The Seven Sisters refers to a historical collection of seven law firms with offices across Canada, the majority of which have head offices in Toronto, Ontario.[1]

History

The term "Seven Sisters" was originally coined by John Alexander Black, founder of Lexpert Magazine (previously owned by Thomson Reuters and now owned by Key Media[2]). At the time, the Seven Sisters dominated the Canadian M&A legal advisory rankings. However, by 2006, Black stated "the moniker may have run its course and that some people argue the Seven have shrunk to two or possibly three."[3] Later that year, The Globe and Mail reported the Seven Sisters term was no longer valid, explaining that "as the Canadian pool of major companies boils down to a thin concentrate, the upper legal tier has also shrunk." It noted that "most observers agree the reigning top players are McCarthy Tetrault LLP, Stikeman Elliott LLP, Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP and Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP."[4] In 2014, National Post reported "the Chambers Global rankings for Canadian law firms confirm that it's time to retire the notion that "Seven Sisters" dominate Canadian law firms."[5] As of 2022, only five of the original seven have become national law firms in Canada – the aforementioned four plus Torys LLP.

In 2015, The Globe and Mail reported that the market had changed markedly from the early 2000s: "Elite U.S. legal shops blanket the top 25 firms for M&A, taking 13 of the top spots on the chart."[6] According to Bloomberg (FY 2021), the top 10 legal advisors by volume for M&A transactions with any Canadian involvement were Osler (TO), Davies (TO), Sullivan & Cromwell (NY), Wachtell Lipton (NY), Blakes (TO), Latham & Watkins (LA), White & Case (NY), Kirkland & Ellis (CHI), Torys (TO), and Freshfields (LON), signalling the integration of Canada into the larger North American and international market.[7] The same Bloomberg (FY 2021) report shows the top 10 M&A legal advisors by deal count in Canada consisting of Fasken, Gowling WLG, Blakes, Osler, Stikeman, McCarthy, Davies, Cassels, Brock & Blackwell, Kirkland & Ellis, and Miller Thomson.[7]

The 'club of nine' was a similar term used in the UK until it was replaced by the Magic Circle.

Membership

In alphabetical order, the historical Seven Sisters included: Blakes, Davies, Goodmans, McCarthy, Osler, Stikeman, and Torys.

The American Lawyer Global 200

The American Lawyer 2022 Global 200, first published in 2018, included a total of eight Canadian law firms, excluding Gowling WLG which operates as two separate partnerships across the Atlantic.[8][9][10]

Canada Rank Global Rank Name Revenue (US$) Revenue per Lawyer (RPL, US$) Number of Lawyers Profit per Equity Partner (PPP, US$) Number of Equity Partners Leverage Headquarters Number of offices Year established
1 89 Blakes 669,240,000 1,073,000 624 921,000 279 N/A Toronto, ON 7 1856
2 101 McCarthy 582,300,000 880,000 662 N/A N/A N/A Toronto, ON 7 1855
3 106 Osler 534,979,100 1,043,000 513 N/A N/A N/A Toronto, ON 6 1862
4 109 Fasken 519,300,000 624,000 832 N/A N/A N/A Toronto, ON 10 2000 merger
5 123 BLG 474,120,000 637,000 744 N/A N/A N/A Toronto, ON 5 2000 merger
6 143 Bennett Jones 388,815,000 847,000 459 N/A N/A N/A Calgary, AB and Toronto, ON 7 1922
7 151 Stikeman 363,537,800 772,000 471 N/A N/A N/A Toronto, ON 8 1952
8 182 Miller Thomson 290,433,000 589,000 493 N/A N/A N/A Toronto, ON 11 1957

Canada's Largest Law Firms

Lexpert Magazine publishes a yearly list of The 30 Largest Law Firms in Canada ranked by total number of lawyers.[11]

Rank Name Total Number of Lawyers Toronto Ottawa Montréal Vancouver Calgary Edmonton Halifax Other Cities
1 BLG 795 288 83 155 135 134 - - -
2 Fasken 780 258 29 234 149 48 - - 7 Surrey, BC; 55 Québec City, QC
3 McCarthy 714 350 - 167 87 80 - - 30 Québec City, QC
4 Gowling WLG 698 179 187 86 67 90 - - 38 Hamilton, ON; 51 Waterloo, ON
5 Blakes 652 346 7 84 106 109 - - -
6 Norton Rose Fulbright 640 157 45 165 96 116 - - 61 Québec City, QC
7 Dentons 580 164 33 99 77 108 99 - -
8 Miller Thomson 528 171 - 73 63 42 54 - 16 Guelph, ON; 16 London, ON; 31 Vaughan, ON; 31 Waterloo, ON; 21 Regina, SK; 10 Saskatoon, SK
9 Osler 485 288 33 64 32 68 - - -
10 Stikeman 472 218 9 149 41 55 - - -

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hasselback, Drew (28 March 2014). "Drew Hasselback: 'Seven sisters' no longer rule the Bay Street roost". Financial Post. Postmedia. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  2. ↑ "Key Media – Leading Global b2b Media Company". www.keymedia.com. Retrieved 2022-12-20.
  3. ↑ "Clouds darken legal horizon, Black warns". The Globe and Mail.
  4. ↑ "The law page". The Globe and Mail.
  5. ↑ "Drew Hasselback: 'Seven sisters' no longer rule the Bay Street roost". financialpost. Retrieved 2022-12-20.
  6. ↑ "Foreign law firms, banks moving up Canadian M&A ranks". The Globe and Mail.
  7. 1 2 "Bloomberg Global M&A Legal Rankings 2021" (PDF).
  8. ↑ "The 2022 Global 200 Ranked by Revenue". The American Lawyer.
  9. ↑ "The 2022 Global 100 Ranked by Profits Per Equity Partner". Law.com International. Retrieved 2022-12-20.
  10. ↑ "About the Structure of Gowling WLG". Gowling WLG.
  11. ↑ "Canada's Largest Law Firms | Lexpert". www.lexpert.ca. Retrieved 2022-12-20.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.