Canadian Lawyer

www.canadianlawyermag.com 37 ing partner, but she announced her stepping down from the role in late December. Ste- phen Beney is now managing partner. The top IP boutiques list saw a shakeup from 2018, with three firms joining the lineup after missing last time around and replacing three former top firms that were less fortu- nate in this year's survey. Earning the 2020 Canadian Lawyer Top Intellectual Property Boutique seal, listed alphabetically, are Belmore Neidrauer LLP, Bereskin & Parr LLP, Chumak & Co. LLP, Deeth Williams Wall LLP, Gilbert's LLP, Hicks Intellectual Property Law, Oyen Wiggs Green & Mutala LLP, Ridout & May- bee LLP, ROBIC LLP and Smart & Biggar/ Fetherstonhaugh. Achieving the flexibility to bend with broader societal trends has also been nec- essary when practising IP in Alberta. Chris- tine Hicks is co-founder of Hicks Intellec- tual Property Law, which is headquartered in Canmore. She says there has been "a lot of diversification" in the Alberta economy lately and that while the firm has always had close ties with businesses in the oil and gas sector, there is more than that going on in the province. "I am continually amazed at the level of innovation and entrepreneurship and the diversity of technology that's taking place in Alberta. And, most notably, I would say com- puter technology, artificial intelligence and blockchain technology, clean tech and medi- cal devices are the areas that seem to be par- ticularly notable," she says. Despite the oil downturn, Hicks says, the economy remains "vibrant." She notes that the firm maintains a "substantial" foreign associate practice, which is pressured by in- creasing competition to keep price costs and fees low. As a smaller firm in a smaller com- munity, Hicks says, its lower overhead allows the firm to keep up. "Maybe because of our size and maybe where we're located, but we're quite flexible in the way that we can deliver IP services to clients," she says. "And that means that we can customize the way that we deliver services for any particular client in order to meet their business needs." Hicks Intellectual Property Law is a new- comer to the list. The firm was founded by husband-and-wife duo Christine and Andrew Hicks. The couple moved from Ottawa to Can- more to raise their family, starting the firm in 2006. Christine Hicks has been practising IP law for 25 years, eight of which she spent at Os- ler LLP in Ottawa. The firm has an office in Calgary, but the small, mountain town where Hicks works, she says, is a draw for talent. "I'm looking out the window right now. And there's a beautiful view of snow-capped mountains," says Hicks. "It's a really inspiring place to work." The atmosphere is a draw at Bereskin & Parr LLP as well, where Gravelle says she and her colleagues —many of whom have ad- vanced degrees in the sciences — make the of- fice feel like a collaborative and collegial "lab setting." Gravelle earned her Masters in im- munology, worked as a chemist and in molec- ular biology and began a PHD program be- fore realizing she didn't want to do research her whole life, being more interested in busi- ness and working with people. She says it may be the professionals converging on Bere- skin & Parr from fields other than law that give the firm a better work-life balance than full-service firms and elsewhere in the legal profession. Gravelle says her firm demands 30-per-cent fewer hours from associates than the big firms. The boast of exceptional work- life balance is also given credibility, she says, by the boomerang the firm keeps in the office, signed by those at the firm who have left to work somewhere else and then returned. "A lot of people in IP law haven't grown up always wanting to be a lawyer. Maybe they grew up wanting to be an engineer or a scien- tist and then they decided the law would be a good match . . ." she says. "There may be other firms doing the same thing and it may be just the nature of our specialty." "A lot of people in IP law haven't grown up always wanting to be a lawyer. Maybe they grew up wanting to be an engineer or a scientist and then they decided the law would be a good match." Micheline Gravelle, Bereskin & Parr LLP HOW WE DID IT Canadian Lawyer asked lawyers, in-house counsel and clients from across Canada to vote on the top intellectual property and labour and employment boutiques. They were asked to rank their top firms from a preliminary list, with a chance to nominate a firm that was not included on the list. To be considered in the vote, firms were required to have at least 80 per cent of their business come from intellectual property or labour and employment. The final rankings were determined through a points system, in which firms were rewarded on a sliding scale for the number of first to 10th-place votes received. The quantitative results are combined with feedback from respected senior members of the bar and in-house counsel when applicable.

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