Kevin Wright

Kevin Wright is an experienced competition law and class action defence lawyer. He is the ‎Chair of the ‎firm’s Canadian International Trade, Regulatory and Government Affairs Group.‎

In his 30 year career, he has covered all aspects of competition law from complex international and ‎‎national cartel (price fixing) investigations and defence of criminal charges: merger clearance, abuse of ‎‎dominance investigations, advice on marketing and distribution practices and compliance programs. He ‎‎has acted in two of the few fully litigated merger cases before the Competition Tribunal, including an ‎‎appearance in the Supreme Court of Canada and the successful defence of vendors against the ‎proposed ‎dissolution of a ‎merger. While on a secondment early in his career, he was involved in ‎significant merger ‎cases before the European Commission and in the United States.‎

Kevin has been lead counsel in the defence of over 30 class actions across the country. His class action ‎‎experience covers a variety of industries, including automotive, technology, manufacturing, electronics, ‎‎transportation services, food and petroleum.  ‎

He has also acted for and advised clients in trade law disputes, including a chapter 11 NAFTA claim filed ‎against the Government of Canada. He has acted in other regulatory proceedings and civil litigation ‎including intellectual property disputes, proceedings under the Canada Transportation Act and ‎appearances before regulatory agencies and a utilities commission.‎

Kevin has been an active member of the Canadian Bar Association National Competition and Foreign ‎Investment Review Section ‎throughout his career. He has ‎served in the past as Chair of its International, ‎Legislation and Policy, Economics and Law, Mergers and Criminal ‎Matters Committees.‎  He was the Chair ‎of the Section’s 2022 Fall Conference, the country’s most significant annual competition law conference.‎

He has spoken and lectured on competition law, class actions and intellectual property law to ‎professional ‎and business audiences on various occasions.‎

For twelve years, Kevin has been an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia Faculty of ‎Law ‎where he teaches competition law.‎

Kevin received a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree from the University of Western Ontario in 1990, ‎obtaining the gold medal in honours economics. He then studied law at the University of Toronto, where he ‎graduated with honours in 1993.‎