Samantha Prasad* (she/her/hers) is a partner in the Tax & Trusts Group and also serves as Co-Chair of the Private Client Group at Cassels. Samantha’s tax practice focuses primarily on private client (both personal and private company), international, and trust planning. Samantha’s clients vary from multi-national corporations, to family business owners/managers, to high-net and ultra-high-net worth individuals and families. As such, her practice is varied to include tax aspects of personal and corporate structures and reorganizations, domestic and international trust structures, as well as comprehensive business succession planning with an aim to maximizing generational wealth for clients and their families.
Clients appreciate Samantha’s ability to set up tax-efficient structures, and her ability to explain complex issues in everyday terms. Samantha is very adaptable to her clients’ needs, while also being able to provide a holistic view in respect of the client’s particular situation and goals. Her reputation is underscored by being recognized by her peers in Best Lawyers in Canada for Tax Law and in The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory for both Estate & Tax Planning and Corporate Tax. Samantha is also ranked as a leader in the field of Private Wealth Law by the Chambers High Net Worth Guide.
Samantha is an accomplished author, having co-authored the 3rd edition of Tax and Family Business Succession Planning. Additionally, she is the co-editor of various other CCH Canadian Limited tax publications including the Canada Income Tax Guide, Wealth Management Guide, and Tax Planning for Small Business Guide. Samantha is a regular contributor to TaxNotes (Wolters Kluwer) and was a Contributing Editor to The TaxLetter newsletter (MPL Communications) for many years. Samantha is also a frequent lecturer for professional and commercial organizations, businesses, and conferences, including (but not limited to) the Canadian Tax Foundation, STEP Canada, the Law Society of Ontario, the Ontario Bar Association and Federated Press. She has also served as a guest speaker for the Osgoode Faculty of Law LLM (Corporate Taxation) program.
Prior to joining Cassels, Samantha served as a partner at a Toronto-based full-service business law firm where she was a member of the Executive Committee, Diversity & Equality Task Force, Legal Personnel Committee, and Student Recruitment Committee. She also represented the firm as a Board Member and Executive Committee Member with Meritas, a premier global alliance of independent law firms.
*Services provided through a Professional Corporation
