Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m M A Y 2 0 1 8 33 a programmer who has worked in the blockchain industry as a lawyer since 2014. Before joining Decentral, he ran a law practice that started accepting Bitcoin in 2014 and advised clients such as Bitcoin core developer Peter Todd as well as Anthony Diiorio, co-founder of Ethereum, Bitcoin's main rival. Cam- eron-Huff is also an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto's law school (where he teaches a course on crypto), and he has written about it frequently including for Nasdaq.com and Bitcoin Magazine. He says Toronto is already a recognized world centre for crypto, blockchain and distributed ledger tech. Says Cameron-Huff, "Toronto has hundreds of accountants and lawyers who work on blockchain matters — the start of a cluster . . . Canada is well connected internationally, and almost all 'crypto projects' are by default global, rather than local — so our small local market isn't an issue. "The regulatory environment is also a factor. Canadian money services business rules and our forward-thinking securities regulators have been helpful for the indus- try's growth. But probably the most sig- nificant factor was the rise of Ethereum in Toronto and the many blockchain invest- ors that came from that, similar to Silicon Valley's venture capital tech ecosystem." Adds ter Haar, "When it comes to legal tech, Toronto takes top place glob- ally . . . Canadian firms have been leading the legal blockchain consortium. The larg- est law firm in the world, Dentons, signed up through its Canadian office." Grinhaus says that whenever he travels to international blockchain events, "there's always a disproportionately large Can- adian contingent. "I'm very proud when I see that. We are a very progressive, forward-thinking society and the principles upon which blockchain is based — freedom, security, democracy, accessibility — are inherently very Canadian," says Grinhaus. Dentons lawyer Tracy Molino says Canada's regulatory regime is "increasing- ly seen by investors as more stable or easier to predict" than that in the U.S. "Investors consider Canadian regula- tors relatively open to working with new technology, from a securities perspective," says Molino. However, Canadian firms will have to close a "four- or five-year gap" between them and U.K. and U.S. competitors, says one insider, while global legal director- ies don't currently rank any Canadians among the best blockchain lawyers (yes, there's a category for that now). People close to the matter say U.S. firms such as Perkins Coie LLP, Davis Polk & Ward- well LLP, Morrison & Foerster LLP and Cooley LLP dominate Canadian firms on blockchain. Blockchain is still in its infancy — fragmented and lacking common stan- dards or standardized processes. None- theless, Farrell urges law schools to respond now. "Currently, some lawyers don't under- stand blockchain and Bitcoin are differ- ent things," she says. But will lawyers have to learn code? Definitely not, says Yunusov. "Let's put that notion to rest already. Lawyers will have enough work as it is." FULL DAY IN-CLASS & LIVE ONLINE ACCESS This annual conference gives executives and Corporate Commercial & Technology lawyers an opportunity to network and learn about the most recent and significant developments in Canadian and international Technology Law - all provided by leading practitioners. To inquire about registrations and group rates contact us at 416-609-5868 | Toll Free: 1-877-298-5868 Email: cpd.centre@thomsonreuters.com Please mention Tech Law Conference in the subject line. 2018 TECHNOLOGY LAW SPRING FORUM MAY 28-29, 2018 CHAIRED BY Donald B. Johnston, Aird & Berlis LLP Natasha Ell Saunders, Vice President, Legal Affairs, TekSavvy Solutions Inc. Vantage Venues 150 King Street West, 16th Floor, Toronto ON, M5H 1J9 WWW.TECHLAW-CONFERENCE.CA Powered by Untitled-7 1 2018-04-23 2:33 PM

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