David Howell

About David Howell

Owner-managed companies in manufacturing, health care, technology and services work with David Howell on the legal side of running and changing a private business. A partner in Gowling WLG's Hamilton office, David handles business law for the people who own and manage those companies: tax-planned reorganizations, buying and selling businesses, succession plans for handing a company on, and the agreements that sit underneath all of it.

After law school at Osgoode Hall, David was called to the Ontario bar in 1985 and has practised in both Hamilton and Toronto ever since.

Beyond client files, David has put real time into the governance of the profession. From 2017 to 2019 David sat as a Bencher of the Law Society of Ontario, serving as vice chair of the Professional Regulation Committee and on the Audit and Finance Committee, the Proceedings Authorization Committee, the Technology Task Force and the Solicitors' Issues Working Group. Closer to home, David led the Hamilton Law Association as president for 2013 to 2014.

Sales of family businesses come up often in David's work. On a 2020 Gowling WLG webinar about succession and M&A, David walked through what children buying a company from their parents usually want: a lower price, good payment terms, room to make their own decisions, and tax planning that lets corporate dollars cover the purchase and sets up ownership for their own families through a spouse or a discretionary trust.