Canadian Lawyer

36 M a y 2 0 1 4 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m is also on this year's list and plans to expand its services to Vancouver this month. In March, Bomza Law Group announced it was affiliating with PricewaterhouseCoopers to create PricewaterhouseCoopers Immigration Law LLP. Deloitte, too, recently brought in allied firm Shouli & Partners LLP to offer its clients business immigration services. It's a model well-suited to attracting Canadian companies starting to reach out to emerging markets around the world, according to Reis. "Canada-based companies are becoming more interna- tional and global," he says. "As they start to send people out to new markets, or need to move people around, they don't necessarily want to deal with a huge variety of different vendors around the world, and even trying to find one can be a challenge. They're looking to their Canadian lawyers for help." But federal immigration policies have imposed "onerous" processes on firms wishing to bring in global talent and are discouraging some employers from hiring foreign workers, says Reis. On the upside, the changes are leading to queries from clients who need help fully understanding them. Guberman Garson partner Lainie Appleby says: "I think the more change- able it becomes, the more of a need there is for lawyers to provide their services, because we know the ins and outs of how these programs work and it becomes more important than ever to have a lawyer guiding them through the process." C ommercial real estate has tradi- tionally been seen as a robust sector in Canada, though doubts have been cast recently as to how long this will remain the case; investment returns on Canadian com- mercial real estate are expected to halve over the next three years, according to forecasts published in March. Natalie Vukovich, a partner at Daoust Vukovich LLP, admits to pon- dering whether the sector is due for a cyclical downturn. Unusually for a boutique, her firm focuses on leasing, and faces the challenge of dealing with Canada's small "smattering" of powerful landlords, who all have their own in- house legal teams. However, Daoust Vukovich's value proposition is based on volume and effi- ciency. Vukovich explains: "We have a very large pool of paralegals who . . . are supervised and have 20 years of experi- ence. Because of our dependence on a large volume of these transactions, we can't make a meal of one file. . . . We can cut to the chase." Having close ties to a broad range of industry players provides insight that can be helpful to clients, she adds. Canadian Lawyer 's editorial team began the process of selecting Canada's top 10 litigation boutiques, and top five business immigration and com- mercial real estate boutiques, by creat- ing a shortlist of notable firms in their respective fields. We ran an online survey, asking peers and clients to rank the firms, and to explain why they placed those firms as their top five or 10. The survey results were combined with feedback from large firms and in- house counsel to create the following lists, which are in alphabetical order. In an unusual twist this year, we have a tie in the real estate category so the top five includes six firms. Top 10 Litigation boutiques Henein Hutchison LLP Toronto hhllp.ca Henein and Associates was founded more than a decade ago by Marie Henein, past president of the Advocates Society and treasurer of the Ontario Criminal Lawyers Association. It entered a new phase in January 2013 — when Scott Hutchison joined the firm and added his name to the mast- head — and now has eight lawyers, including former deputy attorney general of Ontario Murray Segal, who acts as counsel to the firm. Associates are a mix of former Supreme Court of Canada and Court of Appeal law clerks, while clients include Telus Communications Co., the City of Windsor, Town of Tecumseh, and former Ontario attorney general Michael Bryant. The criminal litigation- focused firm also advises large corporations, government entities, and professional firms on internal investigations, anti-money laundering compliance, and foreign corruption matters. C A N A D I A N L AW Y E R M A G A Z I N E Henein and Associates was founded more than a decade ago by Marie Henein, past president of the Advocates Society and treasurer of the Ontario Criminal Lawyers Association. It entered a new TOP 10 Litigation BOUTIQUES Henein and Associates was founded more than a decade ago by Marie Henein, past president of 0 ES B TO TO T P OP O 10 Litigation BOU OU O TIQU QU Q ES UES U

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