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TOP ATLANTIC REGIONAL FIRMS A SURGE Canadian Lawyer 's top 10 firms in Atlantic Canada are benefitting from projects in the energy, mining, and shipbuilding industries. IN THE EAST BEN TABNAB By Charlotte Santry A surge of infrastructure projects related to energy, mining, and shipbuilding is encouraging a positive outlook by Atlantic Canada's top 10 law firms, alongside an awareness of provincial deficits and demographic challenges. Since Canadian Lawyer's last survey in the region, Cox & Palmer has welcomed 14 lawyers from dissolved New Brunswick firm Barry Spalding. Together with McInnes Cooper and Stewart McKelvey, the expanded Cox & Palmer is part of a trio of large firms that dominate the region's legal landscape and have thus been ranked jointly in the top spot. The list is rounded out by seven top firms with offices in one province only. To qualify for the list, firms must offer a range of legal services and be based within Atlantic Canada: New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The top 10 were selected following a readers' survey. Daniel Gallivan, Cox & Palmer's chief executive officer, sees projects such as the proposed TransCanada Corp. pipeline, which would transport crude oil to refineries and export terminals in the east, as potential "game-changers" for law firms in the region. His firm has been retained by TransCanada Corp., which announced in July it would proceed with the pipeline project. The pipeline is by no means the only major source of potential legal work; many firms are also eyeing the Halifax Shipyard modernization, the construction of a major hydroelectric facility at Muskrat Falls in Labrador, and the billions being poured into offshore oil explorations (read more on this on the Back Page). "It's a great time to be in an industry that directly services the oil industry," says Christopher Pike, managing director of St. John's-based Benson Buffett PLC Inc. "St. John's is a boom town right now." Economic forecasters generally agree; some predict Canadian Lawyer asked lawyers and in-house counsel from across Canada to vote on Atlantic Newfoundland's 2013 growth will be the highest of Canada's top full-service firms. They were asked to rank their top 10 firms from a preliminary any province thanks to increased oil production and list, with a chance to nominate a firm that was not included on the list. Respondents' rankings mining output. were based on firms' regional service coverage, client base, notable mandates, service excelHigher consumer spending is fuelling Benson lence, and legal expertise. To be considered in the vote, firms were required to have offices Buffett's real estate practice. "I don't have a good in one or more of the Atlantic provinces — New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, enough superlative at the moment," says Pike, describNova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island — and offer a wide range of legal services. The final ing the effects of the market appreciation. rankings were based primarily on a points system, using a sliding scale for the number of first In Halifax, the real estate picture is less rosy, says to 10th-place votes received. Boyne Clarke LLP managing partner James MacNeil. HOW WE DID IT www.CANADIAN L a w ye r m a g . c o m OctOber 2013 33