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.
