Norton Rose Fulbright Announces Renowned M&A Expert Walied Soliman as Global Chair for 2024

Norton Rose Fulbright Announces Renowned M&A Expert Walied Soliman as Global Chair for 2024

Renowned M&A lawyer Walied Soliman, co-chair of Norton Rose Fulbright's special situations team, has ascended to the firm's highest leadership position, becoming Global Chair for 2024. This influential role sees him serve as a global ambassador, connecting with clients and colleagues across the firm's vast network of 54 offices.

Soliman was initially appointed as Canada Chair in 2017 and had previously held the position of Global Chair for the firm in 2019.

"I am proud to serve once again as Norton Rose Fulbright's Global Chair. One of our firm's greatest strengths is our ability to support clients worldwide with their business needs and plans. We have a cohesive team that works on complex cross-border files, ensuring that our clients have seamless continuity of service and a trusted point of contact to depend on,” Soliman stated.

“My goal is to build on this success by further encouraging worldwide collaboration between offices and encouraging a culture of collegiality and cohesiveness amongst our more than 7,000 people worldwide. As Global Chair, I intend to continue to inspire inclusion, engagement and pride and to entrench Norton Rose Fulbright as a leading law firm and employer of choice globally,” Soliman added.

Recognised as one of Canada's leading lawyers specialising in special situations, he co-leads the Canadian practice team, which achieved the top ranking as the premier company-side legal advisor in Canada according to the 2023 Bloomberg Global Activism Review and League Tables. Additionally, the team secured the ninth position globally as an activist-side legal advisor.

Soliman has played a key role in guiding clients through some of Canada's most substantial and intricate M&A transactions and proxy battles. His advisory expertise extends to various stakeholders, including buyers, sellers, boards, hostile bidders, and shareholder activists. Notably, Soliman has been a key participant in nearly every major proxy battle in Canada in recent years, representing either issuers or activists. Beyond this, his practice encompasses restructurings, corporate finance, governance, and structured products.

Soliman's appointment as the chair of the Capital Markets Modernisation Taskforce (2020) by the Government of Ontario reflects his wealth of experience and visionary leadership. The task force was tasked with conducting a comprehensive review of the capital markets regulatory regime. In recognition of his contributions, Soliman received the prestigious King's Counsel nomination in Ontario in 2023.

Contributing to Toronto Metropolitan University, the Toronto SickKids Hospital Foundation, and the BlackNorth Initiative as a board member, actively working towards eliminating anti-Black systemic racism, Soliman is an integral figure in the community. In acknowledgement of his professional achievements and community service, he was selected as the Global Citizen Laureate by the United Nations Association in Canada in 2019.

The role of Global Chair at Norton Rose Fulbright undergoes an annual rotation among different regions. Soliman is set to follow Sydney partner Scott Atkins in this position, while Scott will maintain his role as Australia Chair.