Field Law traces its roots back to 1915, making it one of the oldest law firms in Alberta. With 85 lawyers and offices in Calgary, Edmonton, and Yellowknife, it has emerged as one of the province’s top regional law firms, with a heavy emphasis on servicing the insurance and health-care industry. Long-time managing partner Bob Teskey talks about the challenges of building a regional law firm in one of Canada’s hottest economies.

When the largest law department in the country — with some 2,500 lawyers in a dozen offices — decides to implement litigation support software across the organization, it is decidedly a non-trivial undertaking. Largest in the country? Justice Canada, a.k.a. the federal Department of Justice (DOJ).

What do you think of the trial of Conrad Black? Hold your answer for a moment while you do a small thought experiment. Imagine if the Canadian on trial in Chicago wasn’t a conservative media baron, but a liberal one. Those exist, too. Someone like the publisher of the Toronto Star.

Pierre Bienvenu, managing partner, Ogilvy Renault LLP

For more than 128 years, lawyers at Ogilvy Renault LLP have provided legal services to the Montreal market. The firm has a presence in Ottawa; Quebec City; London, England; and Toronto, where it now has more than 140 lawyers. Managing partner Pierre Bienvenu talks about what makes his firm tick and where he sees the market heading.

Forgive the interruption to the non-stop celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. There’s nothing interesting there — of course lawyers love it. The Charter made lawyers, law professors, and judges the new political class in Canada, but without the accountability hassles of a legislature. Who needs question period or elections to pass controversial legislation? Just become a judge.

Breaking up is never easy. Yet there comes a time when you have to let go of that old relationship. It may be tempting just to let things slide and keep seeing one another long after you both know it’s all over. But this could get you into big trouble once there is someone new in your life.

Lisa Borsook, who chairs the commercial leasing practice group at the 80-lawyer Toronto firm of WeirFoulds LLP, was recently picked to lead the firm, becoming what is believed to be one of the rare women to head up a bigger commercial law firm in Canada. The mother of two boys talks about how she got to where she is and what she sees as the challenges facing a mid-sized firm that focuses on four areas: litigation, property, corporate commercial, and government work.

As political parties jockey for position to be seen as the party most friendly to the environment, law firms should brace themselves and prepare to ramp up their environmental law bench strength. Canada appears to be entering a new era of environmental conservation. But is current federal environmental legislation enough and will good intentions survive an election or is it simply a lot of political hot air?

There are two ways for Canadian lawyers to visit dictatorships like China and Burma. One is to meet with local dissidents and civil rights activists and learn about their repression and bring international legal and political pressure on the regimes. The other is the way chosen by the Canadian and Ontario Bar Associations.

 

Sometimes the practice of law requires a leap of faith. That’s what the partners at Langlois Kronström Desjardin (LKD) did when they appointed two of the three managing partners of their Levis, Quebec City, and Montreal-based offices.