On February 17, 2016, Benchmark Canada hosted the Benchmark Canada Awards at the Intercontinental Hotel on Front Street in Toronto to recognize the top attorneys and firms in the country for all of their exceptional work throughout the past year.
The winning litigators of the evening were as follows:
Provincial Litigator Awards
Perry Mack (Peacock Linder Halt & Mack) – Alberta Litigator of the Year
Robert Pineo (Patterson Law) – Atlantics Litigator of the Year
Ken McEwan (Hunter Litigation Chambers) - British Columbia Litigator of the Year
Dave Hill (Hill Sokalski Walsh Olson) – Manitoba Litigator of the Year
Michael Barrack (Blake Cassels & Graydon) – Ontario Litigator of the Year
Patrick Ouellet (Woods) – Quebec Litigator of the Year
Provincial Firm Awards
Blake Cassels & Graydon – Alberta Firm of the Year
Stewart McKelvey – Atlantics Firm of the Year
Fasken Martineau – British Columbia Firm of the Year
Fillmore Riley - Manitoba Firm of the Year
Torys – Ontario Firm of the Year
Stikeman Elliott – Quebec Firm of the Year
MacPherson Leslie & Tyerman - Saskatchewan Firm of the Year
Practice Area Award Winners
Maxime Faille (Gowling Lafleur Henderson) – Aboriginal Litigator of the Year
Robert Deane (Borden Ladner Gervais) – Arbitration Litigator of the Year
Michael Eizenga (Bennett Jones) – Class-Action Litigator of the Year
Katherine Kay (Stikeman Elliott) – Competition Litigator of the Year
Glenn Zacher (Stikeman Elliott) – Energy / Resources Litigator of the Year
D.J. Miller (Thornton Grout Finnigan) – Insolvency Litigator of the Year
Alan D’Silva (Stikeman Elliott) – Insurance Litigator of the Year
David Aitken (Aitken Klee) – Intellectual Property Litigator of the Year
Darryl Cruz (McCarthy Tétrault) – Medical Defense / Health Litigator of the Year
Michael Smith (Borden Ladner Gervais) – Product Liability Litigator of the Year
Mason Poplaw (McCarthy Tétrault) – Securities Litigator of the Year
David Porter (McCarthy Tétrault) White-Collar / Investigations Litigator of the Year
Trial Lawyer of the Year
Sheila Block (Torys)
Emerging Talent Award of the Year
Luciana Brasil (Branch MacMaster)
Impact Cases of the Year
McCarthy Tétrault – for the successful representation of Abbott Laboratories on appeal in the first case in which a British Columbia court has denied certification of a prescription pharmaceutical class action
Woods – for one of the most important condemnations awarded in Canadian judicial history for Quebec telecom Videotron.
Blake Cassels & Graydon – for its successful representation of Celestica at the Supreme Court of Canada in a securities class action.
Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg – for obtaining dismissal of a class action brought against GM Canada on behalf of GM automotive dealers that were discontinued as part of GM Canada’s restructuring.
Practice Area Award Winners
Fasken Martineau – Arbitration Firm of the Year
Gowling Lafleur Henderson – Aboriginal Firm of the Year
Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg – Class Action Firm of the Year
Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg – Competition Firm of the Year
Bennett Jones – Energy / Resource Firm of the Year
Thornton Grout Finnigan – Insolvency Firm of the Year
Gowling Lafleur Henderson – Insurance Firm of the Year
Smart & Biggar – Intellectual Property Firm of the Year
Harper Grey – Medical Defense / Health Firm of the Year
Fasken Martineau – Product Liability Firm of the Year
Blake Cassels & Graydon – Securities Firm of the Year
Pro bono Firm of the Year
Borden Ladner Gervais
In-House Counsel Team of the Year
CIBC
Benchmark would like to once again thank all of the attendees of the evening for the time from their busy schedules to join us in our recognition of these outstanding firms and litigators.
For access to photographs of the evening, please contact Managing Editor Michael Rafalowich at mrafalowich@euromoneyny.com.