About — Counsel
A practice built
around the work.
Sander Shalinsky founded his practice on a simple idea: entertainment lawyers should think like the creators they represent — clearly, structurally, and with a long view of the work.
Counsel
Sander Shalinsky
Toronto, Canada
Background
Sander began his career at the intersection of business and creative work, moving between transactional rooms in Toronto and production offices across North America. That dual perspective — equally at home with a term sheet and a call sheet — became the foundation of his practice.
Experience
His work spans feature film and episodic television, independent music labels and major recording artists, talent representation, production company formation, financing structures, and the licensing and protection of intellectual property across global markets.
Philosophy
The most lasting deals in entertainment are not the most aggressive — they are the most architecturally sound. A well-drafted agreement reads like a good screenplay: every line earning its place, the structure invisible until you need it.
Approach
Clients work with Sander directly. There is no hand-off to an associate, no theatre of process. Calls are returned. Drafts are turned. Negotiations are run with the same care the production team brings to the work itself.
Standards
The four constants of the practice.
Strategic
Every clause has a job. Every deal point sits in service of the larger plan.
Discreet
Sensitive negotiations and creative relationships are protected, always.
Fluent
Built on years inside productions, labels, and studios — not just law firms.
Direct
Plain language counsel. No theatrics. Decisions made faster.
Headquartered
Based in Toronto.
Working everywhere the industry does.
Toronto sits at the center of a production ecosystem that touches every major market in North America and beyond. The practice moves with it.
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