William Buchner, Chantelle Cseh, Fotini Gagaoudakis and Florence Simard have been recognized as 2022 Lexpert Rising Stars: Leading Lawyers Under 40 for their exceptional contributions to the legal profession and the community.

Will Buchner has built a practice leading transformative infrastructure projects across North America, including the GO Rail On-Corridor Project, the Ontario Line Subway Projects and the sale of Plenary Group and its 36 PPP projects to CDPQ. In 2022, he was selected by his peers as The Best Lawyers in Canada Project Finance Law “Lawyer of the Year (Toronto).”

Chantelle Cseh is recognized for her stellar advocacy skills and is a trailblazer in the digitization of Ontario courtrooms. She acted as lead counsel for the Estate Trustees of Barry and Honey Sherman in a precedent-setting appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada involving privacy rights. She is a recipient of the Ontario Bar Association’s Heather McArthur Memorial Young Lawyers Award (2020); Osgoode Hall Law School’s Alumni Gold Key Award, One-to-Watch (2019); and a Lexpert Zenith Award: Celebrating Change Agents in Law (2019).

A true M&A enthusiast, Fotini Gagaoudakis is fuelled by a passion for transactional work and thrives on high-stakes matters, particularly those involving cross-jurisdictional considerations and multidisciplinary project management. She has led Canadian and foreign clients on their most transformative deals in Canada, including Wattpad, Groupe Michelin, Vance Street Capital and Colt’s Manufacturing. A go-to reference on M&A, Fotini frequently participates in North American and international panels and has been featured in prominent publications such as of Counsel newsletter and the ABA’s International Mergers and Acquisitions Due Diligence.

Florence Simard has an outstanding track record advising on high-profile real estate and infrastructure transactions, including the Réseau express métropolitain, multiple real estate projects for Carbonleo and several transactions for PSP Investments. Florence is a dedicated mentor to young lawyers and frequent organizer of industry conferences, where she regularly presents to audiences ranging from law students to startup founders to sophisticated investors.

The full list of this year’s winners is featured in Lexpert Magazine and published on Lexpert’s website and in The Globe and Mail.