The View From Up North: Who Are Canada's Best Corporate And Litigation Boutiques?

Canadian Lawyer Magazine put out their rankings of different legal boutiques. Which firms made the cut?

Canada View From Up North I’m on record as loving any story with the words, “Best,” “Top,” or “Hottest” in the title (especially “Hottest”).

If you rank them, I will write.

It’s that time of year when our friends at Canadian Lawyer Magazine put out their rankings of the different legal boutiques. Today we focus on CLM’s Top 10 Corporate Law Boutiques and Top 10 Litigation Boutiques.

I have a couple of random thoughts to share, then I’ll get to the rankings. First off, I always ask the question, how valid are rankings (whether CLM’s or anybody else’s)? Do they reflect the true quality and reputation of the firms that magically appear on the list, or is it just a type of popularity contest that would put high schoolers to shame? After I ponder that for a minute, I always say, “fuggedaboutit,” because who really cares? Rankings are fun, not gospel. They should be treated as such.

Second, I look at the firms on both lists and one thing is very striking: The corporate boutiques are a price-conscious alternative to hiring a Biglaw firm; the litigation boutiques are very much a direct competitor of Biglaw litigators. In other words, corporate boutiques are the firms you approach when you want great service (at non-Biglaw prices) but don’t need a huge name attached to cover your butt with a grumpy board of directors if things go south.

The litigation boutiques are a different story. I think you could make a very strong case that one of CLM’s top litigation boutiques, Lenczner Slaght Royce Smith Griffin LLP, is the best litigation firm in Canada, big or small. There are a number of other litigation boutiques that are nearly as formidable. You don’t go to Lenczner Slaght, or most of the other firms on the litigation list, to save money. You go there to, in fact, cover your butt with the board of directors.

President of the Company: “Hey, Chairman of the Board, we lost a $100 million judgment.”

Chairman of the Board: “What?!?!? Who did we use as our counsel?”

President of the Company:Alan Lenczner.”

Chairman of the Board: “Oh, well, if Alan Lenczner lost, we didn’t have a chance of winning.”

President: “So, it won’t affect my bonus?”

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To sum, corporate boutiques — nice way to potentially save money while getting excellent service. Litigation boutiques — an acceptable CYA option when the dung hits the twirly thing on your ceiling.

Without further ado, here is the corporate list (in alphabetical order) with some random comments:

  • Allen McDonald Swartz LLP – Very impressive. This firm is barely a year old and it made the list. Without much history, voters must have been enchanted by the individual reputations of the name partners, which include congenial Bay Street veteran, Fraser McDonald, and former Blakes’ partner, Jillian Swartz.
  • BAX Securities Law
  • Boyle & Co. LLP
  • Hansell LLP – This is Carol Hansell’s firm, not Hansel from Zoolander, if that’s what you’re thinking. Carol is an exceptionally respected corporate lawyer and a leading governance expert who escaped powerhouse Davies Ward three years ago to strike out on her own. She now has four other lawyers working with her. I don’t know Carol, but if I had governance issues (and the money to pay her), Carol is the first lawyer I would think of.
  • LaBarge Weinstein LLP
  • McCullough O’Connor Irwin LLP
  • Michael Evrensel & Pawar LLP (MEP Business Counsel)
  • Miller Titerle + Co. LLP
  • SkyLaw PC – Founded by Kevin West six years ago, SkyLaw bills itself as offering the benefits of a full-service firm in a more cost-effective manner. It does this by concentrating on its clients’ corporate matters and pulling other outside lawyers, as needed, to service the transaction. Thus, if the client has a tax need, SkyLaw will bring in an outside tax lawyer to provide that service (while managing the tax lawyer on behalf of the client). SkyLaw also bills itself as using cutting-edge cloud technology to help clients control their legal costs.
  • Wildeboer Dellelce LLP

Now for the litigation boutiques:

  • Babin Bessner Spry LLP
  • Henein Hutchison LLP – Home of Marie Henein, Jian Ghomeshi’s high-profile criminal lawyer. If I were facing jail time, there is no doubt Marie is the first lawyer I would think of.
  • Hunter Litigation Chambers – This is home to ex-Supreme Court Justice Marshall Rothstein. I don’t know much about the firm, but the fact it landed an ex-Supreme is all I need to know about the firm’s quality.
  • Lax O’Sullivan Lisus Gottlieb LLP
  • Lenczner Slaght Royce Smith Griffin LLP – As noted above, it has a strong case as the best litigation firm in Canada.
  • Nathanson Schachter & Thompson LLP
  • Paliare Roland Rosenberg Rothstein LLP
  • Stockwoods LLP – For a small firm, Stockwoods has one of the broadest range of practices of any litigation boutique. It does civil, criminal, and regulatory work. Partner Owen Rees is an ex-Supreme Court clerk who just returned from a two-year secondment as the Executive Legal Officer of the Supreme Court of Canada. The ELO is essentially the Chief Justice’s right hand. Thus, you would be hard pressed to find an appellant litigator who understands the inner workings of the SCC more than Owen.
  • Thornton Grout Finnigan LLP – Stands out for me as the best insolvency law firm outside of Biglaw. Also has an excellent reputation for complex commercial litigation.
  • Woods LLP

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CLM provides an in-depth profile of each of the listed firms. Here’s the link to Corporate if you’re interested in reading more about anyone on the list. And here’s the link to Litigation.

That’s the View From Up North. Have a top week.


Steve Dykstra is a Canadian-trained lawyer and legal recruiter. He is the President of Steven Dykstra Law Professional Corporation, a boutique corporate/commercial law firm located in the greater Toronto area. You can contact Steve at steve@stevendykstralaw.ca. You can also read his blog at stevendykstra.wordpress.com, follow him on Twitter (@Law_Think), or connect on LinkedIn (ca.linkedin.com/in/stevedykstra/).