Lawson Hunter
Counsel
Stikeman Elliott LLP
Law Practice
Lawson Hunter is one of Canada’s pre-eminent regulatory and government relations
counsel, drawing on a wide range of experience in business, government and private practice. Formerly Canada’s senior civil servant in charge of competition policy and enforcement, Mr. Hunter was primarily responsible for the drafting of the federal Competition Act. From 1993 to 2003 he was a partner of Stikeman Elliott and head of the firm’s Competition/Antitrust Group. From 2003 to 2008 he served as executive vice-president and chief corporate officer of Bell Canada and BCE Inc., where he was responsible for overseeing regulatory, governmental relations and corporate affairs. In September 2008, he rejoined the Ottawa office of Stikeman Elliott as counsel.
Mr. Hunter advises a wide variety of Canadian and multinational corporations on all aspects of federal regulatory law and policy. This includes foreign investment legislation, antidumping and international trade, telecommunications law and Heritage Canada issues, in addition to competition/antitrust matters. He is particularly noted for his experience as an advisor on the regulatory aspects of mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Hunter is a graduate of the Directors’ Education Program of the Institute of Corporate Directors and is highly experienced in matters of corporate governance. He has served as a director of major telecommunications and IT companies such as CGI Group and Bell Aliant and is a former chair and trustee of Bell Aliant Regional Communications Income Fund.
While in private practice, Mr. Hunter has consistently been ranked in national and international surveys as one of Canada’s and the world’s leading counsel on regulatory matters. With respect to his service as chair of Stikeman Elliott’s competition practice, Chambers Global described him as “the jewel in this leading practice’s crown” and the “preeminent competition lawyer in Canada” and as the “first choice for competition law in Canada”, noting his “important political connections.” Mr. Hunter was also named one of the World’s Top 20 competition and antitrust lawyers by The Best of the Best. He has also been cited in such publications as The Best Lawyers in Canada for Competition/Antitrust Law, Lexpert’s Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada, the PLC Which Lawyer?, PLC's
Cross-border Competition Handbook, The International Who’s Who of Competition Lawyers& Economists and The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers (Law Business Research), the Guide to the World’s Leading Competition and Antitrust Lawyers (Euromoney), the Directory of Professionals (Federated Press) and European Counsel Direct (L&C Publishing).
Professional Activities
Mr. Hunter is a member of the Advisory Board of the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information (Columbia Business School, New York). He has served as a director of ITAC (the Information Technology Association of Canada) and of the EDGE Network. He is a past
chair of the Trade and Customs Law Subcommittee of the Antitrust and Trade Law Section of the International Bar Association (IBA) and of the National Competition Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association, as well as of the CBA’s National Sections Council. He has also been a member of the Advisory Board of the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association (CCCA). Mr. Hunter is a frequent panellist at conferences on federal regulatory law and has lectured on competition policy at the University of Toronto.
Mr. Hunter’s community and charitable activities include:
> Chair, Black and White Opera Soiree Fundraising Committee, for the National Arts Centre and Opera Lyra Ottawa, 2006-2007. Member, 2008.
> Director, The Canadian Stage Company, 2005-present.
> Chair, Ottawa Art Gallery, 2003-2006. Director, 1997-2003. Member of Building Committee, Ottawa Art Gallery, 2006-present.
> Chair, Ottawa Art Gallery Firestone Committee, 2006-present.
> Member, Ottawa Hospital Campaign Cabinet.
> Member, University of New Brunswick Lord Beaverbrook Law Scholarship Selection Committee, 1999-present.
> Member, Arthur Kroeger School Fundraising Committee, Carleton University, 1999- present.
> Member, University of New Brunswick Fundraising Campaign, “Forging our Futures” 2005-present.
> Member, Board of Directors of Canadian Mothercraft for three years.
Publications
The author of numerous publications on regulatory law, Mr. Hunter has been a member of the editorial boards of the Canadian Competition Record and of the Antitrust and Trade Regulation Report, a publication of the Washington, D.C.-based Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. He was editor-in-chief of the International Bar Association newsletter Antitrust and Trade Law Update from 1986 to 1992 and of the Canadian Competition Policy Record from 1988 to 1994.
Education
Harvard (LL.M. 1971), University of New Brunswick (LL.B. 1970, B.Sc. 1967). Graduate of the Institute of Corporate Directors, Directors’ Education Program, Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, 2008.
Bar Admission
Ontario, 1986. New Brunswick, 1971.