These were Toronto’s top corporate and commercial law firms based on the latest edition of Lexpert’s extensive yearly peer survey in 2021. Click the link for the current complete list of Toronto, Ontario’s best Corporate Commerical lawyers and law firms based on the latest surveys.
Corporate and commercial law covers a broad scope of practice areas. Corporate law refers to the rules and regulations that govern the way corporations operate and do business. Commercial law applies to the rights, relations and conduct of persons and businesses engaged in commerce, merchandising, trade and sales.
Most frequently recommended corporate and commercial law firms
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
Year established: 1856
Number of lawyers: 80+
Number of ranked lawyers: 7
Partners: Arash Amouzgar, Tim Andison, Stephen R. Ashbourne, Geoffrey S. Belsher, Theresa Chan, Milly Chow, Justin Drake, David Feldman, Rory Ffrench, Will Fung, Jake Gilbert, Jeff Glass, Patrick Gordon, Frank D. Guarascio, Kim Harle, Michael R. Harquail, John Hutmacher, Mark Johnson, Christopher Jones, David C. Kruse, Vivian Kung, Kate McGilvray, Stacy McLean, Eric Moncik, Alex Moore, Bonny Murray, Tamara Nachmani, Aaron Palmer, Robert Percival, J.A. Prestage, Brendan D. Reay, Kurt Sarno, Cheryl Satin, Aryo Shalviri, Megan Shaw, Alyssa Shivji, Paul Singh, Marianne Smith, Graham Smith, Michael Stevenson, Bryson A. Stokes, Andrew Thompson, Craig C. Thorburn, John M. Tuzyk, Markus Viirland, John Wilkin, Judy L. Wilson
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP (Blakes) is one of Canada’s largest full-service law firms, providing legal advice to leading domestic and international businesses. It has offices in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary and Montréal, and international headquarters in New York, London and Beijing. The firm handles transactions of all sizes and levels of complexity, whether an issue is local or multi-jurisdictional, or practice-area specific or interdisciplinary. Blakes’ corporate and commercial team includes specialists with experience and insight into every key industry in Canada, including automotive, construction, financial services, franchising, food and beverage, infrastructure, insurance, life sciences, manufacturing, mining, oil and gas, power, procurement, retail and technology. The team handles a range of transactions, including transformative acquisitions, joint ventures, infrastructure projects, outsourcing contracts, private equity investments, energy projects and the establishment of new businesses.
Read more about Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP on restructuring in a challenging economy
Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP
Year established: 1961
Number of lawyers: 80+
Number of ranked lawyers: 32
Partners: Frank S.A. Arnone, A. Timothy Baron, Patrick G. Barry, Sarbjit S. Basra, Robert T. Bauer, William Buchner, Devon W. Comstock, Steven J. Cutler, Michael Disney, Richard Fridman, A. Gerold Goldlist, Kevin Greenspoon, Jennifer Grossklaus, Ioana Hancas, Gregory J. Howard, Scott R. Hyman, Brooke Jamison, Joshua Kuretzky, Gabriella Lombardi, Jennifer F. Longhurst, Natasha MacParland, Steven Martin, Peter Martorelli, Vincent A. Mercier, Pawel Mielcarek, Robert S. Murphy, Patricia L. Olasker, Dale J. Osadchuk, Daniel Pearlman, Carol D. Pennycook, Jennifer Prieto, David G. Reiner, Natalie Renner, Zain Rizvi, Cameron M. Rusaw, Joel M. Scoler, Brett Seifred, Jared Solinger, Gregory G. Southam, Gillian R. Stacey, Jason Stapley, Patrice Thomas, Derek R.G. Vesey, David M.R. White, Nicholas C. Williams
Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP (Davies) is one of Canada’s leading full-service business law firms. It specializes in high-stakes and complex matters. The firm’s clients include businesses and financial institutions in North America and abroad. It has offices in Toronto, Montréal and New York. Davies’ corporate group offers comprehensive advice and formulates specific plans across a full range of general corporate and securities issues. The team works with clients to create a sound foundation for any future strategic move from choosing the right business model to negotiating a strategic partnership or major contract. The team draws on its expertise across practices to shape the best plan when clients need advice on important governance or high-stakes situations. It also leverages its strong relations with government and regulatory agencies and leading law firms in other jurisdictions to extend reach and help ensure a successful outcome.
Read more about Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP on when a purchaser can renege on a deal
Goodmans LLP
Year established: 1917
Number of lawyers: 60+
Number of ranked lawyers: 7
Partners: John Alton, Robert Chadwick, Jeffery Citron, David Coll-Black, John Connon, Richard Corley, Dan Dedic, Mario Di Fiore, Jonathan Feldman, Jamie Firsten, Sheldon Freeman, Susan Garvie, Daniel Gormley, Brenda Gosselin, Jonathan Lampe, Dale H. Lastman, Victor Liu, Kari MacKay, David Matlow, Neill May, David Nadler, Michael Partridge, Stephen Pincus, Kirk Rauliuk, Celia Rhea, Brad Ross, Michelle Roth, Neil Sheehy, Mark Spiro, Chris Sunstrum, Mark Surchin, Emily Ting, Karen Vadasz, Jamie van Diepen, Robert Vaux, Michelle Vigod, Bradley Wiffen
Toronto-based Goodmans LLP is recognized as one of Canada’s most innovative law firms, providing expert legal service in all aspects of business law. The firm’s business-related specialties include capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, technology, real estate investment trust, tax and litigation. The firm caters to a wide range of Canadian and international businesses, from start-ups to multinational corporations. Goodmans’ corporate and commercial group handles complex transactions in every significant area of the practice, including structuring financings using public and private debt and equity markets, structuring shareholder and joint ventures arrangements, managing public offerings and joint ventures, providing corporate governance advice, handling acquisitions, sales and restructuring of private companies and documenting the activities in a manner that clearly establishes the clients’ rights.
Read more about Goodmans LLP on Canadian venture capital investment
McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Year established: 1855
Number of lawyers: 50+ (Capital Markets, Corporate Governance)
Number of ranked lawyers: 8
Partners: Andrew Armstrong, Ana Badour, Gordon D. Baird, Eva Bellissimo, Cameron Belsher, Scott Bergen, Jo-Anna M.L. Brimmer, Rami Chalabi, Ranjeev Dhillon, Shane C. D’Souza, Jonathan R. Grant, Tzen-Yi Goh, Heidi Gordon, Robert O. Hansen, Richard Higa, Suzanne V. Murphy, Kabir Jamal, Raj Juneja, Jake Irwin, Justin A. Lapedus, Wendi A. Locke, Ian Mak, Dean C. Masse, Mark J. MacMullin, Michael K. McConnell, Shevaun McGrath, Lara Nathans, Andrew Parker, Lynn Parsons, Jeremy Pleasant, Dirk Reuter, Robert J. Richardson, Sean D. Sadler, Deandra L. Schubert, Jonathan D. See, Shea T. Small, David E. Woollcombe
McCarthy Tétrault LLP is one of Canada’s largest full-service law firms, offering expert legal services to clients in Canada and around the world. The firm delivers integrated business, litigation, tax, real property, and labour and employment offerings through its offices in Toronto, Montréal, Québec City, Calgary, Vancouver, New York in the US and in London, UK. The firm boasts a fully integrated platform, allowing its lawyers to work seamlessly across practice areas and regions, representing major Canadian and international clients. Its multi-disciplinary and deeply integrated industry groups provide contextual advice and business solutions across industries, including banking and financial services, energy and infrastructure, private equity and investments, resources and extraction, retail and consumer markets, capital markets, real estate, technology and communications, and healthcare and science.
Read more about McCarthy Tétrault LLP on the growth of capital markets during the pandemic
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
Year established: 1862
Number of lawyers: 60+ (Capital Markets, Corporate Governance)
Number of ranked lawyers: 12
Partners: Andrew W. Aziz, Joyce M. Bernasek, John Black, James R. Brown, Douglas Bryce, Allan Coleman, Alexander Cobb, Mark DesLauriers, Jeremy Fraiberg, Rick Fullerton, Mark Gelowitz, Donald Gilchrist, Alex Gorka, Brian Gray, John Groenewegen, Vanessa Hansford, Michael Hart, Rosalind Hunter, Michael Innes, Lynne Lacoursière, Desmond Lee, Eric M. Levy, Andrew MacDougall, John Macfarlane, Douglas Marshall, Amelia Miao, Christopher Murray, Christopher Naudie, Susan Newell, Emmanuel Pressman, Dale R. Ponder, Lawrence E. Ritchie, Jacob A. Sadikman, Lori Stein, John M. Valley, Michael Watts
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP is recognized as one of Canada’s top business law firms, advising clients in Canada, the US and other parts of the world on an array of domestic and cross-border legal issues. It has offices in Toronto, Montréal, Calgary, Ottawa, Vancouver and New York. The firm offers its expertise in a range of areas, including artificial intelligence, blockchain, cannabis, climate change and emissions trading, emerging and high growth companies, intellectual property, outsourcing, and risk management and crisis response.
Read more about Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP on managing ESG issues in corporate Canada
Stikeman Elliott LLP
Year established: 1952
Number of lawyers: 90+ (Capital Markets, Corporate Governance)
Number of ranked lawyers: 22
Partners: Donald G. Belovich, Steven D. Bennett, Joel E. Binder, Daniel Borlack, Elizabeth Breen, Eric H. Bremermann, Michael Burkett, Colin Burn, Stuart S. Carruthers, John Ciardullo, Mike Devereux, Ron Ferguson, Ivan T. Grbesic, Ramandeep K. Grewal, Philip J. Henderson, Jeff Hershenfield, Samantha Horn, Jay C. Kellerman, John R. Laffin, Martin Langlois, Amanda Linett, Jonah Mann, Evan Marcus, David R. McCarthy, Timothy McCormick, Mark E. McElheran, Mario Nigro, D'Arcy Nordick, Brian M. Pukier, Dee Rajpal, Darrin R. Renton, Simon A. Romano, Jeffrey M. Singer, Stewart Sutcliffe, Sean Vanderpol, Mihkel E. Voore, David Weinberger
Stikeman Elliott LLP is among Canada’s leaders in business law, serving both domestic and international clients. It provides counsel and decisive advice through offices located in Toronto, Montréal, Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver, and international headquarters in New York, London and Sydney. The firm has an exceptional track record on multi-jurisdictional matters and ranks one of the best in its primary practice areas, which include mergers and acquisitions, securities, litigation and dispute resolution, banking and finance, competition and foreign investment, tax, restructuring, energy, real estate, project development, pensions, and labour and employment.
Torys LLP
Year established: 1941
Number of lawyers: 100+ (Capital Markets)
Number of ranked lawyers: 10
Partners: Michael Amm, Rose Baily, Amanda C. Balasubramanian, Jamie Becker, Ricco A.S. Bhasin, Scott A. Bomhof, Adam E. Delean, David A. Dell, Adrienne DiPaolo, Laurie N. Duke, Tyson Dyck, John Emanoilidis, Aaron S. Emes, Michael K. Feldman, Daniel A. Ford, Christopher J. Fowles, Leah Frank, Sabrina A. Gherbaz, Andy Gibbons, Krista F. Hill, Jim S. Hong, Glen R. Johnson, Simon C. Knowling, Cameron D. Koziskie, Scott A. Kraag, Josh Lavine, Robbie Liebel, Nina Mansoori, Kevin M. Morris, Michael Pickersgill, Karrin Powys-Lybbe, J. Robert S. Pritchard, Rima Ramchandi, H. Graham Rawlinson, David A. Seville, Adam M. Slavens, Philip D.A. Symmonds, John J. Tobin, Richard G. Willoughby, Michael Zackheim, Milosz Zemanek, Tom Zverina
Torys LLP is an international business law firm with offices in Toronto, Calgary, Montréal, Halifax and New York. The firm is widely recognized for its teamwork, which is reflected in all aspects of how the firm partners with clients and collaborates internally. It advises clients in a range of industries, including agribusiness, cannabis, financial services, government, industrial and manufacturing, infrastructure, life sciences, media and communication, mining, oil and gas, real estate and technology.