CEO

(416) 477-2622 (514) 228-2880 Ext. 324 csweeney@zsa.ca

Christopher Sweeney

In the mid-1990s, Christopher transitioned from real estate lawyer to legal recruiter in London, U.K., at the top legal recruitment firm in the world. There, he proudly opened the doors of “Magic Circle” firms to Canadian legal talent for the first time ever. In 1997, Christopher brought “London-style” recruiting to Canada with the opening of ZSA (Zarak, Sweeney & Associates) Legal Recruitment, which remains Canada’s largest and only national legal recruitment firm. As CEO and Marketing Director, Christopher overseas the firm’s offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal, and also remains very active in the recruitment of Partners (including mergers) and General Counsel across the country. He has written and spoken widely on the topics of legal recruitment, talent retention, remuneration, firm development and career strategy.

Christopher imagined, co-Founded and Chairs the Canadian General Counsel Awards (CGCA), the Quebec General Counsel Awards (PCJQ) and the Western Canada General Counsel Awards (WCGCA), all of which bring much deserved attention to the senior in-house legal community.

Since 2006, Christopher has been deeply involved in the Vimy Foundation, Canada’s lead voice on First World War remembrance. From 2012-2022, he was Chair of the organization and is now its first Governor. His accomplishments there include imagining, fundraising, and overseeing the construction of the Vimy Education Centre and the Vimy Foundation Centennial Park at the site of the historic, nation-building battle of Vimy in northern France. For his efforts on Remembrance, Christopher has been awarded the Minister of Veteran’s Affairs Commendation and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal.

Christopher was educated at McGill University, Osgoode Hall Law School, the London School of Economics, and the University of London.

Christopher was born and raised in Montreal. He regularly commutes between there, his lifelong cottage and farm in the Laurentians, and ZSA’s head office in Toronto. He has 4 children and his additional passions include travelling, skiing, renovating his properties, studying history and debating current affairs.

Success Stories

General Counsel

Accounting Organization

I was hiring for an Associate General Counsel, (Transactions). I engaged ZSA because of a pre-existing relationship and strong reputation of the firm. We posted the role using our internal HR team first (as required by internal policy). My experience was excellent. Christopher and Althea were very communicative; they kept me up to date on the search; and, they were on top of things and checked in regularly. They also provided me with several candidate CVs in a challenging market and did an excellent job ensuring I fully understood my preferred candidate’s requirements prior to spending a lot of time considering them for the role. They didn’t pressure me on timing and allowed me to go through the process to end up with an excellent candidate to add to our team. The value they brought to the process was proper vetting, marketplace intelligence, understanding the compensation market, acting as a go-between with the candidates, and being patient. Christopher and Althea were a pleasure to work with and I would use the services of ZSA again.

Laurence Sellyn

Business advisor, Corporate director and former CFO and Chief Administrative Officer of Gildan Activewear

ZSA is our preferred choice of legal recruiting partner. I have always found them enormously responsive, thorough and pragmatic. ZSA recruiters have a keen understanding of our business and are very diligent in their efforts to understand our hiring needs. This shows in the quality and suitability of the candidates that they present to us for consideration.

Winn Oughtred

Former Managing Partner | Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Throughout our seven-year history with ZSA, they have proven a valuable partner time and again. In particular, I am pleased with the excellent service we receive from Warren Bongard, Christopher Sweeney and others at ZSA. Their dedication to our relationship is impressive, their knowledge of the Canadian legal scene is excellent and the candidates they bring match what we are looking for. I highly recommend ZSA.

Simon A. Fish

Executive Vice President & General Counsel | BMO Financial Group

ZSA is our preferred choice of legal recruiting partner. I have always found them enormously responsive, thorough and pragmatic. ZSA recruiters have a keen understanding of our business and are very diligent in their efforts to understand our hiring needs. This shows in the quality and suitability of the candidates that they present to us for consideration.

Phil Parkinson

I was hired to act as the head of Canadian tax for Chubb Insurance in the role of Tax Manager. I contacted ZSA to apply for this specific position. Chris acted as the liaison between me and the HR manager at Chubb Insurance. He also negotiated on my behalf my compensation after we had agreed on what I wanted to receive. Chris was always in constant contact making sure things were going well. He was able to debrief pre and post interview as well as post hiring. I will be using Chris again when my contract is over! ZSA was very good compared to other recruitment firms I have used in the past and there was nothing that ZSA couldn’t have improved on. I interviewed and got the role locked up quickly. I would certainly use the services of ZSA again.

Howard Levitt

Levitt LLP

My experience with Christopher was excellent – he understood our needs and was creative and responsive in devising solutions, really went above and beyond. I had used a recruiter once previously, but ZSA was superior by far, and I would use their services again.

Patricia North

Partner | LSCS Law

I reached out to ZSA for lawyer recruitment. Working with Christopher Sweeney was excellent. He is the consummate professional and our lawyer hire is working out swimmingly. Christopher’s depth and breath of experience is unparalleled in the industry, making my work easy and the match virtually guaranteed to be a good fit. I have used other recruiters in the past but ZSA’s service is truly exceptional and I would use them again in the future.

Vancouver

1050 West Pender Street, Suite 620 Vancouver B.C V6E 3S7

(604) 681-0706

vancouver@zsa.ca

Calgary

(403) 205-3444

calgary@zsa.ca

Toronto

200 University Avenue, Suite 1000 Toronto, ON MH3C6

(416) 368-2051

info@zsa.ca

Montreal

1470 Peel St, Suite 726 Montreal, Quebec H3A 1T1

(514) 228-2880

montreal@zsa.ca