Maple, Ontario, Canada
I am a corporate, commercial, and estates lawyer with 20+ years of experience spanning Bay Street, multinational financial institutions, high-growth companies, and boutique practice. My work has always focused on helping business owners and families protect what they’ve built, navigate change with clarity, and plan confidently for what comes next. My career began in intellectual property and commercial transactions - drafting licensing agreements, supporting technology deals, and advising on cross-border M&A structures. This early foundation led me into international tax, OECD transfer pricing, and complex cross-jurisdictional documentation at RBC and Great-West Life, where I worked closely with executives, finance teams, and legal departments around the world. These experiences taught me how different legal teams operate, how workflows break down, and how much clarity matters in high-stakes decisions. Today, my practice bridges corporate and commercial law, wills & estates, family trusts, reorganizations, and asset protection. I value this work deeply - especially helping families and founders protect their legacy, guide generational transitions, and solve problems with a blend of precision, practicality, and empathy. I am also focused on how AI can be integrated responsibly into legal practice to improve clarity, efficiency, and the overall client experience. I approach these tools with an emphasis on ethics, confidentiality, and professional judgment, and view thoughtful adoption as essential to the future of legal service delivery. My clients include entrepreneurs, established businesses, cross-border families, and family enterprises planning succession or undergoing structural change. Across every setting - from global financial institutions to boutique practice - I am known for being steady, solutions-oriented, and deeply invested in helping clients navigate pivotal transitions. If you are planning a business transition, restructuring, or estate plan, I welcome the opportunity to connect.
Founder of Celestine Law, a boutique law firm advising entrepreneurs, families, and closely held businesses. My practice focuses on corporate law, estate planning, trusts, and succession planning — helping clients establish clear legal structures for ownership, governance, family planning, and business transition. I regularly work alongside accountants and other professional advisors to support thoughtful planning at key moments in the life of a business and across generations.
Advise founders, executives, and business owners on corporate structuring, reorganizations, trusts, estate planning, and governance matters. Worked closely with entrepreneurial clients and professional advisors on complex ownership and succession planning matters while continuing to develop a private advisory practice focused on founders and family businesses. My work combines enterprise-level governance strategy with practical implementation for growth-stage and established businesses. Areas of Focus: • Corporate structuring and investor-ready share architecture • Shareholder and partnership agreements • Corporate reorganizations and estate freezes • Trust structures and succession planning • Governance documentation and compliance systems • Cross-border structuring aligned with immigration and tax considerations • Trademark strategy and IP licensing frameworks Collaborate with firm partners and multidisciplinary advisors to deliver tax-aligned, governance-driven solutions that support business growth and long-term wealth transition.
Founded and led a boutique corporate, immigration, and strategic advisory practice serving founders, growth-stage companies, regulated-industry businesses, and internationally mobile entrepreneurs. Acted as Fractional General Counsel to early-stage and scaling companies across regulated industries, including cannabis, manufacturing, technology, and cross-border businesses. Core Areas of Practice: • Corporate governance and board advisory • Shareholder agreements, reorganizations, and ownership structuring • Commercial contract negotiation (licensing, manufacturing, supply, distribution, IP) • Capital deployment and corporate finance structuring • Cross-border tax alignment and transfer pricing considerations • Canadian immigration strategy for business owners and employment-based applicants • Regulatory compliance in emerging and controlled industries Representative Experience: • Negotiated national licensing and manufacturing agreements with publicly traded producers in the cannabis sector • Advised venture-backed founders during commercialization and product launch phases • Structured supply and distribution arrangements with provincial regulators (including OCS) • Provided corporate governance oversight, risk assessment, and operational legal frameworks • Built standardized drafting systems, intake processes, and workflow models to improve legal service delivery • Implemented ethical, compliance-driven AI-assisted drafting practices to enhance efficiency while maintaining professional standards Oversaw all operational, compliance, and client-management functions of the practice, ensuring adherence to Law Society of Ontario requirements and ethical leadership principles.
Senior in-house legal executive during rapid growth in a highly regulated industry. Served as primary advisor to CEO and Board on governance, securities compliance, commercial structuring, and enterprise risk. • Led legal strategy through public listing via Reverse Take-Over (RTO) • Managed board governance, disclosure materials, and TSX-V correspondence • Negotiated national supply, procurement, and strategic partnership agreements • Built internal governance and compliance workflows linking Legal, Finance, and Operations • Managed external counsel and controlled legal spend during expansion • Oversaw corporate records, capitalization structure, and regulatory compliance Positioned Legal as a strategic business partner during high-growth and public-market transition.
Served as strategic legal advisor to RBC Capital Markets, RBC Wealth Management, and Head Office on complex cross-border related-party transactions and global structuring initiatives. Advised multinational business units on arm’s-length pricing, intercompany legal frameworks, and transfer pricing governance across multiple jurisdictions in accordance with Canadian tax law and OECD standards. Key Impact: • Supported 450+ cross-border transactions representing significant global P&L impact • Structured and reviewed intercompany operating models, capital flows, and pricing methodologies • Led detailed functional and value-chain analyses (functions, assets, risks, financial data) to support defensible positions • Designed and modernized transfer pricing documentation standards and compliance frameworks • Partnered with senior tax, finance, and executive stakeholders to align legal risk management with commercial strategy • Strengthened audit defensibility and supported tax controversy and litigation strategy Operated at the intersection of law, finance, and enterprise governance — translating complex international tax regimes into structured, defensible business architecture that mitigated regulatory risk while enabling global growth.