Miller Thomson LLP is one of Canada’s leading national business law firms with approximately 525 lawyers. We consistently deliver the highest quality advisory and advocacy skills and expertise required by international clients doing business in Canada. We have more Canadian locations than any other national firm, allowing our lawyers to provide our clients with valuable local knowledge. More specifically, with offices in Montreal, Vaughan, Toronto, Waterloo-Region, London, Regina, Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver, we are uniquely positioned to provide ‘on the ground’ insight and knowledge from the country’s key economic hubs, and under both the common law and civil law systems in Canada.
Miller Thomson’s national advocacy practice comprises close to 200 litigators, organized around a comprehensive range of sub-specialties. Our expertise covers complex commercial litigation, class actions, construction litigation, environmental litigation, insurance defence, IP litigation, health litigation, securities litigation, shareholder disputes, tax litigation, insolvency, and labour & employment disputes, among other areas of litigation support. The national group has extensive experience acting for a wide range of clients in all industry segments in trial proceedings, court applications, arbitrations and appeals at the provincial and federal levels. These clients range from sole proprietorships and individuals to some of the largest and most recognized national and international corporations operating in Canada.
Our litigators look for opportunities for efficient and expedient dispute resolutions. In this regard, our litigators are experienced in mediation and arbitration proceedings of all types, whether required as part of the litigation process or undertaken pursuant to an agreement with the other side to a dispute.
The Group also draws on the firm’s discovery capabilities. Our litigators adopt procedures to drive greater case management and discovery efficiency, thereby mitigating the resource intensive, often costly document production phase of litigation.
We have extensive experience acting for clients in litigation concerning:
Updated March 2023
Kornfeld LLP | Kornfeld, Shapray & Partners, is a Vancouver-based boutique commercial and litigation firm that specializes in corporate and commercial work – transactional, litigation, arbitration, alternate dispute resolution and strategic advice.
The firm is known for dynamism, ingenuity and common sense, which, when matched by the wealth of the collective experience of our lawyers, results in timely, pragmatic solutions.
The firm’s clients range from entrepreneurs to major Canadian and US-based corporations. Our work frequently involves large, complex or high-profile disputes, and we routinely manage intricate, multi-party litigation and document-intensive cases.
Our lawyers have represented clients before all levels of court in British Columbia and Canada, as well as in Alberta, the Yukon, and Ontario.
Our disputes practice considers all available options in our goal to achieve a favourable resolution. As such, we are highly skilled in the art of negotiation and strategic positioning. Our expertise also extends to mediations and arbitrations.
The firm has come into existence from the merger of Shapray Cramer Fitterman Lamer LLP, formed in 1993 when Howard Shapray, QC, for many years the head of the litigation department of one of Vancouver’s leading firms, established an innovative and focused litigation boutique. Kornfeld LLP was formed in the same year by Neil Kornfeld, QCwith a focus on real estate development, acting for commercial and residential developers on the acquisition and redevelopment of noteworthy and unique sites in British Columbia. The two firms worked closely together, each developing sterling reputationsfor doing high quality, high stakes commercial work. For nearly three decades, lawyers at the two firms have provided expert advice and effective advocacy to B.C. entrepreneurs, developers, governments, financial institutions, and professional associations, as well as national and international entities.
Over time it became clear that the synergies and cultures of each firm accorded such that the strength in unity from a merger made perfect sense. The merger has increased the litigation department’s bench strength and capacity to handle large complex matters.
Shapray Cramer Fitterman Lamer LLP and Kornfeld LLP formally merged to become Kornfeld LLP | Kornfeld, Shapray & Partners effective Jan 1, 2022.
Key Areas of Expertise:
Updated April 2023
Singleton Urquhart Reynolds Vogel LLP is a Canadian law firm with offices in both Vancouver and Toronto. Since our beginnings, we have grown to a team of nearly 70 lawyers and over 100 employees. We have expanded into the Toronto market, merging our well-known and respected Vancouver practice with the practices of senior commercial litigation and senior construction and infrastructure lawyers in Toronto. This combination of geography and experience formed a powerful national platform from which to better serve our clients across the country.
We offer an extensive range of legal services in the areas of construction and infrastructure, commercial litigation, commercial real estate, corporate commercial, insurance defense, professional liability, product liability, workplace law, and business immigration.
Our core area of practice is construction and infrastructure law, with over half of the lawyers in the firm focused on this area. Our construction lawyers are recognized practitioners, litigators, solicitors, and engineers who have a wealth of experience to draw on.
We have a strong history of assisting clients with a variety of projects nationwide. We work on all matters in our space including large-scale infrastructure, institutional, industrial, and commercial projects such as highways, railways, tunnels, pipelines, mines, industrial facilities, schools and other education facilities, hospitals, manufacturing plants, commercial buildings, and condominiums.
A Client Focused Approach
At Singleton Urquhart Reynolds Vogel LLP we have developed our firm with a fundamental understanding that our clients deserve exceptional legal service that is delivered in a manner that is honest, creative, clear, relatable, flexible, and cost effective.
We provide solutions customized to our clients’ needs in various sectors including education, healthcare, government, and industry. We help our clients seize emerging opportunities and find solutions to complex legal problems.
Our lawyers have an impeccable sense of the challenges that can arise within their areas of expertise and are committed to working together collaboratively across disciplines to find the best solutions for our clients.
Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion
Canada is leading the world in terms of diversity, inclusion and pluralism. It is a strength that unifies our country and its people, and strengthens business relationships creating opportunities for success.
At Singleton Urquhart Reynolds Vogel LLP, we are committed to fostering a culture of diversity, inclusion and pluralism in the workplace that embraces the unique backgrounds, perspectives, experiences, and talents of individuals at all levels of the firm to ensure that we represent the communities we serve in Canada.
As the firm continues to grow, we are committed to consistently improving our diversity and inclusion policies to ensure they continue to reflect the culture and values of our employees and clients.
Community Involvement and Pro Bono Work
Beyond our commitment to our staff and our clients, our firm is also committed to the communities in which we have been able to grow and thrive. In that regard, we as a firm, and our individual members, are involved in a variety of community-oriented organizations.
We also encourage our lawyers to get involved with pro bono work by offering each lawyer credits every year for time spent providing legal services on pro bono files that reflect their individual interests and commitments.
Our lawyers have participated over the years as instructors of various courses taught at the University of Toronto, the University of British Columbia, the University of Melbourne, and Stanford University. We are keenly interested in education as it relates to our practices and the development of future experts in law.
Key Areas of Expertise:
Updated March 2023
The bright minds working on the world’s most important challenges and interesting opportunities need more than a law firm. You need true partners and allies who understand the complexity of what you’re tackling; who can help build vision and strategy; and who bring a team of experts who get it. And who get you. That’s us. In 2009, we started a law firm based on some ground-breaking principles: that a law firm can care about sharing values with clients and can boldly say their purpose is to help people do good things; that important law isn’t the sole purview of Big Law and that a focused team of passionate professionals can get you as far (or further) than the large national and international firms; that you are a client with a cause, not an invoice number; and that you should like your lawyer.
Since then, we’ve worked exclusively with two types of clients: forward-thinking businesses and Indigenous organizations on the cutting edge of reconciliation. We represent leaders who dare to dream big. Our integrated team supports their game-changing work by breaking down roadblocks and building roadmaps for the large and important opportunities our clients are chasing. From vision to strategy to execution, we assemble a specialized team that gets the right things done. Because what you are doing matters—to you, to us, and to the world.
MT+Co.’s Litigation + Dispute Resolution Group.
Our Litigation + Dispute Resolution Group has a strong voice in firm management and decisions, which means that we structure our service offering in a way that aligns with our values and the values of our clients. Our firm began with the two fundamental pillars of Business Law and Indigenous Law, but the addition of Litigation has allowed us a greater depth of collaboration, expertise, and seamless client service.
Our Corporate Commercial Litigation work includes complex contractual disputes, shareholder and transactional disputes, corporate governance matters, and business torts. We also have experience representing clients before a broad array of regulatory and administrative bodies, and in alternative dispute resolution processes such as mediation and arbitration.
On the Indigenous Law side of our Litigation practice, our group assists clients in the areas of Aboriginal rights and title, governance, Indian reserve issues, impact-benefit agreement interpretation and implementation, regulatory matters, and the development of strategic approaches to the participation of First Nations in consultation and negotiation with the Crown and industry. Our experience in Indigenous Law includes working with Indigenous legal orders, oral traditional evidence, and traditional ecological knowledge.
Many law firms view the Litigation + Dispute Resolution Group as its own silo. In contrast, we work collaboratively with our solicitors at almost every stage of negotiation to ensure effective resolutions to a dispute are identified before it arises. Collectively, the members of our team have deep experience in all areas of law that are required by our most forward-thinking and sophisticated clients – meaning that we bring past learning and insight to bear on almost all challenges. At the same time, we are diverse, progressive, and imaginative – meaning that we do not get “boxed-in” by the law, and instead find creative solutions that continually advance the interests of our clients.
Notable Cases:
Updated March 2023