Borden Ladner Gervais

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
No. of offices5
OfficesOttawa, Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver
No. of attorneys850+
Major practice areasGeneral practice
Date founded1823
Company typeLimited liability partnership
Websiteblg.com

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (abbreviated as BLG) is a leading, full-service law firm in Canada with almost 900 lawyers, intellectual property agents and other professionals. With two hundred years of history going back to the 1823 founding of McMaster Gervais, it has offices in Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver, Ottawa, and Calgary. BLG is governed by a partnership board composed of partners from across Canada. Sean Weir served as the firm's first National Managing Partner until 2018, and was succeeded in the position by John Murphy of the Montréal office.

BLG was ranked in 16 practice areas in the 2024 edition of Chambers Global, and is known for its practices in disputes, corporate/M&A, international trade, energy, environment, labour and employment, healthcare, shipping, infrastructure and construction, and procurement law.[1] BLG was named a leading law firm in The Canadian Legal Lexpert® Directory, with 238 lawyers recognized as leaders.[2]

Former justices of Canada's Supreme Court Justice Thomas Cromwell, who authored the landmark Bhasin v Hrynew decision on the common law duty of good faith, and Justice Louise Arbour, currently jurist in residence at BLG, joined the firm in 2017 and 2014, respectively.[3][4][5] In 2023, the Honourable Jacques R. Fournier, retired Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Québec, joined the firm's Disputes group and in 2024, former Alberta Justice, Marina Paperny joined as Senior Counsel. [6] [7]

Over the years, the firm has produced two Prime Ministers, an Attorney General, appellate court justices, law school deans, an ambassador to the United States, and directors of numerous national corporations. It has represented many of Canada's most well-known blue chip companies including Hudson's Bay Co., Canadian Pacific Railway, Bank of Montreal, Prudential Life, Alcan, Royal Trust, Bell Canada, General Electric, DuPont and Dominion Textiles. The firm was also counsel to the Prince of Wales.[8]

  1. ^ "BLG increases its global recognition with new Chambers Global rankings for Energy and M&A". blg.com. 15 February 2024. Retrieved 2024-07-08.
  2. ^ "BLG acknowledged as an industry leader in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory". blg.com. 5 March 2024. Retrieved 2024-07-08.
  3. ^ Hasselback, Drew. "Louise Arbour joins BLG as counsel". Financial Times. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  4. ^ Tunney, Catharine. "Louise Arbour takes on UN migration". CBC News.
  5. ^ Arbour, Louise (6 April 2017). "Appointment of Ms. Louise Arbour". United Nations Refugees and Migrants. United Nations. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  6. ^ "The Honourable Jacques R. Fournier, retired Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Québec, joins BLG's Disputes Group". BLG. 16 January 2023. Retrieved 2024-07-08.
  7. ^ "Former Alberta Justice joins BLG as Senior Counsel". BLG. 25 March 2024. Retrieved 2024-07-08.
  8. ^ Dunn, Brian (11 November 2013). "BLG – And now for a bit of history". canadiansailing.ca. Retrieved July 30, 2017.