Trailblazing and making an impact: Canadian Lawyer on the career of Cheryl Reicin

Canadian Lawyer has detailed the esteemed career timeline of practice leader of Torys’ Life Sciences group Cheryl Reicin which outlines her journey to Canadian law, Torys and becoming the pioneer in Canadian life sciences law that she is today.

From clerking in Israel in 1983 to dipping her toes in bio-tech in 1987, Cheryl started working with Canadian law when she began commuting from New York City to Toronto in 2005 with the opening of Torys’ New York office.

But it was in the 1990s when Cheryl found herself immersed in life sciences.

“[Bio-tech] was still a fledgling industry; this was all new—people thought I was crazy to focus on this one small sector. Little by little, we started growing it; by the late ’90s, I was chairing an 85-lawyer group—the largest life sciences group in the U.S.,” she said.

When she moved into Canadian law Cheryl was the only person practice this type of law on the scale she was.

“No lawyer in Canada had a full-time life sciences practice, let alone a cross-border one. It was built from scratch. When I came here from the U.S., most of my clients followed me. With the internet it didn’t matter where you were; clients just wanted the expertise,” Cheryl told the publication.

Since then Cheryl’s philanthropic side has also shined through, including with the development of Genesis: UJA Federation's Centre for Jewish Innovation.

“Mentoring is invaluable to those starting out. I asked very busy and successful people to be mentors, and to my surprise, practically everyone said yes. I thought that would have a real impact on the next generation,” she said.

“I’m in a rush to have an impact—we’re only on this planet for a limited time.”

Cheryl’s impact has been recognized in various ways throughout her career, which includes a 2019 induction into the WNX Hall of Fame for being named in the Top 100 Women of Influence for the fourth time.

You can read Canadian Lawyer’s in-depth discussion of Cheryl’s career on its website.