Blakes is pleased to announce that our Litigation & Dispute Resolution lawyers, practice and several of our specialty areas have once again been honoured as winners or finalists for 23 Benchmark Canada Awards based on our exceptional work throughout 2017. Blakes not only received the highest number of nominations among firms shortlisted, but also took home five awards.
Congratulations to this year’s individual award winners:
- Gord McKee: Product Liability Litigator of the Year
- David Tupper: Litigator of the Year, Alberta
Blakes also won Firm of the Year for the following specialty practice areas:
- Arbitration
- Competition
- Insurance
In addition, Essential Energy Services Ltd. (Essential Energy) and Baker Hughes Canada Company (Baker Hughes) were recognized with the “Impact Case Award” in relation to a patent infringement action. Blakes successfully defended Essential Energy and Baker Hughes. The action and resulting decision represents one of the most complex, hard-fought and high-profile patent disputes in the Canadian oil and gas industry. Essential Energy was represented by Tony Prenol, Antonio Turco and Santosh Chari. Baker Hughes was represented by Dalton W. McGrath, Santosh Chari, Michael O’Brien, Duff Harper, Sarah O’Grady, Brendan MacArthur-Stevens, Marita Zouravlioff and Emilie Cox.
Our lawyers and specialty litigation areas were also finalists in a number of categories, highlighting the exceptional work of our entire litigation practice. Finalists include:
Individual Awards: Lawyers
- Robert Kwinter, Competition
- Bernard Boucher, Insolvency
- Jeff Galway, Insurance
- Eleni Kassaris, Labour/Employment
- Robert Torralbo, Product Liability
- Sean Boyle, Securities
- Mark Morrison, White-Collar Crime and Enforcement
- Michael Barrack, Trial Lawyer of the Year
Provincial Awards: Lawyers
- Michael Barrack, Litigator of the Year, Ontario
- Claude Marseille, Litigator of the Year, Québec
Practice Area Awards: Firm
- Class Actions
- Energy and Resource Litigation
- Labour/Employment
- Product Liability
- Securities
- White-Collar Crime and Enforcement
Provincial Awards: Firm
- Alberta Firm of the Year
- Ontario Firm of the Year
About Our Litigation & Dispute Resolution Practice
When the stakes are high and the risks are great, clients retain Blakes. Our diverse Litigation & Dispute Resolutionteam is armed with the skills and insights required to achieve results that matter. We work alongside our clients through every stage of a dispute — we collaborate, we strategize, and we optimize. Together, we explore every opportunity to shield clients from risk and resolve disputes by the best available means, whether through arbitration, mediation, or litigation. With all of the advice and expertise needed under one roof, we leverage best practices across industries and take swift action to produce a favourable outcome smoother, smarter, and with greater success.
About Benchmark
Researchers at Benchmark spend six months conducting extensive interviews with litigators and their clients to identify the leading litigators and firms. During these interviews, researchers examine recent law firm casework and ask individual litigators to offer their professional opinions on peers. Recommendations are based on interviews with the nation’s leading private-practice lawyers and in-house counsel, and firms cannot pay to be recommended.
