David McHugh

Practice Areas

David is a Partner of Segev LLP, a full-service business law firm with offices across Canada and the U.S.

David's practice focuses primarily on the needs of technology businesses. He is a highly skilled transactional lawyer with a focus on regulated spaces, technology, privacy law, employment law, and gaming law. While David serves the needs of businesses of all types, he frequently provides expert guidance to local and international clients in the technology and gaming industries.

David assists clients with the drafting and negotiation of business contracts, including cloud services agreements, software development agreements, software licensing agreements, purchase and sale agreements, manufacturing agreements, distributions agreements, IT services agreements, shareholders’ agreements, and terms of service. He is also well-versed in negotiating and drafting employment agreements, including those for senior executives, and is frequently relied upon to resolve employment related disputes and to advise on high-risk terminations. Additionally, David advises his business clients on equity compensation strategies, including the granting of stock options, restricted share units, and phantom shares.

Outside of his transactional work, David’s clients depend on his practical advice for navigating through challenging regulatory regimes. His proficiency in analyzing complex, unsettled areas of law makes him a go-to source for legal opinions on novel issues.

David graduated cum laude from the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law in 2015, and was called to the British Columbia bar in 2016 and the Ontario bar in 2024.

Publications

American Gaming Lawyer, Volume 11, No. 2, Autumn 2015; Online Gaming: Are You Rolling the Dice with Roll Playing Games? (Co-authored with Ron Segev and Eric Stein).

Compliance with Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL): What You Need to Know

Dismissing (aka Firing) an Employee for Cause is Harder than Often Thought

Protecting a Business Name

Non-Competition Clauses and Tech Employees

Is your Contractor Actually a Contractor?

Proactively Protecting your Intellectual Property: Copyrights

What Developers and Clients Should Know Before Signing a Software Development Agreement

What Every Employee With a Side Hustle Should Know About Copyright Ownership

Upcoming Updates to Canada’s Trademarks Act

New Mandatory Data Breach Obligations Under Canada’s Privacy Law

A Crash Course in Open Source Code and Licensing

What Businesses Need to Know About Their Legal Obligations When Outsourcing

Data Processing to Third-Party Service Providers

How to Make Money as an Open Source Software Developer

BC Transparency Register: New Requirements for BC Private Companies

How To Create a Binding Terms of Service for a Website or App