Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m M A Y 2 0 1 6 33 Top 10 Corporate law boutiques As companies recognize boutiques' expertise to take on major files, Vachon says his firm has seen more class action defence work in the last few years. On the other hand, things have been slower in areas like insolvency, which is cyclic- al work and will, he points out, "come back eventually." At Vancouver's Nathanson Schachter & Thompson LLP, partner Irwin Nathan- son says his firm is seeing a trend toward more arbitration as complex commercial contracts increasingly contain arbitration clauses and clients look for the best out-of- court resolution of matters. There's more pressure to find such resolutions in tough- er economic conditions, says Nathanson. Clients nowadays are demanding more communication from lawyers, according to Vachon. "They're obviously looking for very high-quality service, no compromise on what you're going to do. They're asking lawyers to talk with them to be able to provide better service, to understand their needs, to avoid sur- prises," he says. Boutiques are especially well pos- itioned to meet that demand, says Nathanson, who adds lawyers in a small firm know the status of all their files and are readily aware of the steps necessary to progress those files to a timely resolu- tion. "The clients of our firm are kept current on the status of their matter and can be confident that their particular files are being dealt with in a timely manner," says Nathason. F or the first time this year, Canadian Lawyer conducted a survey of Canada's top 10 corporate law boutiques. The top vote-getters in this category were equally confident of their ability to match Big Law's strength in corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, and securities work. "If you take our firm and put it inside any of the Seven Sister law firms, you'd have a corporate finance depart- ment that's equal to theirs — maybe not in size but certainly in calibre, in execution, and in expertise," says Perry Dellelce, managing partner of Wildeboer Dellelce LLP. "When we left the large firms — and most of the partners here were at large, Seven Sister firms — we didn't leave our brains behind," says Dellelce. "But we knew we wouldn't take the large multi-na- tional Canadian and foreign corporations as clients [to our new firm]." His firm knew, from the get-go, that it had to cater to the small- to mid-cap client base and "grow our business with theirs. And frankly, it's more interesting; it's more fun." Debbie Weinstein, of LaBarge Wein- stein LLP, expresses a similar intention to grow alongside her clients. "As a boutique, we don't tend to get the big, multi-nation- al companies coming to us seeking rep- resentation and that's OK because the very nature of our firm has been to represent the underdog," she says. "When we started out, we were the underdog; we were this little firm that people said wouldn't last." Now, Weinstein says, large firms are competing with hers to score companies for work in corporate finance, licensing, M&A, and public offering work. "As the economy changes, we see different nation- al firms coming into the knowledge-based business area. Depending on the economy, firms come in and out. We've seen many firms trying to establish their own spin- offs. They just waver because they can't help themselves; they're so large [and] they need the large, multi-billion-dollar clients." Although her firm isn't the biggest business law firm in Canada "by any stretch of the imagination," Weinstein says the work she and her team does every day is unmatched by any other law firm, large or small. A firm like LaBarge Weinstein was a response to "a great need" for pragmatic dialogue between lawyers and clients, she says. While her clients are intelli- gent professionals such as engineers and entrepreneurs, they are not business experts and need simple, plain-language advice, she says. "In other words, clients want advice that they can understand, and they want alternatives presented to them that are solutions rather than roadblocks," says Weinstein. Allen McDonald Swartz LLP Toronto amsbizlaw.com Bay Street veterans Fraser McDonald and Jennifer Allen founded the firm in February 2015. In August 2015, fellow Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP alumnus Jillian Swartz joined the firm. The trio advises domestic and international clients, including law firms, in public and private mergers and acquisitions, debt financing, securities compliance and regulatory work, capital markets transactions, and governance advice. The firm, which also does pro bono work, acted for 2Keys Corp. in connection with its contract with the Province of Nova Scotia to deliver an identity and access service solution that provides individuals and businesses with electronic credentials and validated identity for securely interacting with the province's online services. It acted for BÜHLMANN Laboratories AG, a Swiss medical diagnostic device and kit manufacturer, and its New Hampshire-based U.S. subsidiary, in negotiating exclusive Canadian supply and services agreements with key Canadian customers. It was also counsel to Fundata Canada Inc. in obtaining discretionary relief from the Canadian Securities Administrators on behalf of Fundata's mutual fund clients in order to allow them to refer to Fundata's proprietary ratings and awards in their sales communications.

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