ONTARIO
Blake Cassels & Graydon’s Toronto office has long been a dominant force in the city’s business community, servicing some of the largest and most recognized names on Bay Street. While it is often linked to financial institutions, the firm has of late exemplified been active in cases that exemplify a more diverse roster of clients. Notably, some of these cases have been spearheaded by younger partners.
Iris Fischer, a commercial litigator with a niche in the defamation and media capacities, represented the
Toronto Star and one of its reporters in an application to unseal the estate court files of a prominent Canadian philanthropist couple that was murdered. After succeeding for her client at the Ontario Court of Appeal, she triumphed once again at the Supreme Court of Canada in June 2021. Melanie Baird, who joined the firm from Lenczner Slaght along with
Andrew Skodyn (with whom she works in tandem with as well as on her own), has also quickly ascended the ranks, and yet is still considered underrated by some. “Blakes in Toronto is first-class,” declares a peer, “and Melanie in particular is a litigation standout. She drives a huge volume of work and is an exceptionally talented trial lawyer in intellectual property cases, class actions and commercial litigation generally. Although well regarded and highly ranked, her profile falls below exceptional contribution she makes to her firm and the litigation bar.” (Benchmark attempted to address this by bestowing the “Intellectual Property Litigator of the Year” award on Baird at the 2022 Benchmark Canada awards – ed.) Skodyn has also amassed his own fan base over the years, with one peer marveling, “It’s been fascinating to watch him blaze trails [at his former firms and his present one]."
QUÉBEC
The firm’s Montréal office scored a key young recruit in
Matthew Liben, a noted standout who the firm lured to its bench from Stikeman Elliott. A client raves on Liben’s behalf: “Matthew has done an excellent job in his thoroughness and ability to advocate on behalf of us thus far. I observed several examinations and was impressed by his ability to quickly redirect the questioning and make objections on behalf of our witnesses. His calm demeanor and ability to succinctly analyze the issues in front of many of our senior executives has been very valuable.”
Francis Rouleau, litigation group leader in Montréal, continues to represent Bell Canada and its affiliates as lead counsel in injunctive proceedings which called upon Québecor and its affiliates to restore the broadcast signal that Groupe TVA unlawfully interrupted during the Stanley Cup playoffs. Blakes succeeded in having the Court issue an injunctive order enjoining Groupe TVA to restore the broadcast signal to more than 425,000 Bell subscribers.
Claude Marseille and future star Ariane Bisaillon scored a big win for Hydro-Québec before the Supreme Court of Canada in 2020, securing a unanimous decision that allowed for the construction of a new transmission line. The Blakes pair was brought in on appeal to the Supreme Court and succeeded in reversing the Court of Appeal’s earlier denial of the client’s right to build on disputed lands across the province of Québec.
Simon Seida, who made partner in 2019, attends to a diverse practice, most recently attending to matters with a competition and class action element. Rouleau, Marseille and
Robert Torralbo have long been championed as litigation leaders by local peers, and continue to be, with one contemporary taking care to note, “These guys are still at the top of their game, primo litigators without a doubt.”
ALBERTA
Blakes’ Calgary office houses one of the community’s deepest litigation benches, all attending to the most high-stakes matters affecting the region’s volatile oil-and-gas industry. Ken Mills, a longtime leader of the litigation group in this office, is credited by several in the community for several successful strategic recruiting, enterprising and culture-fostering decisions. A local peer asserts, “Blakes did phenomenally well during the COVID downturn. They were hiring and growing when others were letting go. They have a good group of young people coming up who just naturally ‘get it.’”
David Tupper remains one of Calgary’s most active and in-demand partners. “David is someone I see on a lot of the big infrastructure work.” In one such example, Tupper represented Pembina Pipeline Corporation in a shareholder dispute, in which he triumphed in August 2021. Tupper provided counsel to Nexen Energy ULC arising from a 2015 pipeline spill in Northern Alberta.
Dalton McGrath, along with future star Michael O’Brien successfully represented ENMAX Energy Corporation in connection with a CAD $120 million dispute concerning the existence of transmission lines and towers located in downtown Calgary that serve millions of customers against a private landowner. Mark Morrison, one of the only bona fide white-collar crime practitioners in the province, was selected as the Compliance Monitor for SNC-Lavalin for a three-year term as part of its recent conviction and $280 million fine arising from fraud and bribery in Libya.
BRITISH COLUMBIA
In Vancouver, peers point to securities star Sean Boyle as “someone who is doing some fairly novel and sophisticated work for BC and at the same time really hustling to get more of it. He has done a great job of getting his own name out there while also building the team.” Alexandra Luchenko is another swiftly risen star who is making waves in the white-collar criminal world. “Alex is a certified fraud examiner,” notes one peer, “and she is coming up huge in the criminal side of things.” Another peer raves, “Alex is awesome. She is smart, super hard-working and has the ability to cut through the morass and get to the nub of it. She’s efficient and doesn’t waste time with petty things.” The pair of Boyle and Luchenko act for Detona Capital in proceedings commenced in January 2019 by the British Columbia Securities Commission and Alberta Securities Commission against over 60 respondents styled as the Bridgemark Group relating to an alleged cheque swamp scheme in excess of $50 million. Blakes, along with other law firms, have filed a Notice of Constitutional Question, alleging illegal search and seizure of the Parties’ bank accounts and challenging the constitutionality of the Freeze Order provisions of the Securities Act. The investigation continues with document discovery and compelled interviews taking place. Issues surrounding sealing order and the intersection of a class action are working through the court of appeal with applications being made to the Supreme Court of Canada. Joe McArthur is also beloved by many in the community, with one peer going so far as to call him “just my favorite, so easy to deal with” and further opining “We could sure use more in the profession like Joe.” Another asserts, “Joe can do it all, but his sweet spot is arbitrations and in particular those that cross borders. He’s not only a leader in that regard but also kind of cornered a market.” It is also noted that
Laura Cundari has a “huge, and growing, arbitration practice that deals with a lot of construction and infrastructure. She is also getting a ton of arbitrator appointments.”
Peers also commend Blakes for its class action practice, and in particular, the evident fostering of younger talent attending to these matters. “Younger Blakes lawyers are getting more involved in class actions, and clients welcome it,” testifies a peer. “They want to hire a top-tier firm but they don’t want to necessarily pay the rates of a more senior partner.” Illustrating the firm’s class-action capacity as well as its inter-office prowess, a multi-office team consisting of Toronto’s
Catherine Beagan-Flood and Nicole Henderson and Vancouver’s
Robin Reinertson represent TDL Group in litigation stemming from a published report regarding location data collected by the Tim Horton’s mobile app. The plaintiffs allege collection and use of geolocation data of consumers without proper disclosure or consent through the Tim Hortons, Burger King and Popeye’s Chicken mobile apps.
