Christopher J. Kent

Christopher J. Kent

Partner / Ottawa

Chris Kent is a founding partner of Cassidy Levy Kent (Canada) LLP and is consistently recognized as one of the pre-eminent international trade lawyers in Canada.

Chris has been involved in a significant number of the highest profile trade matters in Canada and the United States in industries including forestry (lumber and paper), energy, steel, mining, consumer products, agricultural products, and high technology. He provides advice and representation across the spectrum of trade litigation, trade regulation and trade policy matters, including antidumping/countervailing duties, safeguards, export/import controls, sanctions, controlled goods under Canada’s Defence Production Act, customs, WTO, NAFTA, AIT and other trade treaties, on behalf of clients ranging from corporations to trade associations to governments.  Chris also regularly advises and represents clients on government procurement issues and disputes.  He is a frequent speaker and guest lecturer on international trade issues and served as Co-Chair of the International Bar Association’s International Trade and Customs Committee.

In trade litigation matters, Chris has an extensive record of appearances before binational dispute resolution panels under the North American Free Trade Agreement, Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal and Federal Court, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal, the Canada Border Services Agency, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. International Trade Commission, as well as several core legal working groups in WTO disputes.

In the field of competition law, Chris is the co-author of the Canadian Competition Law Handbook, published by Carswell in 1997, as he served as a sessional lecturer at Queen’s University between 1998 and 2002.  He provides advice across the range of issues under Canada’s Competition Act and has represented clients in merger reviews and other matters involving the Competition Bureau and in judicial proceedings.

Honors

  • Recognized by Chambers Global: The Guide to the World’s Leading Lawyers for Business as a “Tier 1″ lawyer in the field of International Trade
  • Identified in The Best of the Best as among the Top 25 international lawyers worldwide
  • Only Canadian lawyer recognized as a global “Thought Leader” in International Trade Law, Who’s Who Legal
  • Identified as “Most Frequently Recommended” and a leading U.S. Canada Cross-Border Litigation Lawyer by LEXPERT
  • Recommended by The Best Lawyers in Canada as a Leading International Trade Lawyer in Canada

Professional Affiliations

  • Appointed to Canadian Roster of Panellists for Dispute Resolution under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, Chapter 10
  • International Bar Association, Trade & Customs Committee Executive, 2009 to 2019
  • Canadian Bar Association, International Trade & Investment Committee, Commodity Tax, Customs & Trade Section
  • Canadian International Trade Tribunal Advisory Committee; Appointed Member, 2015 to present
  • Appointed as Screener for Potential Claims under Canada’s Agreement on International Trade for the Government of Ontario, 2015
  • Panelist, Canadian International Trade Tribunal Colloquium, Ottawa, Canada, September 2015
  • Queen’s University, Sessional Lecturer, 1998-2002
  • Author of The Canadian Competition Law Handbook (Carswell, 1997)

Recent Speaking Engagements

  • Chair and Moderator, “Gender and Trade: Old Challenges and New Opportunities”, International Bar Association Annual Conference, Seoul, Korea, October 2019.
  • Chair and Moderator, “International Trade, Climate Change, Access to National Resources and Human Rights: Can the Gaps be Bridged?”, International Bar Association Annual Conference, Vienna, Austria, October 2015
  • Chair, “Technical Barriers to Trade and the WTO Agreements”, International Bar Association Annual Meeting, Dublin, October 2012
  • Speaker “Export Controls:  What In-House and Outside Counsel Should Know for 2012”, New York State Bar Association Corporate Counsel Section and International Section – Committees on Corporate Counsel and International Trade, The Customs and International Trade Bar Association and the Dennis J. Block Center for the Study of International Business Law at Brooklyn Law School, December 2011
  • Co-Chair and Co-Moderator, “The Modern Trade Lawyer: What Clients Want in Their Counsel”, International Bar Association, 2010 Annual Meeting, Vancouver Canada.
  • Presenter, “Export Control Laws in Canada and the United States: Critical Issues for Canadian Technology Companies”, Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation, March 2010
  • Co-moderator, “Recession and Recovery: The Emerging Trade Issues and Policy Choices”, International Bar Association inaugural webinar, December 2009

Education

  • LL.B., B.C.L., McGill University (Wainwright Scholarship; I. Ballon Medal for most outstanding contribution to McGill Law Journal)
  • B. Comm., Queen’s University (Ross W. Nicol Graduation Award in Finance)
  • Law Clerk to the Honourable Mr. Justice Marc Nadon, Federal Court of Canada, 1993-1994

Languages

  • English
  • French

Bar Memberships

  • Ontario
  • Registered as Foreign Legal Consultant with the Bar of the District of Columbia, USA