Tony Wilson K.C. practices in the areas of franchising, licensing and IP law and is regularly ranked as one of Canada’s leading franchise lawyers by LEXPERT, Who’sWhoLegal and Best Lawyers in Canada.
Between 2014 and 2016, he served as a special advisor to the British Columbia Ministry of the Attorney General concerning franchise law in British Columbia, and helped to draft BC’s Franchises Act and Regulations which came into force in 2017.
Tony regularly speaks and writes on franchising and other legal matters and is often interviewed by CBC, Global News and other broadcasters.
He has been Course Chair of the BC Continuing Legal Education Programs on Franchise Law in BC in 2016 and 2020. He represents national and international franchisors and prepares Franchise Disclosure Documents (FDDs), Franchise Agreements, Master Franchise Agreements, and related documents to enable businesses to franchise in British Columbia and other Canadian provinces. He also assists franchisees with negotiating their agreements and is the author of “Buying a Franchise in Canada: Understanding and Negotiating Your Franchise Agreement”; the only comprehensive legal guide for persons seeking to buy franchised businesses in Canada. Together with other members of the firm, he also assists in the resolution of franchise disputes. Tony is the author of Manage Your Online Reputation, a book written to guide individuals and businesses on how to monitor and protect their personal and corporate reputations on social media.
Additionally, Tony has been a regular business columnist for the Globe and Mail and his articles have appeared in Maclean’s magazine, BC Restaurant News, Franchise Entrepreneur, and other publications. He also writes a widely read opinion column for Bartalk magazine.
In addition to his franchise practice, he advises clients on intellectual property matters such as copyright, trade secrets, confidentiality, privacy, and online reputation law.
He is an Adjunct Professor at Thompson Rivers University Law School where he taught Legal Ethics between 2015 and 2022.
He has been a Bencher of the Law Society of British Columbia since 2012 and is now a Life Bencher. Given his many years with the Law Society he is available to advise on professional discipline matters for lawyers and other professionals.
He was appointed Queen’s Counsel (now King’s Counsel) in 2016 to recognize his exceptional merit and contribution to the legal profession in British Columbia.