Blake, Cassels & Graydon
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| Type | Limited liability partnership |
|---|---|
| Industry | Law |
| Founded | Toronto, (1856) |
| Headquarters | Toronto with 10 other offices (Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary, Vancouver, New York, Chicago, London, Bahrain and associated offices in Al-Khobar and Beijing) |
| Products | Legal advice |
| Employees | 1,338 (Cdn. full-time) |
| Website | www.blakes.com |
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP – Blakes for short – is a Canadian-based international business law firm. It is one of the "seven sisters" in Toronto, Canada.
Founded in 1856 by Dominick Edward Blake, Blakes has offices in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, New York, Chicago, London, Bahrain, Beijing and associated offices in Al-Khobar and Shanghai. The Firm's international capabilities are extended by its charter membership in Lex Mundi, the world's largest non-exclusive referral network of independent law firms with member firms in 160 jurisdictions. Blakes is also an advisory member of TechLaw Group, Inc., an international network of 18 law firms in more than 31 countries, whose primary mission is to advance clients' interests in all areas of technology-related business.
The current Chair of Blakes is Brock Gibson. He was elected to this post in January 2009 and is the first leader to hail from one of the Firm's offices in Western Canada. Robert Granatstein has been the Firm Managing Partner since 2002. Blakes also has office managing partners in each of its other offices. They are as follows:
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[edit] Blakes: A Brief History
1856 Blakes was launched after Dominick Edward Blake was called to the bar and entered into partnership with Stephen M. Jarvis in Toronto. Soon it was Blake & Blake when brother Samuel Hume Blake joined.
1867 Blakes incorporated what would become Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, one of the Firm’s most valued and oldest clients.
1878 Blakes was the first business in Canada to install a telephone system that provided a direct link to the offices of the Ontario Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada at Osgoode Hall.
1882 Zebulon Aiton Lash joined Blakes and built a corporate law practice that earned him a reputation as “the foremost Canadian corporation lawyer” of his time and as one of “The Ten Greatest Canadian Lawyers Ever,”[1] according to Canadian Lawyer magazine.
1885 With 15 lawyers, Blakes was already among the largest and leading corporate law firms in the young Canadian Confederation.
1894 Blakes helped start the legal career of Clara Brett Martin, the first woman lawyer in Ontario and the British Empire. After articling at Blakes, she was called to the bar in 1897.
1930 Blakes moved to Toronto’s 25 King Street West, a 34-storey, 145-metre structure that was the tallest building in the British Commonwealth for more than 30 years.
1953 The Firm’s name was changed to Blake, Cassels & Graydon.
1970 In the decade when Canada formally joined the G7 of leading industrial nations and hosted the Montreal Summer Olympics, Blakes had grown to 66 lawyers.
1985 Blakes became one of Canada’s first “national law firms” after opening an office in Calgary, where the Firm continues to be a leading adviser to the energy sector.
1986 Blakes was among the first Canadian law firms to expand internationally with an office in London, England, which extended the Firm’s reach throughout Eastern and Western Europe.
1989 Blakes continued to expand west with an office in Vancouver that has since grown to be a leading adviser to natural resources companies, financial institutions, technology businesses and governments.
1990 Blakes opened its Ottawa office, an invaluable link for clients interfacing with lawmakers, federal agencies and the region’s thriving technology sector.
1998 The Blakes Beijing office opened to serve clients involved in the ever-increasing flow of East-West commercial trade. Today, Blakes is the only major Canadian law firm with an office in China. [2]
2001 Blakes launched its office in Montreal, a leading Canadian centre for banking, financial services, securities, mergers and acquisitions, energy and information technology businesses.
2004 Blakes expanded south of the border to better serve cross-border clients with the establishment of offices in New York and Chicago. The Chicago office is the first office to be opened in that city by a Canadian law firm. [3]
2009 Blakes is the first Canadian law firm to establish a presence in the Gulf Region, opening an office in Manama, Bahrain, and forming an exclusive association with the firm of Dr. Saud Al-Ammari in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia. [4]
[edit] Notable members and alumni
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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