Not sure you can fit a dog into your busy schedule? Think a high-maintenance mutt is just as likely to wake you up in the middle of the night as a client?
These five lawyers and their fetching four-legged pals might convince you otherwise. Once you see those puppy dog eyes, you’ll be buying kibble in no time.
Lee Lenkinski
with Mordechai (Mordy), the Australian Shepherd
Year of call: 2012
Firm: Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
Practice area: Health law
Neighbourhood: Yonge & Lawrence
Dog walker: Yes, Monday to Friday.
When Lenkinski picked out Mordy, he was prepping for trial. “I probably didn’t do my homework,” he says. He and his wife, Emma Gregg, an in-house counsel at Travelers Canada, soon found out how high-maintenance Australian shepherds can be. But he couldn’t help but love the barking ball of energy. “He’s a good dude — and he’s a good snuggler.”
Gillian Stacey
with McLovin, the Border Terrier and Clementine, the Victorian Bulldog
Year of call: 1994
Firm: Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP
Practice area: Private mergers and acquisitions
Neighbourhood: The Beaches
Dog walker: Yes, five days a week. “That’s the only way it works.” “When I got her, she was bigger than McLovin,” says Stacey, pointing to 85-pound Clementine (named after Winston Churchill’s wife). And yet, the small border terrier is definitely the boss. “She’s a shy dog and he’s a total alpha.”
Joshua Freeman
with Duke, the Australian Labradoodle
Year of call: 2008
Firm: Fogler, Rubinoff LLP
Practice area: Civil and commercial litigation
Neighbourhood: Yonge & St. Clair. “There are a lot of parks,” says Freeman. “They’re not supposed to be dog parks, but they get taken over. It’s a very
dog-friendly area.”
Dog walker: No — his wife, Kelly, works close to home, so she drops by during the day to walk Duke.
“Apparently they’ve been breeding labradoodles for a long time in Australia, so they have a consistent demeanour,” says Freeman of his calm, well-behaved dog. “I think he’s probably just a labradoodle that has a funny accent.”
Aaron Edgar & Ambie Edgar-Chana
with Coco & Rio, both Chihuahuas
Year of call: both in 2007
Firm: Edgar Chana Law
Practice area: Trusts, estates, charities and patents
Neighbourhood: St. Lawrence Market
Dog walker: No. The pups go to work with their owners most days, so they tire themselves out at the office.
“A few years back, a friend had bought four Chihuahuas,” says Chana-Edgar. “She asked me to look after them for the weekend. Aaron said, ‘Don’t fall in love with those animals.’” But after a few days. . . “We fell in love,” says Edgar, who quickly agreed to adopt two of them (four pups were too many for their friend).
Web exclusive: Behind-the-scenes photos
Check out our behind-the-scenes photos from our photo shoot with our five lawyers and their precious pups!
This story is from our Spring 2016 issue.
Photography by Jaime Hogge