Drivers of change in the legal profession and legal education (North America)

Attorney with more than 20 years of experience. His practice focuses on M&A and Banking & Finance with an emphasis in venture capital, crossborder finance and fintech, attending to a wide portfolio of clients that includes venture capital funds, non-bank financial institutions and entrepreneurs. In 2007, Fernando worked as a foreign associate in O’Melveny & Myers, LLP, in Los Angeles, California.

Stephen Bowman is Vice Chair and Managing Partner, People and Talent at Bennett Jones. He is a member of the firm's tax department and leads the firm's China and Asia initiatives. Stephen served as managing partner in Toronto for more than 13 years. Stephen's practice has included mergers, acquisitions, corporate restructuring, corporate finance, and trans-border transactions, with extensive experience in asset-based financing and equipment leasing. His practice also encompasses estate planning, where he advises Canadian domestic and foreign clients in connection with the establishment, operation and reorganization of estate planning structures, as well as with business, philanthropic and wealth succession planning. Stephen has written and spoken on domestic and international tax planning matters and is a contributing author to Tax Policy in Canada, ed. by Mintz, McKenzie and Kerr, and to U.S. Taxation of Foreign Controlled Businesses, ed. by Marc M. Levey. He is a past president of the Canadian Branch of the International Fiscal Association. He is also a recipient of the Canadian Tax Foundation's annual Douglas J. Sherbaniuk Distinguished Writing Award. Stephen is Co-Chair of the International Bar Association's Future of Legal Services Commission, past Chair of the IBA's Law Firm Management Committee and a past member of the Council of the Section on Public and Professional Interest. He is the Chair of the Board of Directors of Greenwood College School and a member of the Board of Directors of the Canada China Business Council. He is also immediate past Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Royal Ontario Museum and currently serves as a director of the Royal Ontario Museum Foundation.