Biography

Dr. Alison Manzer practices commercial and corporate finance and business law as a partner with Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP in Toronto, Ontario with a broad focus. Alison’s range of practice includes financial institution regulation and investment, corporate and commercial finance, structured finance, business reorganization, cross border transactions, fund formation and governance and involvement with a broad range of digital asset, blockchain applications with a particular emphasis on fintech. Her authored books include Halsbury’s Laws of Canada - Banking and Finance and Guarantees; Asset Based Lending in Canada and Real Estate Finance in Canada (LexisNexis); Canada–US Commercial Law Guide; Law in International Finance and Project Finance in Canada (Thomson Reuters); A Practical Guide to Canadian Partnership Law and (Crawford) Banking and Payment in Canada (Canada Law Book). She is a frequent lecturer on legal topics and has authored a large number of articles over the span of more than forty years with a recent focus on digital assets, blockchain and AI. She is active with the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers (Past Regent), the Association of Commercial Finance Attorneys (Past President), the American Bar Association (Committee Chair) and the American Bar Foundation. Alison has held directorships in several financial services entities including banks and insurance companies and has had involvement with active roles with several professional organizations . She holds an MBA (U of T), LLM (York U) (banking and financial services), and MSc and Doctorate Business Administration (Reading U) in addition to her initial law degree and degrees in bio-chemistry and physical chemistry. Alison completed the Canadian Securities Institute advanced securities courses in Investment Finance. She is recognized as a leading lawyer by such organizations as Chambers, Lexpert, Expert Guide and Best Lawyers. She was called to the Ontario Bar in 1979.