Shining brightly on the legal landscape are Sharon Ford, Law’11, Amaan Gangji, Law’09, and David Kramer, Law’08/MBA’09. Lexpert magazine named them to its 2023 list of “Rising Stars – Leading Lawyers Under 40.”
These three high-achievers talk about their fulfilling work, law school experience, and advice for students and new lawyers.
Sharon Ford, Law’11
Partner, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Toronto
A skilled commercial negotiator and tax advisor, Sharon Ford brings big picture understanding to her clients’ most complex transactions. She advises on domestic and international tax aspects of fund formation, cross-border transactions and mergers and acquisitions. Known for her deep technical knowledge, she advises clients in private equity, venture capital, private credit, and real estate. She also works closely with financial institutions and private and public companies. Canadian and foreign fund sponsors turn to her for her expertise with fund structuring, management compensation and transactional matters. In addition, she provides tax structuring advice to family offices and high net-worth individuals and acts pro bono for the Canadian Soccer Players Association and various charitable organizations.
What do you find most fulfilling in your work?
Working with clients across different industries to assist with their particular tax structuring needs gives rise to a diversity of legal and taxation issues to consider and ensures that my work is never dull or repetitive and always challenging and engaging.
How did Queen’s Law prepare you for your career?
At Queen’s I developed a good foundational knowledge of the law and first learned how to think critically about legal issues and examine them from different perspectives. Importantly, law school provided a forum to develop legal reasoning and writing skills, which are essential throughout one’s career in private practice.
What advice would you give law students and new lawyers for a successful legal career?
To keep an open mind and be prepared to take on opportunities as they come – students and new lawyers might be surprised at what piques their interest or how one opportunity can open a door to other unexpected opportunities or change the trajectory of one’s career.
Amaan Gangji, Law’09
Partner, Lawson Lundell LLP, Vancouver
In his mergers and acquisitions practice, for which Best Lawyers in Canada and Lexpert recognize him as a leading lawyer, Amaan Gangji advises on complex business transactions involving Canadian, U.S., and international stakeholders. He has advised and led large legal teams on transactions of all sizes, from mid-market to multibillion dollar, involving more than 20 countries and a variety of industries. His clients – ranging from entrepreneurs to private equity firms, multi-national corporations, and institutional investors – have repeatedly expressed their appreciation for his ability to drive transactions strategically and effectively, and for his lateral, solutions-focused thinking that prioritizes their success. His community involvement includes serving as a director of a non-profit organization that raises funds for children’s charities and as a volunteer mentor for TiE Young Entrepreneurs.
What do you find most fulfilling in your work?
I am grateful that my practice allows me to work closely with clients and help them navigate transformational situations. I also enjoy working with fantastic colleagues and a wide range of professional advisors on large deal teams. At the end of the day, it’s the connections with people and the opportunities to collaborate that I enjoy the most.
How did Queen’s Law prepare you for your career?
I was fortunate enough to be one of the founding members of the Queen’s Business Law Clinic and it continues to serve as a reminder of how important it is to get involved and how fulfilling it is to make a difference. The tight-knit Queen’s Law community was a great environment to make lasting relationships and engage with all that law school has to offer!
What advice would you give law students and new lawyers for a successful legal career?
Be curious and be positive. If you’re curious, you’ll figure it out. If you’re positive, people will help you figure it out! Positivity is an underrated skill that really helps in what can be a very challenging and intense profession.
David Kramer, Law’08/MBA’09
Senior Legal Counsel, Suncor Energy Inc
David Kramer is in-house counsel to Suncor Energy’s downstream fuel business, composed of the Petro-Canada network of retail and wholesale retail stations, as well as refinery operations across Canada. In that capacity, he provides a wide variety of legal advice across the business, from day-to-day commercial, regulatory, and contractual matters, advertising, marketing, and loyalty program advice, through to complex mergers and acquisitions and extensive corporate partnerships. Notably, he was recently lead counsel on the newly announced partnership between Suncor and Canadian Tire, which will establish Suncor as the long-term exclusive supplier of fuel to Canadian Tire’s retail fuel network across Canada, rebrand over 200 Canadian Tire stations to the Petro-Canada brand, and establish an industry-leading loyalty program partnership between Suncor’s Petro-Points program and Canadian Tire’s Triangle Rewards.
What do you find most fulfilling in your work?
My role as in-house counsel affords a unique opportunity to devote my work to the business of a single client, and become a valued part of a business team. Rather than discrete engagements from time to time, my work allows me to see a broader business purpose behind the legal work I do and to frame my advice in the context of larger business objectives.
How did the combined JD/MBA program at Queen’s prepare you for your career?
My time at Queen’s Law allowed me to focus my studies on the areas of law I knew would be important for my career in the future, including concentrations in the areas of contract law theory and corporate governance. The additional opportunity to combine that corporate legal education with one of the leading MBA programs in the country provided me with the ability to translate complex legal concepts into practical business advice for my clients in terms they can readily understand.
What advice would you give law students and new lawyers for a successful legal career?
Spend time in law school pursuing courses that speak to you intellectually. Your career after school will follow its own path, and you’ll end up with as narrow or broad a practice as is right for you over time. But law school allows you the unique freedom to explore as many areas of the law as you choose, and delve as deep into them as you’d like. You’ll never have that opportunity again, so use it now.