Susan H. Abramovitch is a partner at Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP in its Toronto office and practises exclusively in entertainment law. Prior to joining Gowlings, Susan served as Head of the Entertainment and Media Group of another national-based law firm, and was a founding partner of Stohn Abramovitch, LLP, Canada's premier entertainment law boutique. Recognized by Lexpert as a leading entertainment lawyer, Ms. Abramovitch’s practice covers all aspects of music industry transactions, as well as film, television, live theatre, multimedia, videogaming and book publishing. She has drafted and negotiated numerous entertainment-related agreements, both domestic and international, and has advised clients on all aspects of copyright law related to their businesses.
Ms. Abramovitch previously practised law at the New York-based law firm Debevoise & Plimpton in both its New York and Paris offices. At Debevoise, she worked in the areas of telecommunications law, international mergers and acquisitions and general international corporate transactions. She is called to the bar in Ontario, New York and Québec.
Prior to Debevoise, Ms. Abramovitch worked in the Montréal office of a national-based law firm, and at Davis, Polk & Wardwell and Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy in New York. Graduating with both LL.B. and B.C.L. degrees, she was the gold medalist for her graduating year in both the Civil Law and National Law Programs at McGill University's Faculty of Law in Montréal, and served as a law clerk to the Honourable Mr. Justice Gérard V. La Forest of the Supreme Court of Canada. Ms. Abramovitch is fluent in both English and French.
In the area of entertainment law, Ms. Abramovitch has published in the Canadian Journal of Law and Technology, the Canadian Business Law Journal, Sweet and Maxwell’s Entertainment Law Review and Cahiers de droit. She is an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law and lectures at Osgoode Hall Law School and IPIC/McGill. In addition, she has served as a chair, panelist and speaker at various industry and legal conferences, nationally and internationally, including South By Southwest, Midem, Sunny Side of the Doc, Canadian Music Week, Pop Montreal, Women in Film and Television's International Summit, Insight Conference's Entertainment Industries Summit, The Canadian Institute's Managing Risks on the Internet Conference, the Interactive Content Exchange, and many others; and as a media commentator on CBC’s The National Magazine, CBC Newsworld and CTV’s National News, as well as in the Globe and Mail, National Post and Billboard.
Ms. Abramovitch served as a Member of the Board of Trustees of the National Film Board of Canada from 2001 - 2006, and currently serves as a member of the Toronto Advisory Board to McGill University’'s Faculty of Law.
