Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP (Blakes) is an international corporate law firm with offices in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

History

Blakes was launched in 1856 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. In 1867, Blakes incorporated what would become

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC; french: Banque canadienne impériale de commerce) is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered at CIBC Square in the Financial District of Toronto, Ontario. ...

. The bank remains one of the firm's oldest clients. In 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 The Court of Appeal for Ontario (frequently referred to as the Ontario Court of Appeal or ONCA) is the appellate court for the province of Ontario, Canada. The seat of the court is Osgoode Hall in downtown Toronto, also the seat of the Law Societ ...

and the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...

at Osgoode Hall. In 1882, Zebulon Aiton Lash joined Blakes and began building a corporate law practice.Christopher Moore.
The Law Society of Upper Canada and Ontario's Lawyers, 1797-1997
'. University of Toronto Press; 1997. . p. 153–. By 1885, with 15 lawyers, Blakes was among the largest corporate law firms in the young

Canadian Confederation Canadian Confederation (french: Confédération canadienne, link=no) was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Canada, Dom ...

. In 1894, Clara Brett Martin articled at Blakes. She was called to the bar in 1897, becoming the first woman lawyer in Ontario and the British Empire. In 1953, the firm's name was changed to Blake, Cassels & Graydon. In 1998, the firm opened an office in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. In 2003, Blakes created the Daily Bread Toronto Law Firm Challenge, which engages a number of Toronto law firms to raise money for the

Daily Bread Food Bank The Daily Bread Food Bank (DBFB) is a non-denominational Christianity, non-denominational Canada, Canadian charitable organization, charity organisation that strives to end hunger in urban communities. The organisation is based in Toronto, Ontario ...

. T In 2012, Blakes donated C$383,000 to the Fondation du Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM) and the McGill University Health Centre Foundation's (MUHC) joint corporate campaign to raise funds for university hospitals. In 2013, Blakes assisted the 160 Girls project, an initiative promoted by non-profit organization The Equality Effect, achieve a landmark victory where Kenyan law enforcement officials were ordered to investigate and prosecute crimes of sexual violence. In 2017, Blakes launched Nitro powered by Blakes, a program that provides access to legal services for emerging technology companies. In 2019, Blakes was recognized as "one of Canada's Best Diversity Employers" for the eighth time by Mediacorp Canada Inc. (previous wins include 2008 to 2011 and 2015 to 2017). The firm was also named Canada Law Firm of the Year in the Who’s Who Legal Awards for the 11th consecutive year. Blakes was named one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers for 2022 by Mediacorp Canada Inc., an honour we have received 12 times since 2008. In 2022, the firm received the most top-tier rankings by practice area of any Canadian law firm for the sixth consecutive year in ''Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business.'' In addition, the Firm’s lawyers continue to be recognized as leaders in their fields in ''The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory'', Canada's leading guide to lawyers.

Notable members and alumni

Edward Blake Dominick Edward Blake (October 13, 1833 – March 1, 1912), known as Edward Blake, was the second premier of Ontario, from 1871 to 1872 and leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 1880 to 1887. He is one of only three federal permanent Li ...

* Walter Cassels *

Peter Hogg Peter Wardell Hogg (12 March 1939 – 4 February 2020) was a New Zealand-born Canadian legal scholar and lawyer. He was best known as a leading authority on Canadian constitutional law, with the most academic citations in Supreme Court jurispru ...

* Zebulon Aiton Lash * Clara Brett Martin

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Cassels and Graydon Companies based in Toronto Foreign law firms with offices in the United States Law firms of Canada Law firms established in 1856 1856 establishments in Ontario

History

Notable members and alumni

Further reading

References