LLP, Canada’s leading full-service business law firm specializing in cross-border counsel, today announced the appointment of lawyer and partner, Mark S. Shapiro, to lead its Toronto-based Canadian practice.

In this senior leadership role, Mr. Shapiro will oversee a practice of over 40 lawyers who specialize both in transactional and litigation matters on both sides of the Canada-US border. He will be responsible for providing the overall strategic direction of the practice and for managing the firm’s internal committees. He will also serve as the Canadian representative on Dickinson Wright’s broader US-Canada management committee. Externally, he will represent the firm and work with the broader Canadian legal and business communities to strengthen Dickinson Wright’s position as Canada’s leading cross-border firm.

An Experienced Lawyer and Business Leader

A well-respected and accomplished partner specializing in commercial litigation, Mr. Shapiro joined Dickinson Wright’s Toronto office in 2010. Since joining Dickinson Wright, Mr. Shapiro has successfully advised and represented both Canadian and US-based clients in connection with all facets of business, contract and shareholder related litigation, with an emphasis on employment, real estate, mortgage and debt enforcement.

In addition to his legal practice, Mr. Shapiro brings many years of firm management experience. He is a well-respected leader and adviser having served on numerous internal firm management committees, including Chair of the Associates and Recruiting Committee. In addition, his experience in the broader legal community, including his appointment to the Advisory Board for the 2015 Canadian General Counsel Awards and his service as a mentor for the Ontario Bar Association’s Mentoring Program, provides the firm with an appreciation of the ever-changing landscape of the legal industry – an important benefit as he guides and manages the Canadian practice.

“I’m honoured and excited to lead Dickinson Wright’s Canadian practice,” said Mark Shapiro, Practice Leader. “Our practice has grown significantly over the last seven years and now includes so many well-respected and recognized lawyers. I look forward to leading the firm as we continue to serve both our Canadian and US clients in a wide variety of transactional and litigation matters across a range of industries and legal practice areas.”

“I am delighted to welcome Mark Shapiro as Dickinson Wright’s Canadian practice leader,” said William T. Burgess, CEO of Dickinson Wright. “Mark brings over 19 years of legal and management experience and is a recognized leader within the firm. As we continue to grow our presence in Canada, I am confident that Mark possesses the leadership and management skills to lead our Canadian practice.”

Dickinson Wright’s Approach to Cross-Border Counsel

As a full-service business law firm, specializing in cross-border legal counsel, Dickinson Wright’s legal experts work with clients across multiple industries and on both sides of the Canada-US border. The firm’s advantage lies in its seamless management of client business issues: the Dickinson Wright OneTeam approach. This is a unified strategy to provide clients with individualized service, drawing on collaborative, cross-practice, and inter-office teams. As such, each client has direct access to the broad legal expertise of 380 lawyers across the combined 14-office Dickinson Wright network.

Each Client is a Valued Firm-Wide Client

Dickinson Wright also believes that each client is a valued client of the firm as a whole. In order to put this principle into practice, the firm’s lawyers are driven by, and incented according to, the belief that success is best achieved by aligning the firm’s business goals with those of its clients. In practice, Dickinson Wright’s lawyers personally guide each of their clients across the firm’s teams, offices and across borders to best service their evolving legal requirements.