Duncan is Co-Head of the Technology and Outsourcing & Procurement practice areas.
Duncan is widely regarded as one of Canada's leading technology, outsourcing, and e Commerce lawyers. Duncan has been included in the prestigious ranking of Lexpert Magazine's and American Lawyer Media's ranking of the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada for 15 years. Duncan is included in Woodward/White's 2014 edition of The Best Lawyers in Canada in the specialty of Information Technology Law. In January 2013, Duncan was ranked as a "Most Frequently Recommended" lawyer in Canada for Technology Transactions by the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory. Duncan is included in The International Who's Who of Internet e-Commerce & Data Protection Lawyers 2012. Duncan is included in Practical Law's Multi-Jurisdictional "2012-2013 Guide To The Leading Lawyers Worldwide" for outsourcing transactions and in Thomson Carswell's 2014 Lexpert Guide to the Leading US/Canada Cross-border Corporate Lawyers in Canada. Duncan is identified as one of the world's leading patent and technology licensing practitioners in the 2012 Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) publication: IAM Licensing 250 – The World's Leading Patent and Technology Licensing Practitioners. Duncan is ranked in 2014 Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business, and 2011 was the third year Duncan was cited as a leading lawyer in Lawday's North America's Leading Lawyers. He has also been cited as one of the world's leading lawyers in Euromoney's Expert Guides to the World's Leading Technology, Media & Telecommunications Lawyers (U.K. publication). He is again cited as one of the top lawyers in the world in the independent, 2011 International Who's Who of Internet and E-Commerce Lawyers (U.K. publication), and 2013 was Duncan's 6th year of inclusion in Canadian Who's Who.
Duncan has provided internationally recognized leadership in many leading technology industry associations, including: the Centre For Outsourcing Research & Education (CORE), the Canadian Chamber of Commerce's E-Commerce and Telecommunications Committee; the Outsourcing Committee for the Canadian IT Law Association; the Licensing Executives Society (U.S.A./Canada) (Co-Chair of LES' Software Committee); CIO Association of Canada; the CIO Summit Canada (for whom he frequently teaches IT transaction courses); the Advisory Board for E-Commerce Law Magazine; the Retail Council of Canada's E-Business Committee; the Toronto Computer Lawyers Group; and, the International Technology Law Association (U.S.). He founded the Technology Industry Committee of the Arbitration and Mediation Institute of Ontario and he was a Canadian correspondent for World e-Business Law Report in London, U.K. He is a member of: the Canadian Information Technology Law Association; both the American Bar Association's Science & Technology Law Section's "Homeland Security Committee", the "Internet Relationships and Cloud Computing Committee", and the International Law Section's "National Security Committee"; the International Bar Association's Computer Technology Law Committee; Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries; both the Canadian Nuclear Law Association and the International Nuclear Law Association; and, the Society for Computers and Law (UK). He was also a member of the Uniform Law Conference of Canada, Electronic Commerce Project.
Duncan is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors (Canada) and the Institute of Directors (UK), and has served as a director of several multinational corporations, including Warner Communications companies in Canada, GlobeNet Communications, Monroe Systems For Business Limited, Canadian National Institute for the Blind (Ontario), FinancialCAD Corporation, Auto21 Inc., Hitachi Data Systems Inc., and Capital G Limited, one of Bermuda's most prestigious financial services enterprises (where Duncan Chaired the Compensation Committee, 2003-2007). Duncan is also a past elected member of the Board of Trustees of Queen's University in Kingston (2000-2006), and he sits on various advisory boards, including NetClearly.com, Contego Data Systems Inc., Kenception Technology and CIO Summit. Duncan has provided advice to many Boards of Directors, Audit Committees, regulatory bodies, and executive managers (including CIOs and General Counsel) concerning all aspects of commercial technology transactions, including technology governance issues, outsourcing transactions risk management, and related security governance duties and obligations. Duncan graduated as Class Valedictorian and earned his professional independent director designation (ICD.D) from the Institute of Corporate Directors and the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management. In 2016, Duncan was appointed to the Editorial Board of the Canadian Institute's IT Law & Technology Journal.
Duncan is a senior member of our Gaming and Casino Law practice and has broad experience throughout the gaming industry. He was the legal advisor for the first POS lottery retail kiosks in Canada, and he has acted as legal counsel for the high security printing of lottery tickets. Duncan has provided the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) with advice related to information technology infrastructure, security best practices and legal compliance. Duncan has also been very active in advising offshore and cross-border gaming enterprises on regulatory matters, including online and internet gaming operations. He has advised manufacturers of numerous types of casino gaming machines, and related casino license application and inspection matters. Duncan is a member of the International Association of Gaming Advisors and a member of the American Bar Association's Business Section's Gaming Committee.
He is a frequent author and speaker on topics related to technology law and transactions, and he has taught related courses at Queen's University in Kingston and in the Graduate Law Program at York University. Duncan has been a frequent national seminar leader for the CIO Summit and for the Purchasing Management Association of Canada. He is the author of the widely acclaimed book, Information Technology Transactions: Business, Management & Legal Strategies, Carswell (Second Edition, 2007); U.K. law edition 2005 (Sweet & Maxwell, London). Book reviews are available upon request.
Duncan obtained a B.A. from Queen's University (Gold Medallist), a law degree from Queen's University and the London School of Economics and Political Studies (U.K.), and a graduate law degree, LL.M. (international trade law) from the University of Toronto. He also has a certificate (International Law Program) from the Academy of International Law at The Hague, as well as an Arbitration Certificate from the Arbitration and Mediation Institute of Ontario. Duncan was called to both the Ontario Bar and to the Bermuda Bar in 1984.
