Lisa R. Lifshitz

Practice Areas

A partner in Torkin Manes’ Business Law Group, Lisa practises exclusively in the areas of technology, privacy and cybersecurity law.

As Chair of the firm’s Technology Group, Lisa has extensive expertise in preparing and negotiating a wide range of technology agreements, including Internet-related, m-commerce and e-commerce agreements, cloud computing/managed services agreements, mobile payment/fintech agreements, and reseller, distribution, system acquisition, development, and master services agreements. Lisa’s practice also includes the acquisition of artificial intelligence products/systems and blockchain technologies. She represents both vendors and users of technology and excels at negotiating large and complex technology transactions and procurements. Lisa’s clients range from the private sector to the public sector, including federal/provincial governments. She also has an extensive cross-border practice, as well as considerable experience helping non-Canadian companies, especially American entities, enter and thrive in the Canadian marketplace.

Lisa is also the Chair of Torkin Manes’ Privacy & Data Management Group, where she advises Canadian and international clients on compliance with Canadian privacy and cybersecurity requirements. She routinely provides clients with advice on trans-border data transfers, inter-company privacy arrangements, breach coaching, privacy compliance in corporate transactions and negotiations, and privacy considerations in technology transactions. She also advises on complying with Canada’s anti-spam legislation.

A sought-after thought leader, Lisa has presented and written extensively within the field of technology and privacy law. She has been and is a frequent contributor to Business Law Today, Canadian Lawyer, The SciTech Lawyer and was also the co-editor and a contributor to Cloud 3.0: Drafting and Negotiating Cloud Computing Agreements, published in May 2019 by the American Bar Association. She has recently contributed to the Director's Technology Handbook: Tips and Strategies for Advising Corporate Directors (published by the American Bar Association in May 2021).

Lisa has earned numerous elite accolades and rankings by all of the preeminent legal directories as a leading lawyer in Canada and internationally. The Best Lawyers in Canada© recently named Lisa as “Lawyer of the Year” in the area of Information Technology, as well as listing her in the areas of Information Technology Law, Privacy and Data Security Law and Technology Law. She was ranked in Chambers Global and Chambers Canada in the areas of Information Technology and Privacy & Data Protection, and The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory as a “Most Frequently Recommended” lawyer in Computer & IT Law, “Consistently Recommended” in Data Protection & Privacy and “Repeatedly Recommended” lawyer in Technology Transactions. She is also listed as “Most Frequently Recommended” in Computer & IT Law in Lexpert's Leading 500 Cross-Border Lawyers: A Guide to Doing Business in Canada 2025 (formerly the Lexpert/ALM 500), and was included as a Lexpert-ranked lawyer in the 2024 Lexpert Special Edition on Canada’s Leading Technology and Health Sciences Lawyers. Amongst her numerous other accolades, Lexology Index (formerly Who’s Who Legal) has repeatedly named Lisa a Global Elite Thought Leader in Data – Data Privacy & Protection, Data Security, Information Technology, as well as a leading lawyer in Telecommunications, Media & Technology Law, and Data Privacy and Protection. Most recently, Lexology Index honoured Lisa as the sole recipient of the 2025 Client Choice Award in the area of Data in Ontario.

Currently, Lisa is the Content Officer and Chair of the Content Board of the Business Law Section (BLS) of the American Bar Association (ABA) and is the Co-Chair of the BLS’ Robotics and AI Subcommittee, Cyber and Technology Law Committee. Lisa is also a member of the ABA’s Task Force on Law and Artificial Intelligence. Lisa is also the Co-Chair of the International Technology Law Association’s 2025 World Technology Law Conference, which will be held in San Diego on May 15-May 16, 2025. She is a past Director and President of the Canadian Technology Law Association and is currently the Co-Chair of its Privacy and Cybersecurity Committee.