Rory has a broad client base, including private and publicly traded companies in the natural resource, technology/biotechnology, health (pharmaceutical/nutraceutical), psychedelics, food and beverage, and industrial sectors and also acts for several independent investment dealers. Rory has extensive experience advising these clients on a wide array of matters such as initial public offerings, public and private equity and debt financings, mergers and acquisitions, reverse takeovers, qualifying transactions, corporate restructurings and reorganizations, capital alterations, and continuous disclosure requirements. He advises clients on corporate governance related matters, including regulatory compliance, corporate governance policies, fiduciary duties, and directors’ and officers’ liability. He has also acted as counsel to clients involved with proxy contests takeover defense mechanisms and shareholder rights plans.
Prior to joining the firm, Rory was the national co-chair of the Capital Markets and Securities group and the managing partner of the Vancouver office of an international law firm.
Rory has extensive experience in securities regulation in Canada, having been appointed in July 2016 by the Council of Ministers responsible for capital markets regulation from British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Yukon, and the Minister of Finance of Canada to the inaugural board of the Capital Markets Authority Implementation Organization (CMAIO), which was formed to evolve into the Capital Markets Regulatory Authority (CMRA) a single regulator administering the proposed uniform provincial-territorial Capital Markets Act and complementary Capital Markets Stability Act. Rory served on the board of directors of CMAIO until May 2021 when it was wound down. Prior to his CMAIO appointment, Rory served as chairperson of the TSX Venture Exchange’s National Advisory Committee. Rory has been active on behalf of various market participants advocating changes to securities laws and policies to keep up with a rapidly changing marketplace and has lectured on securities law on behalf of the Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia. He has also served as a director and officer of several listed companies and, in that capacity, established a large network of contacts in the venture capital markets industry.
Rory earned his law degree from the University of British Columbia.