Canadian Lawyer

FARRIS VAUGHAN WILLS & MURPHY LLP (3) FARRIS.COM Total lawyers: 84 Lawyers by office: Vancouver, 70; Kelowna, B.C., 11; Victoria, 3 Core practice areas: Corporate-commercial law; litiga- tion; labour and employment; tax and wealth man- agement; family law Key clients: MacDonald Dettwiler & Associates Ltd.; TELUS; FortisBC; TD Bank; BC Lumber Trade Council Notable mandates: Acted for MDA in its $875-million purchase of the satellite manufacturing business of Loral Space & Communications Inc.; senior partner George Macintosh was appointed as amicus curiae to argue in the polygamy constitu- tional reference; represented the Vancouver Police Department and the Vancouver Police Board in the Missing Women's Inquiry; advisers to the com- petitive selection process for the Port Mann/Hwy. 1 Gateway Project Star alumni: Former chief justice of the B.C. Supreme Court Donald Brenner Affiliations: Lex Mundi The firm: Established in 1903 by John Wallace de MCLENNAN ROSS LLP (7) MROSS.COM 5 Total lawyers: 77 Lawyers by office: Edmonton, 51; Calgary, 22; Yellowknife, 4 Core practice areas: Labour and employment (including immigra- tion); corporate commercial securities; commercial litiga- tion (including restructuring and insolvency); insurance and risk management; energy, environmental, and regula- tory Key clients: The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Co.; Canadian Western Bank Group; Transalta Co.; Canada Safeway; Canadian Natural Resources Group; Ledcor Ledcor in-house counsel Rodney Neys; Cove Properties in-house counsel Clay Hamdon Affiliations: Meritas Law Firms Worldwide; Canadian Association of Counsel to Employers; ARC Group Canada; Group of Companies Notable mandates: Co-counsel to plaintiffs in the HMS Financial class action against lawyers and financial institutions, involving a worldwide alleged Ponzi scheme; Nunavut counsel on the $55-million purchase of mining assets by Xstrata Zinc Corp. from Sabina Gold & Silver Corp.; coun- sel to the Government of Alberta in joint review panel pro- ceedings considering Enbridge' Project; represents a major sports league in its Alberta labour relations matters Star alumni: Alberta Court of Appeal Justice Brian O'Ferrall; Alberta Court of Queen' Donna Shelley, and Michelle Crighton; Alberta Provincial Court justices Michael Stevens-Guille and Frederick Day; s Bench justices Brian Burrows, Employment Law Alliance The firm: Its origins lie in the early 20th century, when Edmonton lawyer G.E. Wallbridge began practising in 1903. Stan Ross, the first of three generations from the family, came on board before the Second World War, and by 1982, the firm settled on the name McLennan Ross after a number of amendments. "Great lawyers, great staff, great results, modest fees," s Northern Gateway Pipeline Beque Farris, Vancouver's first city prosecutor who went on to act as B.C.'s attorney general and as a senator. Farris made a name for himself as one of the few western Canadians to act for clients at the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council and the Supreme Court of Canada. His son, John, replaced him during the 1950s and '60s as the province's top barrister. At the same time, partner Ernest Bull formed a potent corporate and commercial law practice. "Local connections" and a "top-notch client base" were enough to get the firm top marks from one voter, who also went on to praise the firm for its "high performance lawyers." Managing partner Alan Hamilton says the firm is never content to stand still, and always looking for growth opportunities. At the moment, tax law is a big focus for recruitment. "The point is to pro- vide support for other areas we're involved in," he says. "It was becoming a bit too prevalent in vari- ous sectors, like P3 and trusts and estates, so we decided to develop a tax and wealth management group, which is now very active and thriving. " 4 said one succinct voter. Another said the firm has built on its core practice areas of employment law and litigation, to create "pockets of expertise in other areas of law. They have a growing list of strong clients and have positioned them- selves to play a major part in Alberta' economy of Alberta," says managing partner Stephen Livingstone. "We go back to when the oil sands devel- opment first started 40 years ago or so. We know the industry so well, we're the go-to people. "I think that we are pretty well aligned with the " www.CANADIAN Lawyermag.com OCTO BER 2012 37 s next boom." Scott ProKoP / ShutterStocK.com

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