WeirFoulds LLP
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| Company type | Limited Liability Partnership |
|---|---|
| Industry | Law |
| Founded | 1860 in Toronto |
| Headquarters | Toronto , |
| Services | Legal services |
Number of employees | c. 225 |
| Website | http://www.weirfoulds.com |
WeirFoulds LLP, a Canadian law firm based in Toronto, has been a continuous partnership since 1870 and is the oldest law firm in Canada. The firm specializes in litigation, corporate, property and government law. The firm has consistently been ranked in the Canadian Lawyer top 10 of central Canada's leading regional law firms and is recognized as a leading firm in key industry directories.[1]
History
In 1860, Theodore H. Spencer, LL.B., began his practice and opened the firm’s first office at 20 Toronto Street, site of the Masonic Temple, built in 1858 by William Kaufman.[2]
WeirFoulds is deeply rooted in Canadian history, stretching back to when Toronto became the industrial center of Ontario in the late 1800s. The firm was founded initially as Spencer and MacDonald, now WeirFoulds LLP, and has been a continuous, Toronto-based partnership since 1870.[3] The firm is currently located in the Exchange Tower, at 130 King Street West, in Toronto, Ontario.
In 1883, partner John Rose became the first of 13 lawyers from the firm to be appointed as a federal judge, in the court of Common Pleas.[4] Eight of these judges were appointed to courts of appeal in Canada, including the Supreme Court of Canada.
A number of other WeirFoulds partners became judges.[5] These include former Ontario Chief Justice George Alexander Gale; former SCC justice Roy Kellock; former Ontario Court of Appeal justices John Arnup, who was also a treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada, James Carthy and Allan McNiece Austin; Nova Scotia Appeal Court Justice Thomas Cromwell (Canadian jurist); and Ontario Superior Court justices Joan Lax and Paul Perell.
In 1966, the firm prevailed in Leitch Gold Mines v. Texas Gulf, a dispute over vast mineral wealth. At the time, it was the longest civil trial in Commonwealth history.[6] The firm’s corporate practice developed from representing WeirFoulds represented the T. Eaton Company in 1920 to develop what was then the largest department store in Canada, beginning a long relationship with the company that lead the firm, in 1965, to act on its behalf to assemble the land for the Eaton Centre in Toronto, the largest urban redevelopment project in Canada at the time.
The current managing partner of WeirFoulds, Lisa Borsook, is one of the few women managing partners of any of Canada’s major law firms.[7] WeirFoulds lawyers also author or edit leading legal reference works, including Electronic Documents: Records Management, e-Discovery and Trial, published by Canada Law Book; Ontario Annual Practice and Ontario Planning Practice published by Canada Law Book; The Ontario Municipal Act: A User's Manual, published by Thomson Carswell; Ontario's Municipal Conflict of Interest Act, published by Municipal World; and Real Estate Law, 4th ed., published by Emond Montgomery.
Notable members and alumni
- Derry Millar, LSUC Treasurer (2008–2010) (see List of Treasurers of the Law Society of Upper Canada)
- John Arnup, 1970–1985 Court of Appeal, LSUC Treasurer (1963–1966) (see List of Treasurers of the Law Society of Upper Canada)[8]
- Thomas Cromwell, 1997 Appointed to Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, 2008 Appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada
- George Alexander Gale, 1946–1963 High Court of Justice, 1963–1964 Court of Appeal, 1964–1967 Chief Justice of High Court of Justice, 1967–1976 Chief Justice of Ontario [8]
- Roy Kellock, 1942–1944 Court of Appeal, 1944–1958 Supreme Court of Canada [8]
References
- ^ Lawyers.com, at http://www.lawyers.com/Ontario/Toronto/WEIRFOULDS-LLP-1337550-f.html
- ^ Bruce Bell (2009-05-16). "The Bulletin is Downtown Toronto's Best Read Community Newspaper". Thebulletin.ca. Retrieved 2011-11-27.
- ^ City of Toronto Directory, 1870, Spencer & MacDonald partnership formed
- ^ "Former Judges of Ontario Courts". ontariocourts.on.ca. Retrieved 2012-02-09.
- ^ "Former Judges of Ontario Courts". ontariocourts.on.ca. Retrieved 2012-02-09.
- ^ "Leitch Gold Mines limited v. Texas Gulf Sulphur Company". www.worldcat.org. Retrieved 2012-02-09.
- ^ Jim Middlemiss (2007-04-01). "Managing Partner: Managing Success". Canadian Lawyer Magazine. Retrieved 2012-02-09.
- ^ a b c "Former Judges". Ontariocourts.on.ca. Retrieved 2011-11-27.