Vancouver, B.C., MARCH 21, 2022 — Cozen O’Connor announced three more corporate attorneys from a prominent Canadian law firm have chosen to join its Vancouver office and be part of the firm’s fast-growing, international Capital Markets & Securities practice. Elizabeth Holden, Gosia Piasecka, and Nicholas Krishan will reunite with former colleagues Rory Godinho, Kathy Tang, Lucy Schilling, Brian Fast, and Iain Mingo — five corporate attorneys who moved to Cozen O’Connor from the same Canadian firm earlier this month. Holden joins as a member, while Piasecka and Krishan join as associates.
Each will once again work with Godinho, who chairs Cozen O’Connor’s Canadian Capital Markets & Securities practice. Combined with Shane Hardy, Brigeeta Richdale, and Rebecca Sim, white collar, securities, and IP litigators who joined the firm from Cassels last June, Cozen O’Connor has now added 10 elite attorneys to its Vancouver office over the past nine months — further bolstering its cross-border transactional and international litigation capabilities in both Canada and the United States.
“Having worked closely with Elizabeth, Gosia, and Nicholas at our previous firm, I’m thrilled they’ve chosen to join us here at Cozen O’Connor,” said Godinho. “Over the past few years, they have all proven themselves to be excellent lawyers and key members of our Capital Markets & Securities group. We have developed a highly functional, close-knit team that allows us to manage complex financial transactions involving a wide variety of North American-based enterprises. We anticipate that each of them will play a key role in helping us build out our practice.”
“With cross-border transactions growing by leaps and bounds, attracting a group of attorneys so highly regarded by Canada’s corporate community is a major accomplishment, both for the firm and our office,” said Brigeeta Richdale, office managing partner of Cozen O’Connor’s Vancouver office. “The fact that Elizabeth, Gosia, Nicholas, and the rest of Rory’s team have been working together for years means they’ll hit the ground running. I’m very much looking forward to working with my new colleagues.”
Shane Hardy, office managing partner of the firm’s Toronto office, highlighted the pace of the firm’s expansion and noted that “the continued growth of our capital markets team is another example of how we are aggressively moving forward with our strategic vision of building a full-service practice to compete directly with top-tier Canadian firms.”
Elizabeth Holden’s background includes guiding private and public enterprises in the natural resource, technology, and entertainment sectors through equity offerings, private placements, bought deal financings, public offerings, corporate financings, IPOs, and M&A transactions. Many of her clients are part of Canada’s mineral resources/mining industries, key components in the country’s national economy. A native of the United Kingdom, Holden received her LL.B. from Queen Mary, University of London and completed her LL.M in American Legal Systems at The College of William & Mary in Virginia.
“I’m excited to be part of a cutting-edge firm with an international footprint dedicated to building a world-class corporate practice here in Canada,” Holden said. “Being able to tap its many international resources will surely benefit my clients and help me expand my practice further.”
Fluent in English, German, and Polish, Gosia Piasecka maintains a broad-based securities practice, providing public and private companies with strategic counsel on M&A, debt and equity offerings, regulatory compliance, startup matters, and corporate governance. Recognized in this year’s The Best Lawyers in Canada: Ones to Watch – Mergers and Acquisitions Law; Securities Law 2022, her background includes closing complex commercial deals and managing a range of transaction stakeholders. A recipient of the ACG National Capital Deal of the Year Award in both 2018 and 2019, Piasecka earned her J.D. at Thompson Rivers University and her B.A. in political science and business administration at Simon Fraser University.
Nicholas Krishan focuses his practice on regulatory compliance matters, securities transactions, commercial lending arrangements, and corporate governance. He works closely with government entities and private companies to identify and obtain funding for new business ventures. His clients include businesses small and large operating in Canada’s cannabis, construction, and infrastructure, energy, and natural resources sectors. Krishan earned his J.D. and Bachelor of Commerce in finance at the University of British Columbia.
About Cozen O’Connor
Established in 1970, Cozen O’Connor has over 750 attorneys who help clients manage risk and make better business decisions. The firm counsels clients on their most sophisticated legal matters in all areas of the law, including litigation, corporate, and regulatory law. Representing a broad array of leading global corporations and middle market companies, Cozen O’Connor serves its clients’ needs through 32 offices across two continents.
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