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TOP PRAIRIE REGIONAL FIRMS PITBLADO LLP (4) PITBLADO.COM Total lawyers: 61 Office: Winnipeg Core practice areas: Business law, litigation, tax and estate planning, privacy law, Aboriginal law Key clients: Investors Group Inc., CentreVenture Development Corp., the Winnipeg Football Club Notable mandates: Successfully represented Nor-Man Regional Health Authority at the Supreme Court of Canada in a case dealing with the principle of estoppel by a labour arbitrator; represented an intervenor in another case at the country's top court: Moore v. British Columbia (Education); acted for the private-sector partner in a $35-million P3 deal for claims processing; launched an online privacy compliance forum for privacy officers. Star alumni: Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench acting Associate Chief Justice Marianne Rivoalen; Israel Asper, late chairman of the board of the former Global Media Network and visionary of the new Canadian Museum for Human Rights; Gerald Schwartz, chairman of the board and president and CEO of Onex Corp.; Richard Leipsic, former general counsel and senior vice president of Canwest Global Communications Corp.; Terry Wright, former general counsel for Investors Group. Untitled-4 1 Affiliations: Meritas The firm: Pitblado Law is the modern-day result of the amalgamation of several firms throughout the years, and dates back as far as the 1880s. It started to pick up steam in the 1950s, when it became Manitoba counsel for the International Nickel Co. in its multimillion-dollar investment at Thompson. Alfred Erskine Hoskin led the operation for the firm. In 1971, the partners of Pitblado Hoskin & Co. amalgamated with Johnston Jessiman Gardner & Twaddle to form Pitblado & Hoskin, and moved to the Richardson Building at the corner of Portage and Main. The firm was consistently praised for its depth of experience. "We appreciate their expertise and practical approach to dealing with problems," said one local inhouse lawyer. Managing partner Bruce King says the firm has a strong focus on the small and medium-sized enterprises that form its client core. "We build really strong relationships with them. We want them to recognize us as trusted advisers," he says. Demand from those businesses has driven large growth in the firm's tax and estate planning practices, according to King. www.CANADIAN L a w ye r m a g . c o m 3 13-01-14 2:40 PM F E B R UARY 2013 33