Aird & Berlis LLP ( Toronto )

Aird & Berlis LLP (A&B), is a full-service Canadian law firm. It is located in the Bay Street financial district of Toronto and employs over 120 lawyers.

A&B has been rated one of the 30 largest law firms in Canada and one of Toronto's 20 largest law firms by The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory in their feature on The Largest Firms in Canada 2007.

Bennett Jones ( Calgary )

Bennett Jones LLP is an internationally recognized Canadian law firm based in Calgary with branches in Toronto, Edmonton, and Ottawa. It has a total of more than 920 lawyers and staff, including a number of former politicians, i.e a deputy prime minister of Canada and two former Canadian ambassadors to the United States of America.

Bereskin & Parr ( Toronto )

Bereskin & Parr LLP is a Canadian law firm, founded in 1965, which specializes in all forms of intellectual property law. The firm consists of 75 lawyers, patent and trade-mark agents and has offices in Toronto, Montreal, Kitchener and Mississauga.

Bereskin & Parr and its professionals has won numerous awards from organizations such as Lexpert, The Best of the Best 2009, Expert Guides from Legal Media Group, the [Best Lawyers in Canada] 2009 in Intellectual Property Law, Chambers Global 2009, and the International Who’s Who of Patent Lawyers 2008.

The firm and many of its professionals are recognized leaders in various intellectual property fields. The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory repeatedly describes Bereskin & Parr as a “market benchmark” for intellectual property boutiques.

Effective March 1, 2009, Bereskin & Parr. became a limited liability partnership as permitted by the Partnerships Act (Ontario) and the Law Society Act (Ontario). The firm is now known as Bereskin & Parr LLP/S.E.N.C.R.L., s.r.l.

Blake, Cassels & Graydon ( Toronto )

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP – Blakes for short – is a Canadian law firm. It is one of the "seven sisters" in Toronto, Canada.

Founded in 1856 by Dominick Edward Blake, Blakes has more than 550 lawyers in offices in Montréal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, New York, Chicago, London, Bahrain and associated offices in Al-Khobar and Beijing. The Firm's international capabilities are extended by its charter membership in Lex Mundi, the world's largest non-exclusive referral network of independent law firms with member firms in 160 jurisdictions. Blakes is also an advisory member of TechLaw Group, Inc., an international network of 18 law firms in more than 31 countries, whose primary mission is to advance clients' interests in all areas of technology-related business.

In each of 2007 and 2008, Blakes was Canada's busiest M&A law firm. Blakes ranked No. 1 in Bloomberg's 2008 M&A league tables in numerous categories, including No. 1 in Canadian announced deals by deal value and deal count and as the No. 1 Canadian firm in global announced deals by deal value and deal count.

In October 2008, Blakes was named one of "Canada's Top 100 Employers" by Mediacorp Canada Inc., and was featured in Maclean's newsmagazine. Later that month, Blakes was also named one of Greater Toronto's Top Employers, which was announced by the Toronto Star newspaper.

Borden Ladner Gervais ( Ottawa )

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (abbreviated as BLG) is the largest full-service Canadian law firm. The Firm has over 750 lawyers, intellectual property agents and other professionals in offices in Calgary, Montréal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver and Waterloo Region. BLG does not designate one of its offices as its headquarters, but instead is governed by a national council comprised of partners from across Canada.

In 2009 – for the third consecutive year – BLG was recognized as a “Go-To Law Firm” for Fortune 500 companies. The Firm was also ranked number one in Canada for the number of lawyers (151) it had recognized in the 2010 edition of The Best Lawyers in Canada and had the most number of lawyers in Canada with a Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating.

Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg ( Toronto )

Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP focuses on business law. The firm acts for a wide range of leading industrial and commercial companies and financial institutions, both public and private, in Canada, the United States, and abroad. It is one of the Toronto law firms known as the seven sisters. The firm has over 250 lawyers in three offices located in Toronto, Montreal and New York.

Davis LLP ( Vancouver )

Established in 1892, Davis LLP is a full-service Canadian law firm. Founded in Vancouver, BC the firm has grown to include seven offices in Canada and one in Japan. Davis has more than 220 lawyers working in 47 different practice groups.

Specialized practice areas include Litigation, Advocacy, Aboriginal, Japan, Competition & Anti-Trust, China and Southeast Asia, Health, and Intellectual Property Law. Together with the Toronto and Montréal offices, the Vancouver office is a provider of legal expertise on large infrastructure projects and project financing, including public-private partnerships.

Other notable areas of legal expertise include: Banking & Finance Law, Employment & Labour, Competition Law, Corporate Commercial Law, Corporate Finance & Securities, Forestry Law, Business Solutions & Restructuring, Labour Relations, Mining, Property Development, Video Games & Interactive Entertainment Law, Energy and Natural Resources Law and Franchise Law.

Deeth Williams Wall ( Toronto )

Deeth Williams Wall LLP is a Canadian technology and intellectual property law firm, based in Toronto. Founded by partners from Blake Cassels Graydon in 1994, it has consistently ranked in Lexpert's league tables as a leading firm in the areas of technology law and intellectual property law.

The firm practices in the following areas: intellectual property, information technology, patents, trade-marks, copyright, industrial designs, litigation, notice of compliance litigation, biotechnology and ag-biotech, and health care regulatory.

Ecojustice Canada

Ecojustice Canada (formerly Sierra Legal Defence Fund), is a Canadian non-profit environmental law firm that uses litigation to defend and protect the environment.

Ecojustice believes all Canadians have a fundamental right to enjoy air, land and water that is clean, healthy and safe. Ecojustice represents environmental groups and concerned citizens who feel these rights have been infringed upon by government decisions at any level, or by industries or corporations.

Ecojustice aims to set legal precendents that will ensure a strong and thriving environment for humans and wildlife alike, both for present generations and generations to come. The organization takes on cases at any level, from lower courts to the Supreme Court of Canada.

While Ecojustice fights battles at municipal and grassroots levels, the organization also plays a role in the strategic development of new environmental laws, often in cooperation with other environmental or conservation groups. Ecojustice works hard at seeing that laws are always an accurate reflection of how the world has developed and changed, and it sees to it that those laws are enshrined and respected within the Canadian legal system.

Fasken Martineau ( Vancouver )

Fasken Martineau is an international business law and litigation firm with more than 650 lawyers and offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal, Québec City, London, Paris and Johannesburg. As a multi-service law firm, Fasken Martineau provides strategic advice in key areas of business law to a broad range of clients, including more than half of the Fortune 100 companies, numerous corporations, government agencies, regulatory and non-profit bodies, and individuals.

Fraser Milner Casgrain ( Montreal )

Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP (FMC) is one of Canada’s leading business & litigation law firms. With more than 520 lawyers (175 litigators) it is the fifth largest law firm in Canada as well as the largest law firm in Western Canada. FMC is a fully integrated national partnership with offices in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver.

Goodmans ( Toronto )

Goodmans LLP is a Canadian corporate law firm with offices in Toronto and Vancouver. It is one of the seven sisters; a collection of seven leading Canadian law firms with offices in Toronto. First established in Toronto in 1917 by David Bertram Goodman, Goodmans LLP now has approximately 200 lawyers. The firm acts for Canada's largest corporations, financial institutions and multinationals, and was recognized two years in a row as the National Law Firm of the Year for Canada at the International Financial Law Review’s Americas Awards.

Gowling ( Toronto )

Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, Gowlings, is Canada's largest full-service law firm, with over 700 professionals practising in 10 cities in Canada, Russia and the United Kingdom.

Proximity to government accounts for the diversity and non-transactional bias of Gowlings' legal specialties. While the practices of the so-called Seven Sisters firms are weighted predominantly towards Business law, this is only one of the three pillars (and an area in which the firm is planning growth) which constitute the core of Gowlings' practice. The other two are Advocacy and Intellectual Property law. Other notable strengths include technology, international trade, environmental, energy, financial services, government relations and administrative law.

The firm's various practices are broadly organized into eight Industry Groups: Energy; Financial Services; Government; Infrastructure; Life Sciences; Manufacturing and Distribution; Mining; and Technology.

Heenan Blaikie ( Montreal )

Heenan Blaikie LLP is a full service Canadian law firm. It practices in the areas of business, labour and employment, litigation, taxation, entertainment law and intellectual property law. The firm was founded in 1973 by Roy Heenan, Donald Johnston, and Peter Blaikie. The firm now has approximately 510 lawyers with offices in Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, Vancouver, Victoria, Quebec City, Sherbrooke, Thornhill, and Trois-Rivières, as well as presence overseas in Paris and Singapore.

At the international level, Heenan Blaikie is counsel to the Canadian Employers Council, an organisation that represents Canadian employers at the International Labour Organization (ILO). Heenan Blaikie is also the Canadian member of the National Workers' Compensation Defense Network (NWCDN), an organization of independent law firms in the United States and Canada with an established workers' compensation practice and experience in defending employers and insurance companies in workers' compensation and related actions.

Lang Michener ( Toronto )

Lang Michener LLP is a full-service national law firm of over 200 professionals with offices in Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa and Hong Kong.

The firm provides a complete range of legal services to Canadian and multinational corporations. And by maintaining close working relationships with highly qualified lawyers in the United States, China and throughout the world, the firm provides its clients with a global reach.

Lang Michener dates back to 1926 in Toronto, Ontario where Rhodes Scholar Roland Michener and Osgoode Hall graduate Daniel Lang formed Lang & Michener. That same year, in Vancouver, British Columbia, the firm of Lawrence & Shaw was formed by partners James Lyle Lawrence and Alistair Shaw. These two firms merged in 1989 becoming Lang Michener Lawrence & Shaw. Today the firm is known simply as Lang Michener LLP.

The first Lang & Michener office was in the Canadian National Building at 347 Bay Street. It was one of the first "Bay Street" law firms in Canada.

The firm has played a leading role in Canada's political and legal landscape. Founding partner, Roland Michener was appointed Speaker of the House of Commons by Prime Minister John Diefenbaker and later Governor General of Canada by Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson. Daniel Aiken Lang, son of firm founder Daniel Webster Lang, was appointed to the Canadian Senate also by Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson. The Right Honourable Jean Chrétien practiced with Lang Michener from 1986-1990, and Michel Bastarache, of the Ottawa office, was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada in 1997.

McCarthy Tétrault ( Toronto )

McCarthy Tétrault LLP is a law firm with offices in Canada’s major commercial centres and in London, UK. It provides business law, litigation, tax, real estate, and labour and employment law services.

The firm represents Canadian and international clients, including major public institutions, financial services organizations, mining companies, manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies and other corporations.

McCarthy Tétrault’s London office specializes in assisting clients with their transatlantic transactions, and is staffed with both English and Canadian-qualified lawyers. A charter member of the Canada-UK Chamber of Commerce, it provides services in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

McMillan ( Toronto )

McMillan LLP (formerly "McMillan Binch Mendelsohn LLP") is a Canadian law firm headquartered in Toronto, with offices in Montreal and Calgary. The firm specializes in business law, financial services, bankruptcy and natural resource law. It has more than 200 lawyers.

The firm was created in a merger of McMillan Binch LLP of Toronto, which was founded in 1903 by Newton Rowell, and Mendelsohn GP of Montreal. In 2009, the firm merged with Calgary's Thackray Burgess, a boutique energy firm. McMillan positions themselves as a Central Canadian firm, and were ranked first in that category in 2006 by Canadian Lawyer Magazine. The firm shortened its name to McMillan LLP in 2008.

The brand "America's Canadian Law Firm" is used in marketing in the United States. McMillan's business south of the border began in the 1940s when Bill Binch travelled the Midwest soliciting mid-sized companies expanding into Canadian markets.

Miller Thomson ( Toronto )

Miller Thomson LLP is a full service national law firm established in Toronto, Canada in 1957.

The firm provides legal advice to Canadian clients and, through a network of affiliates, serves an international client base. Offices are located in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, London, Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph, Markham and Montréal.

With more than 430 Lawyers, Miller Thomson is currently Canada’s ninth largest law firm. Miller Thomson provides a complete range of business law, advocacy and personal legal services to key business markets, including Canadian and international corporations, entrepreneurs, institutions, governments and not-for-profits. Among its partners has been The Right Honourable John Turner, PC, CC, QC.

Ogilvy Renault ( Montreal )

Ogilvy Renault LLP is a Canadian law firm with 450 members in offices in Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec, Toronto, and London, England. Ogilvy Renault offers services in the areas of business law, litigation and ADR, employment and labour law and intellectual property. Ogilvy Renault's English and French bilingual character and proficiency in both the civil and common law systems have led to a national and international presence.

The firm began in 1879 as Carter, Church & Chapleau in Quebec.

Lawyers at the firm have included former Quebec premier Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau, former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, senator Michael Meighen, senator Michael Fortier, former chief justice of Quebec Pierre Michaud and Jacques Demers.

Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt ( Toronto )

Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP (Osler for short) is a Canadian corporate law firm. With over 450 lawyers, it is one of the country's largest and is one of the seven sisters. In addition to its headquarters in Toronto, it has offices in Montréal, Ottawa, Calgary, and New York.

The firm provides legal services to Canadian and multinational corporations in the area of business law, mergers and acquisitions, tax, financial services, competition and anti-trust, and pensions.

The firm was founded in 1882 by Britton Bath Osler, John Hoskin, and several others. Frederick Harcourt became a member of the firm in 1902.

Alumni to the firm include former Supreme Court Justice Bertha Wilson and former Prime Minister Paul Martin.

The Canadian office is the same legal entity as the United States office in New York, New York.

Polten & Hodder ( Toronto )

Polten & Hodder is a Canadian boutique law firm. It is located on University Avenue in Toronto.

Polten & Hodder has been rated one of the seventeen leading commercial litigation boutiques in Canada by Canadian Lawyer. It is a member of the International Network of Boutique Law Firms and European Association of Attorneys.

Public Interest Advocacy Centre ( Ottawa )

Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) is a non-profit public interest law firm in Canada, with offices in Ottawa and Toronto. It serves to provide legal and research assistance to help consumer interests and public services. The organization has been around since 1976 and is headed by former Ottawa regional/city councillor Michael Janigan.

It represents consumer and advocacy groups in legal and regulatory proceedings, including telecommunications proceedings before the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, utility pricing proceedings before the Ontario Energy Board, as well as airline regulation issues.

Public Interest Advocacy Centre is part of a coalition against controversial proposed copyright legislation in Canada known as Bill C-61.

It is similar to the PIRGs or Public Interest Research Groups in the USA.

Stewart McKelvey ( Atlantic Canada )

Stewart McKelvey is a large full service Canadian law firm based in Atlantic Canada.

In addition to its largest office in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the firm has offices in Moncton, Saint John and Fredericton, New Brunswick; St. John's, Newfoundland; and Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. The firm is made up of more than 220 lawyers and 300 staff. Stewart McKelvey is one of the fifteen largest law firms in Canada.

Stikeman Elliott ( Montreal )

Stikeman Elliott LLP is a Canadian corporate law firm. It is known as one of the "seven sisters", in Toronto and has approximately 500 lawyers over eight offices located in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary, Vancouver, New York City, London (UK), and Sydney. It was founded in 1952 by H. Heward Stikeman and Fraser Elliott.

Stikeman Elliott practices business law including, corporate finance, M&A, banking, corporate commercial, real estate, tax, insolvency, structured finance, competition, intellectual property, administrative law, employment and business litigation, banking, insurance, energy, mining, infrastructure, retail, telecommunications and technology.

Torys ( Toronto )

Torys LLP is an international business law firm with offices in Toronto and New York. Torys offers services to clients on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border and globally. It is one of the seven sisters.

Torys main work lies in mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, and major litigation matters. In addition, the firm has experience in a wide range of other practice areas, including: restructuring and insolvency; taxation; competition and antitrust; environmental, health and safety; private equity and venture capital; financial institutions; pension and employment; intellectual property; technology and communications; life sciences; real estate; infrastructure and energy; and personal client services.

The firm was founded in 1941 by Toronto business lawyer John Stewart Donald Tory. John S.D. Tory graduated at the top of his class at Osgoode Hall, and earned a J.D. from Harvard University. He practised with the W.N. Tilley law firm in Toronto for a few years and then launched his own firm with a focus on corporate law. In 1954, John S.D. Tory's sons, James M. Tory and John A. Tory, the father of Ontario politician John H. Tory, joined the firm.

In the 1960s the firm was renamed Tory Tory DesLauriers & Binnington. In 2000, it merged with the New York law firm Haythe & Curley, whose predecessor firm was established in 1948. The firm rebranded to create Torys LLP.