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Lawyer
David McHugh
Bio
David’s practice focuses primarily on the needs of technology businesses.
David is a highly skilled transactional lawyer with a focus on regulated spaces, technology, privacy law, employment law, and gaming law. While David serves the needs of businesses of all types, he frequently provides expert guidance to local and international clients in the technology and gaming industries.
David assists clients with the drafting and negotiation of business contracts, including cloud services agreements, software development agreements, software licensing agreements, purchase and sale agreements, manufacturing agreements, distributions agreements, IT services agreements, shareholders’ agreements, and terms of service. He is also well-versed in negotiating and drafting employment agreements, including those for senior executives, and is frequently relied upon to resolve employment related disputes and to advise on high-risk terminations. Additionally, David advises his business clients on equity compensation strategies, including the granting of stock options, restricted share units, and phantom shares.
Outside of his transactional work, David’s clients depend on his practical advice for navigating through challenging regulatory regimes. His proficiency in analyzing complex, unsettled areas of law makes him a go-to source for legal opinions on multifaceted issues.
Graduating cum laude from the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law and called to the bar on September 23, 2016, David’s extensive experience and knowledge make him a sought-after and trusted advisor.
+1 604 629 5401 | [email protected]
Representative Speaking Engagements
- Alliott Global Alliance Cryptocurrency Roundtable – Presentation on progress and development in the Canadian cryptocurrency regulatory landscape
- Tech Law Crash Course – Quarterly presentation given to tech students at RED Academy
- Common Legal Pitfalls Startups Should Avoid
- #VanMentorMeetup presented by Startup Vancouver
- Business Legal Foundation for your Start-up or Growth Business
Representative Publications
- American Gaming Lawyer, Volume 11, No. 2, Autumn 2015; Online Gaming: Are You Rolling the Dice with Roll Playing Games? (Co-authored with Ron Segev and Eric Stein).
- Compliance with Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL): What You Need to Know
- Dismissing (aka Firing) an Employee for Cause is Harder than Often Thought
- Protecting a Business Name
- Non-Competition Clauses and Tech Employees
- Is your Contractor Actually a Contractor?
- Proactively Protecting your Intellectual Property: Copyrights
- What Developers and Clients Should Know Before Signing a Software Development Agreement
- What Every Employee With a Side Hustle Should Know About Copyright Ownership
- Upcoming Updates to Canada’s Trademarks Act
- New Mandatory Data Breach Obligations Under Canada’s Privacy Law
- A Crash Course in Open Source Code and Licensing
- What Businesses Need to Know About Their Legal Obligations When Outsourcing Data Processing to Third-Party Service Providers
- How to Make Money as an Open Source Software Developer
- BC Transparency Register: New Requirements for BC Private Companies
- How To Create a Binding Terms of Service for a Website or App
Past Memberships
- Canadian Technology Law Association
- Canadian Bar Association, British Columbia Branch
- CBA Business Law Section
- CBA Intellectual Property & Technology Law Section
- CBA Employment Law Section
- CBA Charities and Not-for-Profit Law Section
- CBA Competition Law Section
- CBA Entertainment, Media, and Communications National Section
- CBA Freedom of Information & Privacy Law Section
- CBA Securities Law Section
- CBA Taxation Law Section
- CBA Wills & Trusts Section
- BC Chapter of the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association
