Zemel van Kampen LLP
2 lawyers · City of Toronto
One of 2,345 law firms listed in Toronto, and one of 89 handling Technology & Startups.
About Zemel van Kampen LLP
Zemel van Kampen LLP is a small Toronto law firm focused on technology and litigation, with its office in First Canadian Place in the city's Financial District. Founding partners Dimitri van Kampen and Maanit Zemel each brought more than 20 years of experience in technology and internet law before starting the practice. Zemel is the firm's practising partner today, while van Kampen holds the title of partner emeritus and is not currently practising with the firm. The firm also works with Tom Caldwell, a lawyer on contract who runs a separate practice, Thomas Henry Legal, advising start-ups and mid-sized businesses on shareholder agreements and financings.
The firm concentrates on the legal problems that come with doing business online: anti-spam compliance under Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation, online defamation and cyberbullying, privacy and cybersecurity, and cross-border internet disputes, along with intellectual property and international commercial matters. Zemel and van Kampen say they're the only Canadian members of the Internet Law Leadership Summit, a group of international lawyers who focus on internet law. Zemel also teaches Internet Law, International Business Law, and Cybercrime as a part-time adjunct professor at Toronto Metropolitan University and the University of Toronto, and previously sat as an adjudicator on the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board.
Milestones & recognition
- In Clancy v Farid, Maanit Zemel obtained a summary judgment against an internet troll found responsible for cyberstalking and cyberbullying 53 people in Canada, the United States, and Europe over almost a decade. The judgment awarded more than $4.7 million, which the firm says is the largest damages award ever made against a single defendant in a defamation action in Canada, and the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld it in 2024.
- Maanit Zemel and Dimitri van Kampen have both been named to Post City Magazine's Toronto's Top Lawyers list: Zemel in civil litigation (2022, 2023, and 2024) and van Kampen in technology (2023 and 2024).
- Before co-founding the firm, Zemel was a partner at a law firm on Bay Street in Toronto and an associate at an international law firm on Wall Street in New York. Van Kampen was general counsel at a Canadian public company and an international fintech firm, managing a team of four lawyers, after working in the finance groups of national law firms in Toronto and Calgary and the global projects group of an international law firm in London.
In the community
- Maanit Zemel is a part-time adjunct professor at Toronto Metropolitan University and the University of Toronto, teaching Internet Law, International Business Law, and Cybercrime.
- Zemel previously sat as an adjudicator on the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board, hearing disputes between residential landlords and tenants.
- Dimitri van Kampen is a guest lecturer at the University of Toronto and Toronto Metropolitan University on law, technology, and business topics.
- Tom Caldwell served as a task force member for the National Angel Capital Organization, helping develop standard term sheets used to structure investment deals for start-ups and founders.
Good to know
Wheelchair accessibleLawyers 2
Who handles what
The neighbourhood
Zemel van Kampen's office is at First Canadian Place, 100 King Street West, in downtown Toronto. The firm describes itself as a highly virtualized practice, a structure suited to a client base of technology companies and businesses that operate mostly online rather than one built around walk-in traffic. That pairing, a downtown office address with a leaner way of working, fits the kind of internet and technology litigation the firm handles: disputes that usually play out online long before they reach a courtroom.
Frequently asked questions
- What kind of legal work does Zemel van Kampen LLP handle?
- The firm concentrates on technology and internet-related law, including CASL anti-spam compliance, online defamation and cyberbullying, privacy and cybersecurity, intellectual property, and cross-border internet disputes, along with litigation and international commercial matters.
- I think someone is posting defamatory or harassing content about me online. Can Zemel van Kampen help?
- The firm's litigation practice focuses heavily on online defamation and cyberbullying, including obtaining court orders to remove defamatory postings, identifying anonymous posters through Norwich orders, and pursuing damages, as in the firm's Clancy v Farid case.
- My business needs help complying with Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation. Does the firm advise on that?
- Yes. Zemel van Kampen regularly advises businesses, not for profit organizations, and charities on CASL compliance and drafts compliance policies for them.
- Can Zemel van Kampen help my start-up with a shareholder agreement or financing?
- Tom Caldwell, who works with the firm as a lawyer on contract, advises on corporate organizations, shareholder matters, corporate financing, and mergers and acquisitions for start-ups and mid-sized businesses.
- Where is Zemel van Kampen located and how do I reach the firm?
- The office is at First Canadian Place, 100 King Street West, Suite 5700, in downtown Toronto. It can be reached by email at info@canadatechlaw.com or by phone, Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- How big is Zemel van Kampen LLP?
- The firm is small by design. It's led by founding partner Maanit Zemel, works with Tom Caldwell as a lawyer on contract for corporate matters, and lists Dimitri van Kampen as partner emeritus, though van Kampen is not currently practising with the firm.
Where to find them
First Canadian Place, 100 King Street West, Suite 5700, Toronto, ON M5X 1C7, Canada · 647-426-2270
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