Prairie-based law firms merge

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/09/2016 (3616 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s largest full-service law firm — Aikins, MacAulay & Thorvaldson LLP — is about to become a lot bigger as a result of a pending merger with Saskatchewan’s largest full-service firm.

The Winnipeg company announced Wednesday it will merge Jan. 1 with MacPherson Leslie & Tyerman LLPß, which has offices in Regina, Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.

The new entity will be called MLT Aikins LLP and will have a combined team of more than 240 lawyers — about 100 from Aikins and about 140 from MLT.

It won’t have a head office. Instead, Aikins partner David Filmon will become chairman of the new firm, and MLT managing partner Don Wilson will become its managing partner. Aikins’ managing partner, Herb Peters, will remain managing partner of the Winnipeg office.

Peters said the new firm will have one of the largest teams of lawyers in Western Canada. It will also be the only law firm to have an office in each of the six largest cities in the region.

While this isn’t the first time a law firm from one province has merged with a law firm from another, Peters said it’s the first time a big one from Manitoba has merged with a big one from somewhere else in the country.

He said it’s hard to say if other local law firms will follow suit.

“But I know they will be watching with interest,” he added. “It’s going to be something they’re going to have to think about.”

The merger didn’t come together overnight. The two firms have been talking at the executive level for about a year and a half.

“This merger is a logical next step in our firm’s evolution,” Peters said. “MLT was a natural choice given that our cultures mesh well, the two firms are very like-minded in our approach to client service, and this move dramatically increases our capacity to serve our clients.

Filmon described it as an exciting and historical step for both firms. It will enable both to service their clients more effectively.

“As the world becomes smaller, this merger responds to an intensifying requirement from our clients to have access to a larger network of lawyers, offering specialized and in-depth expertise to meet their increasingly complex legal needs,” he noted.

Filmon said it was a good defensive move for Aikins, which has been in business since 1879, because it will make it a stronger, more competitive player in the Manitoba market.

“We’re bringing a whole lot more to the table for our existing clients, so that solidifies our position clearly,” he said. “And offensively, we just see this as a great opportunity to grow.”

‘It certainly wasn’t something I would have anticipated. Somehow Manitoba has flown under the radar for a long time in terms of the inter-jurisdictional law-firm concept’– Law Society of Manitoba CEO Kris Dangerfield

Kris Dangerfield, chief executive officer of the Law Society of Manitoba, admitted Wednesday’s announcement caught her by surprise.

“It certainly wasn’t something I would have anticipated,” she said.

“Somehow Manitoba has flown under the radar for a long time in terms of the inter-jurisdictional law-firm concept,” she said. “Toronto firms have skipped over Manitoba and Saskatchewan and headed to Calgary or B.C. So it’s a significant development from that perspective to see a Manitoba firm associated with a very significant firm from outside the jurisdiction.”

Dangerfield also said it’s difficult to predict if any other Manitoba law firms will follow suit.

Wilson, managing partner of MLT and incoming managing partner of MLT Aikins, said the merger is a natural move for MLT, as well.

“The western Canadian regional focus is consistent with clients’ increasing demand for more specialized legal services from those who fully understand their business in this market,” he said. “Not only does this merger provide enhanced geographic scope for our clients throughout Western Canada, the highly talented and experienced group of lawyers at Aikins will add depth and breadth to our merged practices.”

murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca