Canadian Lawyer

12 N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m H ow did the amalgamation of two of Western Canada's oldest and largest independent law firms come about? It is an untold story of persistence, persuasion and a touch of Prairie practicality. The merger of Regina-based MacPherson Leslie & Tyerman LLP and Winnipeg's Aikins MacAulay & Thorvaldson LLP was announced in September. They, and their combined 240 lawyers, become MLT Aikins as of Jan. 1, 2017. Aikins' main business base was Manitoba, while MLT served mainly Saskatchewan and more recently Alberta and B.C. MLT has been around close to 100 years, while Aikins was founded in 1879. Both firms insist the idea of a merger grew slowly. It was a case of evolution rather than a sudden meeting of minds. As Aikins' managing partner Herb Peters puts it, "We have been known to each other for years. So various discussions between various lawyers would have taken place." But early in 2015, Peters recalls, "The meetings became more intense." There were a lot of them, and by their nature they had to be conducted unobtrusively. "Less than a fifth of the partners even knew this was in the cards," says MLT man- aging partner Don Wilson. Wilson says a key issue for both was corporate culture. "Does what they were trying to do strategically align with what we were trying to do? We decided fairly early on we line up pretty well. These western Canadians are a lot like us." Aikins' Peters echoes that sentiment: "We think we have tons of commonality. That may be because we are Prairie folk and we tend to view the world in similar ways." So who dragged whom to the altar? In Wilson's view. it was not like that. "It's kind of like a marriage: You date for a while, you find out you have common interests, you have common goals, you want to do the same thing and eventually you say 'this might be a good thing.'" Which led to another, final meeting between the firms' merger committees some time around June of this year. To protect confidentiality, it took place in Calgary, away from both firms' head offices. The teams met in a boardroom at the Delta Hotel at Calgary's airport. The meeting lasted all day, and when it was over, an amalgamation proposal had been created, which both parties were prepared to take back to the partners of their respective firms. "Both merger com- mittees felt very pleased that we seemed to have come to some common ground," remembers Wilson. On that summer evening as the negotiators waited for planes home, they gravitated to the Delta lounge. "It wasn't a celebration," recalls Wilson. "We couldn't say 'OK, let's set the date' . . . because both of us had to take it to our partners." The negotiators were not celebrating a merger of the two Western law firms but rather acknowledging a gigantic step forward in the process. Wilson says they had single malts, Peters remembers beers, but on most other things they agree. Back at the firms' offices, a series of information sessions were held for the partners. The sessions were four or five hours long. The partners "are all Type As with independent minds," says MLT's Wilson, but in the end, he says, "There was overwhelming partner support for this idea." Aikins' Peters cautiously acknowledges that not every partner is on board with the merger. He was not prepared to cite numbers, but he says: "I expect there will be lawyers who make their own choices about what we are doing." While Peters isn't saying it, people in the industry think compensa- tion systems may have been a particular sticking point, espe- cially for more senior partners. Disgruntled partners aside, both firms are dealing with the mechanics of meshing their two corporate infrastructures. It goes way beyond printing new letterhead and synchronizing computer systems. Are there client conflicts? "It's inevitable," says Peters. So, why the merger and why now? The incoming chairman of MLT Aikins, David Filmon, is upbeat. "As the world becomes smaller," he says, "this merger responds [to our clients'] increasingly complex legal needs." A more dispassionate assessment comes from the dean of the University of Calgary, Faculty of Law, Ian Holloway. "The best reason [for firms to merge] is where complementary strategic opportunities exist," he says. "Are there real strategic opportunities to be realized? To me, that's the question." — GEOFF ELLWAND \ AT L A N T I C \ C E N T R A L \ P R A I R I E S \ W E S T REGIONAL WRAP-UP The MLT Aikins merger: the inside story MLT managing partner Don Wilson.

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