Canadian Law Awards 2022 Excellence Awardees revealed

Winners will be announced at a highly anticipated awards gala on May 19

canadianlawyermag.com
March 16, 2022

The Excellence Awardees for the Canadian Law Awards in the Case, In-House, Firm and Legal Profession categories have now been announced.

Hundreds of submissions from firms and legal departments across Canada were received during the recent nomination phase. Excellence Awardees were determined via a rigorous, expert-informed process. The Canadian Law Awards editorial and research teams reviewed all the submissions and consulted third-party information to identify each category’s standouts. These successful submissions will be sent to the extensive independent external judging panel which will score the nominations against the criteria. Through an aggregation of judges’ scoring, a final winner will be chosen from each category.

On April 20, the Excellence Awardees for all Deal Award categories will be announced.

The Excellence Awardees are listed here and are as follows:

CASE CATEGORY
Commercial Litigation Case of the Year
Alberta Securities Commission, McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer LLP, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, Dentons – Re Bison Acquisition Corp., 2021 ABASC 100 (Order) / Re Bison Acquisition Corp., 2021 ABASC 188

Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, Nathanson, Schachter & Thompson, Torys LLP, Attorney General of British Columbia – Wastech Services Ltd. v. Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District, 2021 SCC 7

Goodmans LLP, McCarthy Tétrault LLP – Cineplex v. Cineworld

Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP, Aitkin Klee LLP - Pfizer Canada ULC v. Pharmascience Inc.

Olthuis Kleer Townshend LLP, McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Department of Justice Canada – Tataskweyak Cree Nation et al. v. Canada and Curve Lake First Nation et al. v. Canada

IN-HOUSE CATEGORIES
The Singleton Urquhart Reynolds Vogel LLP Award for Construction, Infrastructure and Transportation Law Department of the Year
Canada Post Corporation

EllisDon

Greater Toronto Airports Authority

Infrastructure Ontario

Metrolinx

Banking & Financial Institutions Law Department of the Year
Definity Financial Corporation

Intact Financial Corporation

Novacap

Energy & Resources Law Department of the Year
Enbridge

TransAlta Corporation

Canadian Law Department of the Year
Celestica Inc.

Cineplex Entertainment

City of Vaughan

Ivanhoé Cambridge

Law Department Leader of the Year
Albert Lin - Brookfield Infrastructure

Cecile Chung - Samuel, Son & Co.

Denis Boulianne - Ivanhoé Cambridge

Francis Lecomte - Airbus Canada Limited Partnership

Heather Mullen - Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health

Innes Dey - Definity Financial Corporation

Leola Pon - Toronto District School Board

Law Department Innovation Award
Enbridge

Ivanhoé Cambridge

Sun Life

FIRM CATEGORIES
IP Boutique Law Firm of the Year
Oyen Wiggs Green & Mutala LLP

Smart & Biggar LLP

Litigation & Dispute Resolution Boutique Law Firm of the Year
Branch MacMaster LLP

Crawley MacKewn Brush LLP

Jensen Shawa Solomon Duguid Hawkes LLP (JSS Barristers)

Lenczner Slaght

Nathanson, Schachter & Thompson LLP

Singleton Urquhart Reynolds Vogel LLP

Thomson Rogers

Best Use of Technology in a Law Firm
Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP

Gluckstein Lawyers

Mason PC

McCarthy Tétrault (MT>3)

Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP

Ontario Law Firm of the Year
Blaney McMurtry LLP

Gluckstein Lawyers

PooranLaw Professional Corporation

Torkin Manes LLP

WeirFoulds LLP

Prairies Law Firm of the Year
McDougall Gauley LLP

McKercher LLP

Pitblado LLP

Taylor McCaffrey LLP

Thompson Dorfman Sweatman LLP

Quebec Law Firm of the Year
Galileo Partners Lawyers Inc.

Langlois Lawyers, LLP

Lavery Lawyers

Western Canada Law Firm of the Year
Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer LLP

Clark Wilson LLP

Farris LLP

Hakemi & Ridgedale LLP

Harper Grey LLP

Lawson Lundell LLP

Roper Greyell LLP

Litigator of the Year
Craig A.B. Ferris, QC, FCIArb. - Lawson Lundell LLP

Laura Cooper - Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP

Nadia Effendi - Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG)

Peter Griffin - Lenczner Slaght

Philip J. Prowse - Prowse Chowne LLP

Sarit E. Batner - McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Managing Partner of the Year
Charles Gluckstein - Gluckstein Lawyers

James Speakman - Clark Wilson LLP

John Murphy - Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG)

Mia Hempey - Nelligan Law

Robert Seidel, Q.C.‎ - DLA Piper (Canada) LLP

Stephanie Vaccari - Baker McKenzie

Tom Curry - Lenczner Slaght

LEGAL PROFESSION CATEGORIES
The Bereskin & Parr Award for Diversity Initiative of the Year
Aird & Berlis LLP - The ABDI Educational Curriculum

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG) - LGBTQ2s+ Firm Hop

Dentons Canada LLP - Indigenous inclusion: Foundations for reconciliation

Harper Grey LLP - Life in Law (LiL)

TD Bank - TD Bank Diversity Initiatives 2021

The Lincoln Alexander School of Law Award for Shaping the Future
Gale Law Professional Corporation

Jamieson Law

Lenczner Slaght

McCarthy Tétrault LLP

The Gowling WLG Award for Female Trailblazer of the Year (In House Counsel)
Lilac Bosma - HSBC Bank Canada

Lara Speirs - Randstad Canada

Kate Salter - Ryerson University

Jane Langford - TD Bank

The Gowling WLG Award for Female Trailblazer of the Year (Private Practice)
Karen Perron - Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG)

Danielle Bisnar - Cavalluzzo LLP

Ena Chadha - Ethical Associates Inc.

Ashlee Froese - Froese Law

Kim Jakeman, QC - Harper Grey LLP

Sana Halwani - Lenczner Slaght

Yola Ventresca - Lerners LLP

Sherry Fitzsimmons, Q.C. - McDougall Gauley LLP

Lindsay Charles - McLeish Orlando Lawyers LLP

Molly Reynolds - Torys LLP

Pro Bono Initiative of the Year
Access Pro Bono BC - Virtual Family Mediation Project

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG) / Landings LLP - Initiative to support evacuations from Afghanistan

Dentons Canada LLP - Galloway v A.B, 2019 BCSC 395

DLA Piper (Canada) LLP - The Black and Indigenous Business Law Clinic

Heron Law Offices - Heron Law’s initiative to help Indigenous people reclaim their traditional names

Taylor McCaffrey LLP - Manitoba families challenge Family Maintenance Act for LGBTQ2S+ discrimination