Jonathan Sherman
Contact
- Telephone T: 416 869 5409
- Fax F: 416 360 8877
- Email E: jsherman@cassels.com
Jonathan Sherman* serves as Executive Chair of Cassels, is a partner in the Capital Markets and M&A Groups, and is the Founder of the firm’s Cannabis Law Group. Jonathan’s practice focuses on emerging and high-growth industries, including cannabis, technology, natural resources, beverage alcohol, real estate, gaming, cryptocurrency, consumer packaged goods, and food and beverage. In his role as Chair of the firm’s Cannabis Group, Jonathan is at the forefront of many of the largest industry transactions in this evolving sector, providing strategic and legal advice to a range of leading industry players on complex and innovative transactions.
Jonathan acts for a wide variety of domestic and international companies and investment banks. With corporate clients ranging from start-ups to multibillion-dollar businesses, Jonathan’s practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions (public and private acquisitions, business combinations, joint ventures, go-public transactions and strategic collaborations) and corporate finance transactions (public offerings, venture capital, private equity offerings and debt financing transactions).
Whether strategically guiding clients through M&A, or helping emerging start-ups secure investments, Jonathan has become a trusted advisor to many. In addition, he has played a central role on several of the largest transactions completed to-date in the cannabis industry. He acts for industry-leader Canopy Growth on corporate, commercial, securities and M&A matters, including numerous M&A transactions valued at over $5 billion; a $600 million offering of senior convertible unsecured notes, a US$1.25 billion senior secured debt financing and various innovative cross-border transactions to facilitate Canopy Growth’s conditional exposure to the United States cannabis market in advance of federal legalization.
*Services provided through a Professional Corporation
Representative Work
- Global Battery Materials Completes Acquisition of Lomiko Metals
- Vireo Growth Announces Senior Secured Credit Facility with Bank of Montreal
- Global Battery Materials to Acquire Lomiko Metals
- Spring Valley and General Fusion Complete Business Combination
- TerrAscend Completes US$21.7 Million Convertible Debenture Financing
News
- Cassels Recognized Among the Country’s Best in Chambers Canada 2027
- Jonathan Sherman Named One of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40
- Cassels Lawyers Recognized Among the Best in the Country by Best Lawyers 2027
- AOMC’s US$1B Merger with Odyssey Marine Exploration Profiled by Lexpert
- Cassels Lawyers Ranked Among Canada’s Best by Lexpert’s 2026 Directory
Insights
- Prescription Change: DOJ Reclassifies State-Licensed and FDA-Approved Marijuana Products
- Semi-Annual Reporting has Arrived: The CSA Adopts Pilot for Eligible Venture Issuers
- Long-Awaited U.S. Cannabis Rescheduling
- Semi-Annual Reporting Moves from Concept to Pilot: What Venture Issuers Need to Know
- Budget 2025: Federal Government Proposes Changes to Veterans and RCMP Medical Cannabis Benefits
Speaking Engagements
- Jonathan Sherman Examines Lessons Learned Through Canadian Cannabis Legalization at the INCBA’s Cannabis Law Institute
- Jonathan Sherman Discusses International Market Opportunities at the Future Cannabis Strategies Conference Europe
- Proud Sponsor of the ACG’s 2019 Leadership Luncheon Series
- Proud Sponsor of the OBLS Cannabis Business Law Forum Featuring Expert Insights by Jamie Litchen and Jonathan Sherman
- Jonathan Sherman Speaking on “Cannabis Issues (and Answers) for Real Estate and Business Lawyers” Presented by the Law Society of Ontario
Achievements
- Best Lawyers in Canada (Cannabis)
- Best Lawyers in Canada, Lawyer of the Year (Cannabis – Toronto) (2026)
- Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 (2026)
- Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory (Corporate Finance & Securities)
- Chambers Canada (Cannabis)
- Global Top 200 Cannabis Lawyers Directory
- IFLR1000 (Capital Markets, M&A)
- Legal500 Canada (Cannabis, Hall of Fame)
Client Commentary
- “Jonathan is very responsive and client-entric.” – Chambers Canada (Cannabis)
- “Jonathan is extremely aware of client needs and is very committed to solving client problems in a practical and effective manner.” – Chambers Canada (Cannabis)
- “Jonathan is exceptionally knowledgeable, customer-oriented and business-savvy.” – Chambers Canada (Cannabis)
- “He is a good strategist and focused on delivering innovative solutions to novel transactions.” – Chambers Canada (Cannabis)
- “Jonathan is wonderful to work with – very collaborative, sensitive to commercial issues and a real problem solver.”- Chambers Canada (Cannabis)
- “The best lawyer I have ever worked with by a long way.” – Chambers Canada (Cannabis)
- “Very pragmatic, smart, knowledgeable, and efficient in his advice.” – Chambers Canada (Cannabis)
- “Great understanding of the business realities that help deals get done.” – Chambers Canada (Cannabis)
- “He is extremely well-connected in the cannabis industry specifically, which is a great advantage to our business.” – Chambers Canada (Cannabis)
- “Earns high praise for his involvement in the cannabis sector, ‘with this expertise at hand, the business end of things then takes care of itself.’” – Chambers Canada (Cannabis)
Education
- J.D., Osgoode Hall Law School
- B.Com., McGill University
Year Of Call
- Ontario, 2015
Associations
- Ontario Bar Association
