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is of course true for the government- related and property development work that we do." WeirFoulds' expertise in the corpo- rate-commercial area is an exception to that rule, but Borsook notes that most of the firm's clients are either based in Ontario or have a principal Canadian office in the province. "Having a regional focus without a national cost structure works well for all of our clients," she says. "And for those of our lawyers who want to practise, say, in municipal law, it doesn't really do them a bit of good to have a national cost structure." While each of the firms selected by their peers to be one of Ontario's Top 10 Regional Law Firms draws work primar- ily within the province, many are looking elsewhere when it comes to growth. Aird & Berlis LLP managing partner Eldon Bennett says all firms are taking a step back to consider whether the perceived 1 Aird & Berlis LLP Total Lawyers: 130 Office: Toronto Core Practice Areas: corporate finance; financial ser- vices; municipal and land use planning; real estate; tax Key Clients: private and public corporations, financial institutions, mutual funds, pension funds, investment dealers, merchant banks Notable Mandates: advised Roynat Asset Finance in forming a $200-million secured revolving asset- based lending credit facility and a $50-million secured term fixed asset-based credit facility with the United Farmers of Alberta Co-operative Ltd.; Sino-Forest Corp. on the completion of a US$300-million exchange offer; Canadian counsel to Life Technologies Corp. on the US$450-million sale of its mass spectrometry business to Danaher Corp.; Lazard Global Convertible Bond Fund in connection with its $67-million IPO; Allied Properties Real Estate Investment Trust in the $192-million purchase of properties at 151 Front St. W. and 20 York St. in Toronto from Northam Realty Advisors Star Alumni: founding partner John Aird was appoint- ed to the Senate in the 1960s and served as Ontario's 23rd lieutenant governor from 1980 to 1985 momentum toward internationalization is accurate. He believes law follows busi- ness, which clearly continues to grow beyond national borders. Therefore, says Bennett, "I see us increasing our cross- border presence, and increasing our cross-border marketing." Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP is another Ontario firm looking abroad. Managing partner Mark Young says his firm wants to take its dominant position in certain industries, many of which are global in scope, and use them as leverage to strengthen other areas of practice. "A takeover bid in mining is not really any different than a takeover bid in telecommunications," he notes. It's clear that each of the firms pro- filed below has its own approach to the practice of law. What they all share is a primary presence in Canada's most populace province, and a track record of impeccable performance. Affiliations: Toronto representative of Interlaw Ltd. The Firm: This firm can be traced back to 1919, when Zimmerman Grant Hugo Paddon Worley & Bennett opened its doors. In 1974, that firm merged with Edison Aird & Berlis, which was founded in 1953. Having once kept an Ottawa office and maintained an association with a Vancouver firm, Aird & Berlis now remains solely focused on maximizing its output from a single Toronto office. That strategy seems to be working, as the firm has vaulted to the top of Canadian Lawyer's Ontario regional firm rankings from its fifth- place position among central Canadian firms in 2006. While the majority of Aird & Berlis' work is region- ally based, managing partner Eldon Bennett points out that his firm has its hands on files from across the globe. "We don't see ourselves as a regional firm," says Bennett, who notes the firm has clients in the United States, United Kingdom, and other far-flung places. www.CANADIAN Lawyermag.com M AY 2011 35 (air dberlis.com)