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Top 5 Environmental Law boutiques Houlihan & Associates (Vancouver) Saxe Law Office (Toronto) envirolaw.com Patricia Houlihan has become the go-to lawyer for clients in Vancouver looking for a boutique option since opening shop in 1999. Houlihan cut her teeth with McCarthy Tétrault LLP, and spent five years leading the Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund with West Coast Environmental Law, a pro bono organization. She has also gained respect for her service to the profession as a past chairwoman of the Canadian Bar Association's environmental law section, and as a professor at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law, Kwantlen University, and the B.C. Institute of Technology. Houlihan has done environmental work internationally and has spoken at conferences around the world. Dianne Saxe is a former prosecutor with the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and the author of the standard reference book Ontario Environmental Protection Act Annotated. Since opening her own firm in 1991, Saxe has been in demand on complex environmental litigation, compliance and transactions, attracting a deep client list that includes various levels and agencies of government, a major waste management company, environmental groups, and many others. The office now has three lawyers, and runs a popular environmental law blog at the firm's web site. Recent cases included a successful campaign on behalf of the Jesuits of English Canada to re-site a waste processing facility away from historic graves. The firm also negotiated the tripartite agreement with the city of Toronto and the Toronto Region Conservation Authority that paved the way for the Evergreen at the Brickworks project in Toronto. "Ms. Saxe is the most knowledgeable in the country," said one voter. Sodavex Inc. (Montreal) Willms & Shier Environmental Lawyers LLP envirolegal.ca sodavex.com This boutique has barely three years under its belt, but its six lawyers have been at the heart of a string of major transactions and litigation in that time. President Christine Duchaine founded the firm after 20 years at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, where environmental law was her specialty. The firm likes to take a preventive approach, trying to anticipate probable outcomes and assist clients in the planning and deployment of their projects before they run into issues. Top clients include Rio Tinto Alcan, WM Québec Inc., Park'N Fly, steel forging company Sorel Forge, and wastewater treatment firm Mabarex. Untitled-1 1 (Toronto) willmsshier.com This Toronto firm has spent over 30 years helping companies and municipalities manage environmental law issues. Over that period, partners Donna Shier and John Willms have developed reputations as two of Canada's foremost counsel in the specialty area, and their firm now consists of a stable of 12 lawyers including five certified environmental law specialists. Most of the boutique's clients are from the private sector, with many matters involving issues with the Ontario Ministry of the Environment. Brownfields and contaminated lands work also helps keep Willms & Shier one of the country's busiest environmental law shops. "The firm is one of, if not the, best enviro law firm in the country — and they know their way around landfill site regulation," said one senior litigator. www.CANADIAN L a w ye r m a g . c o m 12-12-07 9:58 AM Jan uary 2013 43