John Ciardullo

First Year of Call
Ontario, 1997

Areas of Practice
Capital Markets

Description
John Ciardullo is the Managing Partner of the Toronto office where he is responsible for overseeing management, strategic direction and client service. He is also a member of the Partnership Board, Executive Committee, Management Committee and the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee. He is the former Head of the Corporate Department and the Capital Markets and Public Mergers & Acquisitions Groups.

John has expertise in a broad range of corporate transactions and has led some of Canada’s most noteworthy domestic and cross-border M&A and restructuring transactions. He has significant experience advising Canadian boards, special committees, banks, regulatory authorities and governments on a wide variety of matters, including compliance with legal, regulatory and fiduciary issues, crisis management and transactional matters such as acquisition and defence strategy.

John’s stand-out M&A expertise is recognized by the legal industry’s most reliable and trusted sources. In 2021, John was the only Canadian named among the Top 50 Global M&A Lawyers by Global M&A Network, which identifies highly respected, successful and innovative lawyers from worldwide deal making communities. Legal directories such as Chambers Global has described John as “unbelievably driven and super hard-working,” and noted that “he provides not just pure legal advice but strategic and commercial advice as well,” is “practical and solutions-oriented“ and recognized by clients as a “brilliant, creative, likeable and a true businessman’s lawyer,“ “a true deal maker” and “a trusted adviser.” The Legal 500 quotes John as a “strategic counsel steeped in business sense.”

Background
From 2008 to 2010, John was a member of the Securities Advisory Committee to the Ontario Securities Commission, a body that provides advice to the Commission and its staff on a variety of matters including policy initiatives, capital markets trends and legal, regulatory and market implications of Commission rules, policies, operations and administration.