Curtis A. Cusinato

Curtis Cusinato practises corporate and securities law with a focus on cross-border M&A, private equity and capital markets transactions. He is highly respected for his legal and business acumen in Canada, the United States and globally.

For more than 25 years, Curtis has been advising leading public and private companies and private equity groups on domestic and cross-border M&A, divestitures, leveraged and management buyouts, take-over bids, going private transactions, restructuring, initial public offerings, SPACS, PIPES and other strategic investments and capital markets transactions.

His practice covers a broad range of industries in which he has expertise and he serves various clients including multinational companies, Canadian chartered banks, investment and merchant banks, private equity groups, hedge funds and other varied funds and emerging technology companies.

Prior to joining Bennett Jones, Curtis served as the Managing Partner of the Toronto office, and as a member of the Executive Committee and Partnership Board at another Canadian national law firm, where he also previously served as the National Head of the Corporate Group and Co-Chair of the M&A and Private Equity Group.

Curtis is actively involved in a number of community and charitable initiatives. He served on the board of the North York General Hospital Foundation and as Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee and Governor’s Council. Curtis has also supported the Wellspring Cancer Support Foundation, joining a team of cyclists as they undertook the Wellspring Peloton Challenge—riding from Toronto to Las Vegas in 2018 and again in 2019, from Toronto to San Antonio, and most recently from Toronto to Collingwood, Ontario in 2021.

In recognition of his achievements, Curtis is ranked as a leading lawyer in M&A, private equity, capital markets and corporate and commercial law in Canada, the United States and internationally in multiple legal directories including Chambers Global: the World's Leading Lawyers for Business in the area of Corporate and M&A in 2022 and in the Lexpert/American Lawyer Media Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada in various corporate categories, also in 2022.

Curtis often participates as a speaker or panelist on a variety of Canadian corporate law topics, including mergers and acquisitions, private equity, capital markets and corporate governance topics.

Curtis also acted as interim General Counsel for Waste Management, Inc. in Canada in 2000 and previously completed a secondment in Sydney, Australia, in 1997. He also completed the Michigan Bar in 1991.