richard attisha
richard attisha
President and Chief Executive Office of TAG Alliances/licensed Barrister & Solicitor before the Law Society of British Columbia
Rogers '81
President and Chief Executive Office of TAG Alliances/licensed Barrister & Solicitor before the Law Society of British Columbia
Richard’s post-Brentwood journey has been a fascinating one, which has taken him to the far reaches of the globe. Following graduation from Brentwood, Richard, along with 14 others from his graduating class, attended Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. He completed a BAHons in Political Science while playing rugby for the university. In 1985, Richard moved to Paris, France, to play rugby for Paris's Racing Club and study Public International Law and the Law of War, taught by 5-Star U.S. General at the American University of Paris.
In 1986, he returned to the city of his birth, Edinburgh, to study law and continue his rugby playing career. He was fortunate to play for Scotland in the Student World Cup in France in 1988 and against England and Wales for the Scottish Universities from 1987 to 1989. To qualify to practice law in Canada, Richard completed a Canadian LLB & J.D. at Dalhousie University in Halifax to supplement his UK LLB Hons from the University of Edinburgh. During his time at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie, Richard was selected to play rugby for Rugby Canada and toured with the team to N.Z. and the U.S.
Following his graduation from law school, Richard articled at McCarthy Tetrault in Vancouver, Canada's largest law firm at the time, before moving over to Harper Grey, a litigation-focused regional firm in Vancouver in 1996. Richard was a partner of the firm for 25 years, working as a commercial litigator, specializing in environmental litigation (contaminated sites and toxic torts), bankruptcy and insolvency litigation, and workplace law until 2015.
In 2002, he brought his firm into TAGLaw and TAG Alliances, a multidisciplinary global alliance of close to 300 independent law firms, accounting firms, and strategic partners in over 110 countries worldwide. The firm became a global firm overnight and has continued to be part a prominent and valued member of the alliance to this day.
In 2015, Richard and his wife (a CPA previously with KPMG), acquired the TAG Alliances from the organization’s founder. TAG Alliances is now the 3rd largest multidisciplinary alliance globally, with offices in Vancouver, Canada, St. Petersburg, Florida, and London, UK. The annual aggregate revenues of TAG Alliances’ members is currently in the $4.8 billion range with 20,000 professionals and growing.