Corporate/Commercial: The Elite

William Braithwaite offers a vast wealth of experience to clients in the corporate arena. He advises on both domestic and cross-border M&A, securities and corporate governance matters.

Jeffrey Singer enjoys an esteemed reputation for his handling of complex M&A mandates. He is the chair of the firm.

"Jeffrey is a great lawyer. He's very commercial and engaged and he's a pleasure to work with."

Toronto managing partner John Ciardullo has a wealth of experience in M&A and capital markets mandates, and displays additional strength in assisting clients with shareholder activism and corporate governance matters.

"He's very smart and extremely responsive. John has a lot of experience and is very proactive, responsive and commercially sensible."

"Simply one of the top M&A lawyers in Toronto. I have John's number on speed dial as I know I can get a direct answer from him on virtually any question."

"John provides exceptional strategic advice."

Toronto-based Brian Pukier focuses his practice on M&A transactions, corporate governance and private equity matters.

"Brian is arguably the most brilliant legal mind I have run into - our go-to leader on all complex transactions and the type of lawyer that you can trust will do the deal perfectly."

Toronto-based Simon Romano exhibits a strong grasp of both M&A and the capital markets, acting for a diverse client base that includes private equity firms and financial institutions.

"Simon is the best - he has in-depth knowledge and is quick to respond."

Sean Vanderpol is a well-regarded corporate lawyer based in Stikeman Elliott's Toronto office. He routinely acts for public companies on securities and M&A transactions.

"It was the most positive experience of working with a lawyer I've ever had. I cannot stress the many ways in which he assists us; I would never hesitate to recommend Sean Vanderpol."

"Sean is excellent and a pleasure to work with."

Jonah Mann is a Toronto-based lawyer who is increasingly recognised for his corporate practice. He advises clients on mergers and acquisitions, private placements and other corporate transactions.

"Jonah was able to seamlessly step in and support on complex transactions, which was important to the success of the transactions."

John R Laffin practices out of Stikeman Elliot's Toronto office, where he co-leads the firm's Capital Markets and Public Mergers & Acquisitions group. He possesses a strong reputation for advising on public mergers and acquisitions, as well as contested transactions.

"John has an extremely strong grasp of the regulatory landscape and deals extremely well with very difficult issues. We trust him with the most important issues."

"He has high IQ which he can apply to transactions very practically."