Honouring excellence in the field of business law and litigation across Canada, Burtley Francis, partner in our Halifax office, is a 2022 recipient of the Lexpert® Rising Star: Leading Lawyer Under 40 award.

Winners of this award have demonstrated an outstanding track record of success in deals, cases or files, have made contributions to the legal profession, demonstrated organizational success in their place of work with a unique, innovative and effective approach to client service, as well as strong community involvement.

Burtley has a diverse practice that covers a wide range of practice areas including advertising and marketing, information technology, complex commercial contract negotiation, mergers & acquisitions, privacy, and competition law.

His broad skillset has also resulted in Burtley leading or being involved in a number of notable deals throughout his career, such as the acquisition by Sobeys of Safeway (a Lexpert Deal of the Year), and the acquisition by DHX Media Ltd. of Cookie Jar Entertainment Inc. (a Lexpert “Big Deal”). He was also co-lead competition counsel on merger filings for the sale of Empire Theatres. Burtley is currently team lead for the Land Titles Initiative project to secure title to over 880 land parcels for the Province of Nova Scotia. The Land Titles Initiative is a government-led commitment to help residents in historic Black communities get clear title to their land through all legal means available.

Burtley has always had a focus on community – while still in law school he established the Judge Corrine Sparks Award in Law, which is awarded to a Black student who demonstrates a commitment to using their legal education as a tool for community change. Burtley is a long-serving member of the Board of Directors of the Black Business Initiative, and is also on the board of the Federation of African Canadian Economics, and is a Council Member of Ad Standards Canada. Until 2021 Burtley was also a member of the Board of Governors of Mount Saint Vincent University. Burtley is an active member of the Firm’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee, and serves as the Chair of the Firm’s Student Recruitment Committee – Halifax.