Canadian Lawyer

TOP ONTARIO REGIONAL FIRMS AIRD & BERLIS LLP AIRDBERLIS.COM 1 Total lawyers: 144 Office: Toronto Core practice areas: Corporate/commercial; financial services; tax; municipal and land use planning; real estate Key clients: Enbridge Inc.; Ontario Power Authority; RBC; Allied Properties REIT; TD Bank Group; Wind Point Partners Notable mandates: Canadian counsel to MeadWestvaco Corp. in international restructuring and spinoff of a division to another public entity, valued at around $500 million; counsel to Skyline Commercial REIT in its multi-phased acquisition of 46 commercial properties from Conundrum Capital for a purchase price of around $242 million; Canadian counsel to Ralcorp Holdings Inc. in cross-border acquisition by ConAgra Foods Inc., a transaction with a total value of more than US$9 billion; lead external legal counsel to Puerto Rico Public-Private Partnerships Authority in relation to the authority's first greenfield design-build-financemaintain project (a juvenile detention and social treatment facility); advisor to Ghana Grid Co. Ltd. in relation to development of market rules for the Ghanaian electricity system. Star alumni: John Aird was a senator, member of the International Joint Commission, and served as Ontario's 23rd lieutenant governor from 1980 to 1985; Gilbert S. Bennett serves and has served as chief executive officer, director, or chairman of many Canadian public and private companies, including Canadair Ltd., Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd., de Havilland Inc., AirNova Inc., Algoma Steel Inc., Eldorado Nuclear Ltd., and Enbridge Inc.; Barbara McDougall, former Canadian minister of External Affairs; David Miller, former Toronto mayor and president and chief executive officer of World Wildlife Fund Canada; Dan Caldarone, general counsel at Second Cup Ltd.; Meredith Michetti, deputy general counsel, Tim Hortons Inc. Affiliations: Interlaw Ltd. The firm: Aird & Berlis LLP's predecessor Zimmerman Grant Hugo Paddon Worley & Bennett opened for business in 1919. In 1974, a merger saw it become Aird Zimmerman & Berlis. The name was changed to Aird & Berlis circa 1978. The regionally based firm has a strong national and international practice; its high profile, steady growth, and diverse client list has kept it at the top of the table for the second time since the last survey in 2011. Whether to open a second office in Ontario or beyond is very much the "question du jour," says managing partner Eldon Bennett. "In terms of offices in other places, we're constantly being approached about that. It's something we look at and evaluate on an individual basis but there has to be a very strong rationale." He thinks of his firm as "the smallest of the large," and emphasizes its roster of international clients in the U.S.A, U.K., and around the world. WEIRFOULDS LLP WEIRFOULDS.COM Total lawyers: 84 Office: Toronto Core practice areas: Litigation; corporate; property development; government law Key clients: Confidential, but includes public and private corporations; governments and public authorities and agencies; entrepreneurs; national firms seeking regional representation; non-profit and public interest organizations and individuals Notable mandates: Co-counsel for representative plaintiff in class proceeding against General Motors of Canada and a Toronto law firm; acted for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in all matters relating to AbitibiBowater Inc.'s insolvency restructuring under the CCAA; acting for Largo Resources Ltd. to bring its Maracás Vanadium Project in Brazil to production; acting for Canadian Solar Inc. in the Haldimand County solar farm, part of an Ontario project being completed with Samsung; co-counsel for Midland Resources Holding Ltd., and its principals, in a dispute relating to a US$50 million Russian oil and gas joint venture. Star alumni: Four treasurers of the Law Society of Upper Canada; former Nova Scotia Appeal Court justice and current Supreme Court Justice Thomas Cromwell; former Ontario Chief justice George Gale; former Supreme Court of Canada justice Roy Kellock; former Ontario Court of Appeal justices James Carthy and Allan McNiece Austin; Ontario Superior Court justices Joan Lax and Paul Perell. Affilliations: SCG Legal (formerly The State Capital Group) The firm: Founded in 1860, WeirFoulds has acted on some of the most significant litigation and commercial matters in Canada, including the dispute between Canada, Ontario, and Quebec over the apportionment of assets of the former Province of Canada and the first international arbitration in which Canada represented itself (the Hague North Atlantic Fisheries Arbitration). "WeirFoulds has a commitment to excellence that is very rare, and difficult to find. They always go the extra mile," according to one survey respondent. "One of our firm's signature qualities is that we know who we are," says managing partner Michael Statham. The firm is "always looking to reinforce" the strength of its core practice areas and sees its success as being down to the "drive, dedication, and talent" of its people, he adds. www.CANADIAN L a w ye r m a g . c o m SEPTEMBER 2013 2 35

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