Rory Godinho

Co-Chair, Canadian Capital Markets & Securities

Vancouver

(236) 317-5573

(604) 674-9245

Recent News:

17 Cozen O’Connor Attorneys Named Best Lawyers and Ones to Watch in Canada

Best Lawyers Canada has named 17 Cozen O’Connor lawyers from the firm’s Toronto and Vancouver offices in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in Canada.

Rory has a broad client base, including private and publicly traded companies in the natural resource, technology/biotechnology, health (pharmaceutical/nutraceutical), psychedelics, food and beverage, and industrial sectors and also acts for several independent investment dealers. Rory has extensive experience advising these clients on a wide array of matters such as initial public offerings, public and private equity and debt financings, mergers and acquisitions, reverse takeovers, qualifying transactions, corporate restructurings and reorganizations, capital alterations, and continuous disclosure requirements. He advises clients on corporate governance related matters, including regulatory compliance, corporate governance policies, fiduciary duties, and directors’ and officers’ liability. He has also acted as counsel to clients involved with proxy contests takeover defense mechanisms and shareholder rights plans.

Prior to joining the firm, Rory was the national co-chair of the capital markets and securities practice and the managing partner of the Vancouver office of an international law firm.

Rory has extensive experience in securities regulation in Canada, having been appointed in July 2016 by the Council of Ministers responsible for capital markets regulation from British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Yukon, and the Minister of Finance of Canada to the inaugural board of the Capital Markets Authority Implementation Organization (CMAIO), which was formed to evolve into the Capital Markets Regulatory Authority (CMRA) a single regulator administering the proposed uniform provincial-territorial Capital Markets Act and complementary Capital Markets Stability Act. Rory served on the board of directors of CMAIO until May 2021 when it was wound down. Prior to his CMAIO appointment, Rory served as chairperson of the TSX Venture Exchange’s National Advisory Committee. Rory has been active on behalf of various market participants advocating changes to securities laws and policies to keep up with a rapidly changing marketplace and has lectured on securities law on behalf of the Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia. He has also served as a director and officer of several listed companies and, in that capacity, established a large network of contacts in the venture capital markets industry.

Rory earned his law degree from the University of British Columbia.

Experience

News

17 Cozen O’Connor Attorneys Named Best Lawyers and Ones to Watch in Canada

September 04, 2024

Best Lawyers Canada has named 17 Cozen O’Connor lawyers from the firm’s Toronto and Vancouver offices in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in Canada.

Six Cozen O'Connor Attorneys Named to the 2024 Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory

March 29, 2024

Andrew Elbaz, Rory Godinho, Shane Hardy, Michael Osborne, Steven Weisz, and Kevin Zimka were named to the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory for 2024.

Ten Cozen O’Connor Attorneys Named Best Lawyers and Ones to Watch in Canada

August 24, 2023

Ten Cozen O’Connor lawyers from the firm’s Toronto and Vancouver offices were selected for inclusion in the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in Canada

Cozen O'Connor's Recent Canadian Growth Featured on Law.com International

November 16, 2022

In the article, "Foreign Firms Making Waves in Canada's Mid-Market" Law.com discusses Cozen O'Connor's recent growth in Toronto and Vancouver.

Cozen O’Connor Continues its Canadian Expansion, Adding Another Three Attorneys to Its Vancouver, B.C. Office

March 21, 2022

Elizabeth Holden, Gosia Piasecka, and Nicholas Krishan will reunite with former colleagues Rory Godinho, Kathy Tang, Lucy Schilling, Brian Fast, and Iain Mingo — five corporate attorneys who moved to Cozen O’Connor from the same Canadian firm earlier this month.

Cozen O’Connor Continues International Expansion with Corporate Additions, Moves to New Vancouver Office Space

March 07, 2022

Rory Godinho, Kathy Tang, Lucy Schilling, Brian Fast, and Iain Mingo have joined Cozen O’Connor from a major national Canadian law firm.

Events & Seminars

Past Events

Listed Issuer Financing Exemption Information Session

November 08, 2022 - Vancouver, BC

Industry Sectors

Education

  • University of British Columbia, LL.B., 1983

Awards & Honors

Best Lawyers in Canada, Corporate & Securities Law 2022-2025

Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, Corporate Finance & Securities, 2018-2019 

  • British Columbia

Canadian Bar Association