Susan H. Abramovitch

About Susan H. Abramovitch

Deals and disputes in music, film, TV and sports are the heart of Susan H. Abramovitch's work, along with newer questions around AI and metaverse/NFT projects. A partner in Gowling WLG's Toronto office, Abramovitch is Head of Entertainment and leads the Entertainment & Sports Sector Group. Clients include well-known artists, companies and brands from Canada and abroad, and the help they get ranges from negotiating agreements and structuring deals to acquiring rights and settling conflicts. Abramovitch works in English and French.

Entertainment law was always the goal, though the path there had a few detours. Abramovitch earned both civil and common law degrees at McGill, graduating as gold medallist in each program, and then clerked for Justice Gérard V. La Forest at the Supreme Court of Canada in 1992. As a law student, Abramovitch worked at Milbank (1989) and Davis Polk (1990) in New York, and later practised international M&A with Debevoise & Plimpton in New York and Paris. Back in Canada, Abramovitch co-founded the entertainment law firm Stohn Abramovitch in 1995, was a partner at Goodman and Carr in 2003, and has also headed the entertainment group at another large firm. Bar admissions followed in Quebec (1992), New York (1994) and Ontario (1996).

Abramovitch directs the Osgoode Hall Law School certificate in entertainment law, used to lecture on the subject at McGill's law faculty, and often speaks at Osgoode, at the University of Toronto's law and music faculties and at the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada. Abramovitch is passionate about helping future entertainment lawyers succeed. Internationally, Abramovitch sits on the executive committee of the International Association of Entertainment Lawyers and has co-chaired its yearly legal update panel at the Amsterdam Dance Event since 2017.

With creators in particular, Abramovitch's view is that good advice looks at a client's hopes and goals as a whole, not one transaction at a time. Media regularly seek Abramovitch's commentary, and it has appeared on CBC's The National, CTV and in The Globe and Mail and Billboard. Away from the office, Abramovitch loves cooking, working out and time at the cottage.