When Heenan Blaikie LLP dissolved last month, an unprecedented number of lawyers found themselves out of work: close to 170 in Toronto alone.
In order to understand how the collapse has changed the makeup of other firms, Precedent has used press releases and other research to chart where Toronto lawyers formerly at Heenan Blaikie have re-located since early 2014.
As of March 28, we can now report where 135 lawyers have landed. Despite the chaos of a large firm self-destructing, almost all lawyers have been scooped up by other firms within a mere two months.
We’ll continue to update the chart below as new data becomes available. If you have any additional information, contact our news editor Daniel Fish at news@lawandstyle.ca.
Firm |
Associates |
Partners |
Counsel |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dentons | Jayme Alter, Michael Shedletsky, Andrew Bourns, Larry Nevsky, Liane Fong, Radha Kholsa, Rahim Suleiman, Beatriz Orrantia | Gavin Sinclair, Adam Goodman, Allen Garson, David Steinberg, James McVicar, John Salmas, Jay Duffield, Kenneth Kraft, Ken Dhaliwal, Mark Jadd, Martha Harrison, Michael Henriques, Michael Davies, Mike Hollinger, Paul Lalonde, Ryan Middleton, Yves St-Cyr, Jim Russell, Michael Ledgett | Norman Bacal, Bob Tarantino, Keith Stein, Wendy Del Mul, Scott Martyn (consultant) | 32 |
| Baker & McKenzie | Davide Palumbo, Maxine Ethier, Grace Kim-Cho, Jonathan Tong, Konrad Pola, Alex Farcas, Oana Chivaran, Ora Wexler | Charlie MacCready, Corey MacKinnon, Ilia Danef, Kevin Rooney, Peter Clark, Sonia Yung | 14 | |
| Fasken Martineau DuMoulin | Jackie VanDerMeulen, Daniel Mayer, Andrew Bratt, Bonny Mak Waterfall, Christian Paquette, Chris Pigott, Emily Shepard | Christina Hall, John Craig, Mathias Link, Sarah Graves, Brian Burkett, Douglas Gilbert | 13 | |
| Aird & Berlis |
Josh Milgrom, Jason Rivait, Joseph Salmon, Karen Tsang | Denise Lash, Marco Gammone, Monty Warsh, Stephen Zolf | 8 | |
| Gowling Lafleur Henderson | Mark Hines, Magda Hanebach, Matt Benson, William Jackman | Ahab Abdel-Aziz, Sandra Barton | Ralph Lean, Bruce Johnson (consultant) | 8 |
| Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt |
Bridget McIlveen, Joanna Fine, John Salloum, Rachel St. John, Rhonda Shirreff | Adam Kardash | Paola Turner, Pamela Snively (consultant) | 8 |
| McCarthy Tétrault |
Steven Molnar, Kara Smith | Tim Lawson, Frederico Marques, Matthew Flynn | Margaret Gavins | 6 |
| Aitken Klee |
Andrew McIntyre, Lilly Sormaz | Jon Stainsby, Bill Mayo, Lesley Caswell | 5 | |
| Borden Ladner Gervais | Gregory McLean, Daniel Del Gobbo, Jon Smithen | Priscilla Platt, Subrata Bhattacharjee | 5 | |
| Matthews, Dinsdale & Clark | Jeremy Warning, Cheryl A. Edwards, Greg McGinnis, Sonia Regenbogen | 4 | ||
| Miller Thomson | Kelly Harris | Catherine Bate, Tony Kiru | Mary Anne Bueschkens | 4 |
| Belmore Neidrauer | Monique Ashamalla | Mark Davis | 2 | |
| Chiarotto Sultan | Lia Chiarotto, Sharaf Sultan | 2 | ||
| McMillan | Laura Brazil | Geza Banfai | 2 | |
| Beard Winter | Lucinda Main | 1 | ||
| Blaney McMurtry | Andrea Rush | 1 | ||
| Cassels Brock & Blackwell | Mark St. Cyr | 1 | ||
| Clyde & Co | George Karayannides | 1 | ||
| Crawley MacKewn Brush | Michael Byers | 1 | ||
| DreamWorks Animation | Sara Brie Perry | 1 | ||
| Emond Harnden | Kevin D. MacNeill | 1 | ||
| Gilbert’s | Matt Diskin | 1 | ||
| Goodwin McKay | Susan Linda Rancourt | 1 | ||
| Groia & Company | Bonnie Roberts Jones | 1 | ||
| Intact Financial Corporation | Leslie Horyun Chong | 1 | ||
| Israel Foulon | Andrew Carricato | 1 | ||
| Lerners | Angus T. McKinnon | 1 | ||
| Newton HR Law | Mark Newton | 1 | ||
| Piasetzki Nenninger Kvas | Adrian Kaplan | 1 | ||
| Ricketts Harris | Alejandro Manevich | 1 | ||
| Ridout & Maybee | Rob Graham | 1 | ||
| Rueter Scargall Bennett | Lynn Mitchell | 1 | ||
| Ryan Edmonds Workplace Counsel |
Ryan Edmonds | 1 | ||
| Shibley Righton | Joel Watson | 1 | ||
| Stockwoods | Sam Robinson | 1 | ||
| Wildeboer Dellelce | Richard Lewin | 1 | ||
| Dorsey & Whitney | Steve Vaughan | 1 | ||
| Hicks Morley | Samantha Seabrook | 1 | ||
| Empowered IVF | Consulting firm founded by Rhonda Levy | 1 | ||
The practice area of each lawyer is not included in the chart, but it is notable that the firms who hired the most Heenan Blaikie lawyers have done so by scooping up entire practice groups. For example, Baker & McKenzie brought in the securities group, Faskens hired the labour group and Gowlings took on the nuclear group. Dentons, by contrast, has hired lawyers from a range of practice areas, including tax, entertainment and business law.
Plus: for an inside look at what its like to switch firms, read our story featuring three former Heenan lawyers now at Baker & McKenzie.