law firm
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...
litigation
-
A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...
services,
tax law
Tax law or revenue law is an area of legal study in which public or sanctioned authorities, such as federal, state and municipal governments (as in the case of the US) use a body of rules and procedures (laws) to assess and collect taxes in a ...
,
real property law
Property law is the area of law that governs the various forms of ownership in real property (land) and personal property. Property refers to legally protected claims to resources, such as land and personal property, including intellectual prop ...
, labour and
employment law
Labour laws (also known as labor laws or employment laws) are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship between employee, ...
nationally and globally through offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montréal, Québec City, London (UK), as well as New York City. McCarthy Tétrault LLP is a
Seven Sisters (law firms) The Seven Sisters refers to a historical collection of seven law firms with offices across Canada, majority of which have head offices in Toronto, Ontario.
History
The term "Seven Sisters" was originally coined by John Alexander Black, founder of L ...
. Among the Seven Sisters, the reigning top players are McCarthy Tetrault LLP, Stikeman Elliott LLP, Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP and Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP.
McCarthy Tétrault is the only law firm listed in the Report on Business Top 25 Best B2B Brands by ''The Globe and Mail'' in 2021, and it has the second strongest law firm brand in Canada according to ''Thomson Reuters’'' Regional Law Firm Brand Indexes 2021.
The firm represents Canadian and international clients, including major public institutions,
financial services
Financial services are the Service (economics), economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, acco ...
pharmaceutical companies
The pharmaceutical industry discovers, develops, produces, and markets drugs or pharmaceutical drugs for use as medications to be administered to patients (or self-administered), with the aim to cure them, vaccinate them, or alleviate symptoms. ...
and other corporations.
McCarthy Tétrault’s London office specializes in assisting clients with their transatlantic transactions, and is staffed with both English and Canadian-qualified lawyers. A charter member of the Canada-UK Chamber of Commerce, it provides services in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
History
The firm had its origin in the formation of Boulton & McCarthy in
Barrie, Ontario
Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically i ...
, of which
Dalton McCarthy
Dalton McCarthy (October 10, 1836 – May 11, 1898), or D'Alton McCarthy, was a Canadian lawyer and parliamentarian. He was the leader of the "Orange" or Protestant Irish, and fiercely fought against Irish Catholics as well as the French C ...
was a co-founder. It would later become McCarthy & McCarthy upon the admission of his son
Leighton McCarthy
Leighton Goldie McCarthy, (December 15, 1869 – October 3, 1952) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, businessman and diplomat.
Life and career
Born in Walkerton, Ontario, McCarthy was called to the Ontario Bar in 1892. He was elected to t ...
.
McCarthy Tétrault was created through the merger McCarthy & McCarthy of Toronto, Clarkson Tétrault of Montreal, Shrum Liddle & Hebenton of Vancouver, and Black & Company of Calgary.
This merger was initially denied by the
Law Society of Alberta
The Law Society of Alberta (LSA) is the self-regulating body for lawyers in Alberta, Canada, established in 1907 which derives its authority from the Legal Profession Act of the Government of Alberta.
Its main office is located in Calgary. As ...
, which enacted rules designed to stop it. The rules prohibited members from entering into a partnership with anyone who was not a resident of Alberta, and prohibited members from being partners of more than one firm. This rule was challenged as being contrary to the mobility rights protected by the
Charter of Rights and Freedoms
The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (french: Charte canadienne des droits et libertés), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part o ...
.
In the resulting court case, '' Black v. Law Society of Alberta'', the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the rules. The subsequent merger made McCarthy Tétrault Canada's first national law firm.
Notable alumni
*
Dalton McCarthy
Dalton McCarthy (October 10, 1836 – May 11, 1898), or D'Alton McCarthy, was a Canadian lawyer and parliamentarian. He was the leader of the "Orange" or Protestant Irish, and fiercely fought against Irish Catholics as well as the French C ...
*
Salter Hayden
Salter Adrian Hayden, (May 31, 1896 – January 5, 1987) was a Canadian lawyer and senator.
Born in Ottawa, he received his education from the University of Ottawa and Osgoode Hall Law School. He joined the law firm of McCarthy and McCarth ...
Ian Binnie
William Ian Corneil Binnie (born April 14, 1939) is a former puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, serving from January 8, 1998 to October 27, 2011. Of the justices appointed to the Supreme Court in recent years, he is one of the few app ...
*
Hubert Lacroix
Hubert T. Lacroix (born July 13, 1955) is a Canadian lawyer who last served as the President and CEO of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the national public radio and television broadcaster, from 2008 until 2018.
Born in Montreal, Qu ...
*
John Manley
John Paul Manley (born January 5, 1950) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the eighth deputy prime minister of Canada from 2002 to 2003. He served as Liberal Member of Parliament for Ottawa South from 1988 to ...