The fifth annual Benchmark Canada awards ceremony was held last night, Thursday, February 22nd, at the Intercontinental Hotel on Front St. in Toronto last night. Representatives from over 25 private practice firms and several in-house counsel, including CIBC, BC Hydro and Air Canada, were in attendance. Jeff Leon of Bennett Jones and Guy Pratte of Borden Ladner Gervais collected awards for the prestigious "Hall of Fame" deginator, while Sheila Block of Torys handily swept the nominations to receive the award for Trial Lawyer of the Year.
Photos of the night are available here.
PROVINCIAL AWARDS
ALBERTA
Firm of the year
Borden Ladner Gervais
Litigator of the year
David Tupper, Blake Cassels & Graydon
ATLANTICS
Firm of the year
McInnes Cooper
Litigator of the year
Darlene Jamieson, Merrick Jamieson Sterns Washington & Mahody
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Firm of the year
Fasken
Litigator of the year
Kenneth McEwan, McEwan Partners
MANITOBA
Firm of the year
MLT Aikins
Litigator of the year
Ted Bock, MLT Aikin
ONTARIO
Firm of the year
Lenczner Slaght Royce Smith Griffin
Litigator of the year
Jonathan Lisus, Lax O’Sullivan Scott Lisus Gottlieb
QUÉBEC
Firm of the year
Stikeman Elliott
Litigator of the year
Patrick Ouellet, Woods
SASKATCHEWAN
Firm of the year
MLT Aikins
Litigator of the year
Gordon Kuski, McDougall Gauley
PRACTICE AREA AWARDS - FIRMS/INDIVIDUALS
ABORIGINAL LAW
Lawson Lundell
ARBITRATION
Blake Cassels & Graydon
CLASS ACTION
Fasken
COMPETITION
Blake Cassels & Graydon
CONSTRUCTION
Singleton Urquhart Reynolds Vogel
ENERGY/RESOURCE LITIGATION
Fasken
INSOLVENCY
Stikeman Elliot
INSURANCE
Blake Cassels & Graydon
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Smart & Biggar/Fetherstonhaugh
LABOR/EMPLOYMENT
Paliare Roland Rosenberg Rothstein
MEDICAL DEFENSE/HEALTH
Borden Ladner Gervais
PRODUCT LIABILITY
Fasken
SECURITIES
Crawley MacKewn Brush
WHITE-COLLAR CRIME/ENFORCEMENT
Stockwoods
ABORIGINAL
Nadir André, Borden Ladner Gervais
ARBITRATION
Stephen Drymer, Woods
CLASS ACTION
Cheryl Woodin, Bennett Jones
COMPETITION
Katherine Kay, Stikeman Elliott
CONSTRUCTION
Jeffrey Vallis, Borden Ladner Gervais
ENERGY/RESOURCE
Glenn Zacher, Stikeman Elliott
INSOLVENCY
DJ Miller, Thornton Grout Finnigan
INSURANCE
Larry Elliot, Borden Ladner Gervais
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
David Madsen, Borden Ladner Gervais
LABOR / EMPLOYMENT
Chris Paliare, Paliare Roland Rosenberg Rothstein
MEDICAL DEFENSE/HEALTH
Marjorie Hickey, McInnes Cooper
PRODUCT LIABILITY
Gordon McKee, Blake Cassels & Graydon
SECURITIES
Robert Staley, Bennett Jones
WHITE-COLLAR CRIME/ENFORCEMENT
Stéphane Eljarrat, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg
PLAINTIFF FIRM OF THE YEAR
Koskie Minsky
LITIGATION BOUTIQUE OF THE YEAR
McEwan Partners
IN-HOUSE TEAM OF THE YEAR
BC Hydro
EMERGING TALENT OF THE YEAR
Karen Carteri, Nathanson Schachter & Thompson
Gerald Chan, Stockwoods
Frédéric Paré, Stikeman Elliott
Gulu Punia, Fasken
Derek Ricci, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg
Lynda Troup, Thompson Dorfman & Sweatman
TRIAL LAWYER OF THE YEAR
Sheila Block, Torys
HALL OF FAME
Jeffrey Leon, Bennett Jones
Guy Pratte, Borden Ladner Gervais
IMPACT CASES OF THE YEAR
Capstone re. Ontario Electricity Financial Corporation litigation (Stikeman Elliott)
Deloitte v. Livent (Stikeman Elliott)
Ernst & Young v. Essar Global et al. (Gowling WLG and Stikeman Elliott)
Packers Plus Energy Services Inc. v. Essential Energy Services Ltd et al
(Borden Ladner Gervais, Blake Cassels & Graydon and Torys)
Dow Chemical Company v. Nova Chemicals Corporation (Smart & Biggar)
Julie Snyder v. John Doe et al. (Borden Ladner Gervais)