Kathleen Maria Ritchie

Kathleen Ritchie is a partner in Gowling WLG's Toronto office and serves on the firm’s Board of Trustees. She is the past head of the Toronto office's Business Law Department and past leader of the firm's Corporate Finance, M&A and Private Equity Group . She practises securities and corporate law, and has over 25 years of experience at the firm advising on public and private M&A and corporate finance transactions, as well as securities regulatory and corporate governance matters. Kathleen was recently recognized by her peers in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in Canada in five categories – M&A, Corporate Governance, Corporate, Securities and Mining.

Kathleen is known by her clients and colleagues for approaching her work with a great deal of intensity, integrity and loyalty. She is a strategic and innovative thinker, who likes "leading-edge, never been done before kind of work" and she thrives on solving problems and "getting the deal done."

Kathleen's M&A practice involves providing advice on mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, including plans of arrangement, takeover and issuer bids, asset sales, distressed M&A and other restructuring & insolvency-related transactions, for both public and private companies. Kathleen has been involved in several MI 61-101/related-party transactions, including as counsel to special committees. She has also been ranked in the Lexpert Special Edition: Finance and M&A .

Kathleen's corporate finance practice includes acting on behalf of public companies in capital markets transactions, such as public offerings and private placements of both equity and debt securities. Kathleen is featured as a Leading Lawyer in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory in the area of Corporate Finance & Securities (2025). She has experience relating to the creation and acquisition of royalties and streams within the mining industry. She has also been ranked in Who's Who Legal: Mining , Who's Who Legal 100 - Energy & Natural Resources, Lexpert's Leading Canadian Lawyers in Global Mining, Lexpert Special Edition: Mining and the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory in the area of Mining.