GOWLINGS

'Gowlings' (Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP) is Canada's second largest full-service law firm, with over 700 professionals practising in 9 cities in Canada and Russia.^[1]
Gowlings' current National Managing Partner is R. Scott Jolliffe

Contents

History

Practice areas

Notable (past and present) members of the firm include:

References

External links

See also

History

Gowlings traces its origins to the firm Henderson & McVeity, which was founded in Ottawa in 1887.^{[2] [3]} As the firm grew over the next century, its name passed through numerous permutations, but three figures remained dominant: Gordon Gowling, George and Gordon Henderson.^[4] In the 1980s, the firm expanded beyond its traditional Ottawa base, establishing offices in Toronto, Kitchener, and Moscow. Starting in the mid-1990s, Gowlings methodically solidified a national platform through a succession of mergers with other law firms in Vancouver, Hamilton, Calgary, Montréal, Toronto and Kanata^[5]. In order to avoid certain complications created by the mergers, the firm officially adopted the simple brand name, "Gowlings" (which had long been in informal use).^[6]

Practice areas

Gowlings is unique amongst large Canadian national law firms in that it originated in the nation's capital, rather than in the business centres of Toronto, Montreal or Calgary. Proximity to government accounts for the diversity^[7] and non-transactional bias of Gowlings' legal specialties.^[8] While the practices of the so-called Seven Sisters firms are weighted predominantly towards Business law,^[9] this is only one of the three pillars^[4] (and on balance the weakest)^[11] which constitute the core of Gowlings' practice. The other two are Advocacy and Intellectual Property law. Indeed, Gowlings' professionals have held an historic pre-eminence in the latter.^[12] Other particular strengths include technology, international trade, environmental, energy, financial services, government relations and administrative law. ^[13][14]
Considered a leading innovator among Canadian law firms, Gowlings is an early participant in Legal OnRamp, the Wikipedia/Facebook of Law developed by Cisco and other leading companies and law firms. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_on_ramp

Notable (past and present) members of the firm include:

★ Taylor McVeity (1857-1951). Mayor of Ottawa, 1914

★ Leonard Walter Brockington (1888-1966). Founding chairman of the CBC, 1936-1939 St. George and Merrie England

★ John Robert Cartwright (1895-1979). 12th Chief Justice of Canada, 1967-1970

★ Gordon F. Henderson (1912-1993). President of the Canadian Bar Association, 1979-1980;^[15] Chancellor of the University of Ottawa, 1991-1993^[16]

★ Gordon Gowling. President of the Canadian Bar Association, 1950-1951^[15]

★ Roy McMurtry (1932- ). Attorney-General of Ontario, 1975-1985 and Chief Justice of Ontario, 1996-2007 ^[18]

★ Ray Hnatyshyn (1934-2002). 24th Governor-General of Canada, 1990-1995^[19]

★ Ian Scott (1934-2006). Attorney-General of Ontario, 1985-1990^[20]

★ Donald Mazankowski (1935- ). Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, 1986-1993 Rt. Hon Donald F. Mazankowski

★ John Bishop Ballem (1946- ). Authority on oil and gas regulation and litigation^[21]; novelist^[22]

★ R. Scott Jolliffe (1950- ). Intellectual property litigator and mediator^[23][24]

★ Richard Dearden (1953- ). International trade, media and defamation law specialist^[25]

★ Timothy S. Wach. International tax law expert; former tax policy officer with the Department of Finance (Canada)^[26][27]

★ Martin Cauchon (1962- ). Minister of Justice (Canada) and Attorney General of Canada, 2002-2003 ; Minister of National Revenue (Canada), 1999-2002^[28]

References

1. The 30 Largest Law Firms in Canada
2. Establishing a Business in Canada. Backgrounder
3. The predecessor firm of Henderson & McVeity was MacTavish and MacCracken, founded in 1877. George F. Henderson and MacCracken became partners in 1889. [Citation needed.]
4. Can He Pull It Off? The Gowlings Gamble, , Julius, Melnitzer, Lexpert Magazine (May 2001),
5. Gowlings cements giant merger, , Gordon, Pitts, The Globe and Mail,
6. By Any Other Name, , Ann, Macaulay, Canadian Lawyer,
7. Law Firms Raise the Bar Jim Midddlemiss
8. Gowlings (profile) "Gowlings has a long and distinguished history of involvement in Canadian public policy, having acted for decades on behalf of governments, private sector interests and public interest organizations on a wide variety of issues. ... As the largest and one of the longest-established law offices in Canada's capital, Gowlings Ottawa is a leading provider of legal and other advocacy services at the federal level."
9. The Seven Sisters, , John Alexander, Black, Lexpert Magazine,
10. Can He Pull It Off? The Gowlings Gamble, , Julius, Melnitzer, Lexpert Magazine (May 2001),
11. Corporate Work
12. The Chambers Global Guide. Canada. Intellectual Property
13. Gowlings (profile)
14. Gowlings. Firm Overview
15. CBA Past Presidents
16. Past Chancellors of the University
17. CBA Past Presidents
18. McMurtry's pro bono crusade Jacquie McNish
19. Hnatyshyn named Chancellor
20. Justice deCarteret Cory, Ian Scott, and Mel Lastman to receive honorary degrees from York University Mary Ann Horgan
21. Can He Pull It Off? The Gowlings Gamble, , Julius, Melnitzer, Lexpert Magazine, "''The Oil and Gas Lease in Canada'' by senior partner John Ballem, Q.C., is considered the definitive text in this practice area."
22. John Ballem
23. Canada: Patent
24. Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada
25. Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada
26. All Eyes On Ottawa's Next Move
27. World Tax 2006. Canada Commentary
28. Martin Cauchon receives CBA SOGIC Ally Award

External links

★ Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP Web Site

See also

★ List of Bay Street law firms