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 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 7 41 Total lawyers: 126 Lawyers by office: London, 75; Toronto, 51 Core practice areas: plaintiff personal injury; medical negligence defence; insurance defence; commercial litigation; appellate advo- cacy; business law; family law; real estate; professional regulation Key clients: CMPA; CCLA; CPA Professional Liability Plan; Frank Cowan Insurance; Deloitte; LawPro; McKay-Cocker Construc- tion; Verspeeten Cartage Ltd.; Trudell Medical Group; Chubb Insurance; Volkswagen; General Motors Notable mandates: lead defence counsel on national class pro- ceedings in Volkswagen TDI class actions; lead defence counsel on national class proceedings in General Motors Class Actions regarding ignition switch, EPS, antifreeze and Takata air bags; represented the appellant, the Thunder Bay Police Services Board, in 495793 Ontario Ltd. (Central Auto Parts) v. Barclay at the Ontario Court of Appeal in an action brought by a civil- ian alleging negligent investigation and successfully had the $1.6-million judgment set aside; acted for a physician in a mal- practice claim in precedent-setting case Moore v. Getahun about restrictions on communication between counsel and experts in preparation of expert reports; acted for Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne in Wynne v. Hudak et al., a defamation action against Ontario Progressive Conservative party leader Tim Hudak and Energy critic Lisa MacLeod; represented the individual physicians involved in providing care to Ashley Smith during her time in federal custody at the coroner's inquest into her death Star alumni: Nathalie Des Rosiers, dean of common law at the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Law; former Superior Court justices John Kennedy and Thomas Granger; Ontario Superior Court justices Jasmine Akbarali, Ian Leach, Margaret McSorley, Mary Anne Sanderson and Michael Varpio; Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Bradley Miller; David Shore, television writer for House, NYPD Blue, Family Law and Due South; Bryce Rudyk, senior legal adviser to Alliance of Small Island States in United Nations negotiations relating to climate change treaties and adjunct law professor at the New York University School of Law; Amy Archer, senior adviser to the government house leader at the Ontario government Affiliations: n/a Firm history: Lerner & Lerner was established by the firm's found- ers, Mayer Lerner and Samuel Lerner, in 1929. Since that time, the firm has progressively grown to more than 120 lawyers and 400 support staff. Now known as Lerners LLP, the firm provides strong legal expertise in many areas of practice, with a particular strength in all areas of litigation and dispute resolution. "Exceptional lawyers and staff." "Dedication to community, top lawyers and incredible dedication to clients." Total lawyers: 62 Office: Toronto Core practice areas: bankruptcy and insolvency; business law; com- mercial leasing and real estate; property assessment and taxation law; employment law; litigation; securities and capital markets; tax and succession planning; wills and estates Key clients: Lanterra Developments; Fieldgate Development Con- struction Ltd.; First Gulf Corp.; The Global Group; H&R REIT; Royal Bank of Canada Notable mandates: acted for a European petrochemical company in its acquisition and recapitalization of an Ontario-based company; acted for a Florida-based agricultural company in connection with its acquisition of a company with activities across Canada and South America; advised the underwriters in an $11.7-million bought deal financing where AcuityAds Holdings Inc. acquired Boston-based Visible Measures Corp.; advised Assure Holdings Corp. in completing its reverse takeover of Montreux Capital Corp. and commencing its listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange Venture Exchange Star alumni: Robyn Kestenberg, executive vice president, corporate development, H&R REIT; David Feldberg, president and CEO, Teknion; Mark Mandelbaum, co-founder, Lanterra Develop- ments; Mark Weisleder, author, columnist and speaker; Tamara Vanmeggelen, European head of wealth management compliance, RBC Wealth Management; Neil Sigler, vice president, Gold Seal Management; David Glass, senior vice president, The Global Group; retired senator Jerry Grafstein; Mordecai Bobrowsky, vice president, legal, Primaris Management Inc. Affiliations: Meritas Law Firms Worldwide Firm history: Arthur Minden, Edwin Pivnick and Morris Gross founded the firm in 1950. Early on, the firm gained a reputa- tion for its skills in commercial real estate transactions. The firm added Jerry Grafstein and Herbert Greenstein in the 1960s and established corporate and civil litigation services to meet the growing needs of its clients. It expanded further into commercial leasing, bankruptcy and insolvency, tax and succession planning, employment and labour and wills and estates law. In 1992, Min- den Gross became an affiliate of Meritas Law Firms Worldwide, a global alliance of independent law firms. It has recently grown further, branching out into securities and capital markets as well as property assessment and taxation law over the last two years. "Great client service." "While all of the firms on this list have a depth of legal experi- ence, the focus on responsiveness and client satisfaction is par- ticularly pronounced at Minden Gross LLP." LERNERS LLP LERNERS.CA MINDEN GROSS LLP MINDENGROSS.COM, @MINDENGROSS TOP 10 ONTARIO REGIONAL FIRMS 6 7

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