2020 Winners & Excellence Awardees

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If you or your firm contributed to any of the finalist deals below and deserve credit for your participation, or if you have been incorrectly noted, please contact [email protected].

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DEAL AND CASE AWARDS

FIRM AWARDS

IN-HOUSE AWARDS

LEGAL PROFESSION AWARDS

DEAL AND CASE AWARDS

Capital Markets Deal of the Year

TransAlta strategic Partnership with Brookfield

Firms
Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Stikeman Elliott LLP, Torys LLP

Organizations
Brookfield Asset Management; TransAlta Corporation

Banks
CIBC World Markets, Inc., RBC Global Asset Management

Excellence Awardees
Aquilini/Enthusiast Merger
Firms
Minden Gross LLP, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP, Stikeman Elliott LLP

Accountants
MNP LLP, Segal LLP

BMO Sustainability Bond
Organizations
BMO Financial Group, Sustainalytics

Home Trust Company Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Trust Program
Firms
Lavery de Billy LLP, Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP, Torys LLP

Banks
BMO Capital Markets, BofA Securities, RBC Capital Markets

Katanga Rights Offering
Firms
Bennett Jones LLP, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Keyera Hybrid Notes Offering
Firms
Dentons Canada LLP, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP

Banks
AltaCorp Capital Inc., BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., CIBC, Citigroup Global Markets Canada Inc., MUFG Securities (Canada), Ltd., National Bank Financial Inc., Peters & Co. Limited, RBC, Scotia Capital Inc., TD Securities Inc.

Lightspeed POS IPO
Firms
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Stikeman Elliott LLP

Infrastructure & Projects Deal of the Year

Wataynikaneyap Transmission Project

Firms
Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, McCarthy Tétrault LLP, McMillan LLP, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Stikeman Elliott LLP, Torys LLP

Organization
Ministry of the Attorney General

Banks
CIBC, National Bank of Canada, RBC, Scotiabank, TD Bank

Excellence Awardees
Brookfield Buys Enbridge's Natural Gas Business
Firms
Kirkland and Ellis LLP, Latham & Watkins LLP, McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Torys LLP

Banks
Credit Suisse Group, HSBC, RBC Capital Markets Inc.

Pembina Pipeline’s Acquisition of Kinder Morgan
Firms
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, Goodmans LLP, Latham & Watkins LLP, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Stikeman Elliott LLP

SNC-Lavalin Sells Interest in 407
Firms
McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP, Stikeman Elliott LLP

TD Greystone, IST3 Infrastruktur and Seven Indigenous Communities Acquire Alberta PowerLine
Firms
Alberta Counsel, Bennett Jones LLP, Biamonte LLP, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, Dentons Canada LLP, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, George Lepine Professional Corporation, Main Street Law, McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Olthuis Kleer Townshend LLP, Prowse Chowne LLP, Torys LLP

Bank
BNY Mellon

Insolvency & Restructuring Deal of the Year

Catalyst Paper Restructuring

Firms
Bennett Jones LLP, Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP, Goodmans LLP, Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP, Jones Day, Lawson Lundell LLP, Miller Titerle Law Corporation, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP, Stikeman Elliott LLP

Excellence Awardees
Clairvest Restructuring
Firms
Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Goldman Sloan Nash & Haber LLP, Goodmans LLP, Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP, Miller Thomson LLP, Torys LLP

Nautilus Minerals Insolvency
Firm
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP

M&A Deal of the Year

Air Canada Acquires Aeroplan

Firms
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Miller Thomson LLP, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Stikeman Elliott LLP, Torys LLP

Organization
Air Canada

Banks
American Express, CIBC, TD Bank

Excellence Awardees
Aphria's Takeover Defence of Green Growth's Hostile Bid
Firms
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP

Axium and Manulife buy Northwest British Columbia Hydroelectric Facilities from AltaGas
Firms
Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Stikeman Elliott LLP

Canadian Natural Acquires Devon Canada Assets
Firms
Bennett Jones LLP, Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP

Digital Colony Buys Cogeco Peer
Firms
McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Miller Thomson LLP, Stikeman Elliott LLP

First Air and Canadian North Merge
Firms
Bennett Jones LLP, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP

Osisko Mining Reverse Takeover of Chantrell Ventures
Firms
Bennett Jones LLP, Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP, Peterson McVicar LLP

The Stars Group Combine with Flutter Entertainment
Firms
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Stikeman Elliott LLP

Private Equity Deal of the Year

BC Partners Buys GardaWorld

Firms
McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Stikeman Elliott LLP, Séguin Racine, Attorneys

Excellence Awardees
CCMP Purchase of BGIS From Brookfield
Firms
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Latham & Watkins LLP, McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Ropes & Gray LLP, Stikeman Elliott LLP, Torys LLP

Organization
BGIS Global Integrated Solutions

Accountants
Alvarez and Marsal, Deloitte LLP, Ernst & Young LLP, Wilmington Trust

Banks
Bank of Montreal, Citibank, CIBC, Morgan Stanley

Onex Acquires WestJet
Firms
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP‎, Dentons Canada LLP, DLA Piper (Canada) LLP, Goodmans LLP, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP

Sale of Canada's Shares in Ridley Terminals
Firms
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, Goodmans LLP, Latham & Watkins LLP, Lawson Lundell LLP, McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Stikeman Elliott LLP

Bank
Macquarie Capital Markets Canada Ltd.

Cross Border Deal of the Year

Newmont Acquires Goldcorp/Newmont Barrick Joint Venture

Firms
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP‎, Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Goodmans LLP, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

Excellence Awardees
Brookfield Acquires Genworth
Firms
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, Goodmans LLP, McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Stikeman Elliott LLP, Torys LLP

Banks
Bank of Montreal, CIBC, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Lazard Frères & Co. LLC, National Bank of Canada, RBC, Scotiabank, TD Bank

Canopy Acquires Acreage
Firms
Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, DLA Piper (Canada) LLP, McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Stikeman Elliott LLP

Dream Global Sale to Blackstone
Firms
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Goodmans LLP, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

Hasbro Acquires Entertainment One
Firms
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Stikeman Elliott LLP

Class Action Team of the Year

Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP - Federal Indian Day School Class Action

Excellence Awardees
Bennett Jones LLP - Das v. George Weston Limited

Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP - TELUS Communications Inc. v. Wellman

Koskie Minsky LLP, Raven, Cameron, Ballantyne & Yazbeck LLP, Wagners Law Firm, Acheson Sweeney Foley Sahota LLP, Quessy Henry St-Hilaire, avocats - Sherry Heyder v. The Attorney General of Canada and Larry Beattie v. The Attorney General of Canada

McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Koskie Minsky LLP - Reddock v. Canada (Attorney General)

Torys LLP - Saurette v. AstraZeneca Canada Inc.

Commercial Litigation Team of the Year

McCarthy Tétrault LLP - Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v. Vavilov, and the dual appeal in Bell Canada v. Canada (Attorney General)

Excellence Awardees
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP - Canada Post Corp v. Canadian Union of Postal Workers

Lenczner Slaght Royce Smith Griffin LLP - Third Eye Capital Corporation v. Resources Dianor Inc./Dianor Resources Inc.

Nathanson, Schachter & Thompson LLP - Concord Pacific Acquisitions Inc. v. Oei

Torys LLP - Ituna Investment LP v. Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. and Mosten Investment LP v. Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

Torys LLP - Ontario First Nations (2008) Limited Partnership v. Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation

Canadian Deal of the Year

Newmont acquires Goldcorp/Newmont Barrick joint venture

Firms
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Goodmans LLP, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

Excellence Awardees
Air Canada acquires Aeroplan
Firms
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Miller Thomson LLP, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Stikeman Elliott LLP, Torys LLP

Organization
Air Canada

Banks
American Express, CIBC, TD Bank

BC Partners buys GardaWorld
Firms
McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Stikeman Elliott LLP, Séguin Racine, Attorneys

Catalyst Paper restructuring
Firms
Bennett Jones LLP, Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP, Goodmans LLP, Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP, Jones Day, Lawson Lundell LLP, Miller Titerle Law Corporation, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP, Stikeman Elliott LLP

Paulson & Co. Replaces Detour Gold's Board
Firms
Goodmans LLP, McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP

TransAlta strategic Partnership with Brookfield
Firms
Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Stikeman Elliott LLP, Torys LLP

Organizations
Brookfield Asset Management; TransAlta Corporation

Banks
CIBC World Markets, Inc., RBC Global Asset Management

Wataynikaneyap Transmission Project
Firms
Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, McCarthy Tétrault LLP, McMillan LLP, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Stikeman Elliott LLP, Torys LLP

Organization
Ministry of the Attorney General

Banks
CIBC, National Bank of Canada, RBC, Scotiabank, TD Bank

FIRM AWARDS

IP Boutique Law Firm of the Year

Smart & Biggar LLP

Excellence Awardees
Aitken Klee LLP

Bereskin & Parr LLP

Deeth Williams Wall LLP

Gilbert's LLP

Oyen Wiggs Green & Mutala LLP

Litigation & Dispute Resolution Boutique Law Firm of the Year

Lenczner Slaght Royce Smith Griffin LLP

Excellence Awardees
Crawley MacKewn Brush LLP

Hunter Litigation Chambers

Lax O'Sullivan Lisus Gottlieb LLP

Nathanson, Schachter & Thompson LLP

Singleton Urquhart Reynolds Vogel LLP

Thomson Rogers

Best Use of Technology in a Law Firm

Norton Rose Fulbright LLP

Excellence Awardees
Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP

Dentons Canada LLP

Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP

Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP

MacKay Real Property Law

Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

Atlantic Canada Law Firm of the Year

Cox & Palmer LLP

Excellence Awardees
MDW Law

Wagners LLP

Ontario Law Firm of the Year

WeirFoulds LLP

Excellence Awardees
Barriston Law

Beard Winter LLP

Lerners LLP

McLeish Orlando LLP

Torkin Manes LLP

Prairies Law Firm of the Year

Thompson Dorfman Sweatman LLP

Excellence Awardees
Fillmore Riley LLP

McDougall Gauley LLP

Pitblado LLP

Quebec Law Firm of the Year

Lavery de Billy LLP

Excellence Awardees
BCF Business Law

Cain Lamarre LLP

Langlois Lawyers LLP

Western Canada Law Firm of the Year

Farris LLP

Excellence Awardees
DuMoulin Black LLP

Hakemi & Ridgedale LLP

Harper Grey LLP

Harris & Company LLP

Litigator of the Year

Linda Plumpton - Torys LLP

Excellence Awardees
Awatif Lakhdar - Lavery de Billy LLP

Chris Rusnak - Harper Grey LLP

Irwin G. Nathanson, Q.C. - Nathanson, Schachter & Thompson LLP

Julie Girard - Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP

Malcolm Ruby - Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP

Sean Griffin - Langlois Lawyers LLP

Steven Mason - McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Managing Partner of the Year

Les Viner - Torys LLP

Excellence Awardees
Anik Trudel - Lavery de Billy LLP

Blair McCreadie - Dentons Canada LLP

Dave Leonard - McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Julia E. Lawn - Nathanson, Schachter & Thompson LLP

Robert Seidel, Q.C. - DLA Piper (Canada) LLP

Teresa Dufort - McMillan LLP

Tom Curry - Lenczner Slaght Royce Smith Griffin LLP

Canadian Boutique Law Firm of the Year

Lenczner Slaght Royce Smith Griffin LLP

Excellence Awardees
Goldblatt Partners LLP

Green and Spiegel LLP

Howie, Sacks & Henry LLP

Oatley Vigmond LLP

Roper Greyell LLP

Smart & Biggar LLP

Whitten & Lublin PC

Wildeboer Dellelce LLP

IN-HOUSE AWARDS

Banking & Financial Institutions Law Department of the Year

BMO Financial Group

Excellence Awardees
CIBC

CPP Investments

iA Financial Group

National Bank of Canada

PSP Investments

Sun Life Financial

TD Bank Group

TMX Group Limited

Construction, Infrastructure & Transportation Law Department of the Year

Aecon Group Inc.

Air Canada

Excellence Awardees
Construction Association of Quebec

Metrolinx

Energy & Resources Law Department of the Year

Pembina Pipeline Corporation

Excellence Awardees
Bruce Power L.P.

Enbridge Inc.

Graymont Limited

Manitoba Hydro

Ontario Power Generation

TransCanada Energy Corporation

Law Department Leader of the Year

Kerry O'Reilly Wilks - TransAlta Corporation

Excellence Awardees
Andrea Cotroneo - Capital One Bank (Canada Branch)

Chris Wallace - Federation of Canadian Municipalities

David Hanick - Starlight Investments

Dr. Christelle Gedeon - Aphria Inc.

Jennifer Suess - RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust

Phil Shaer - Canopy Growth Corporation

The Fasken Award for Law Department Innovation

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan

Excellence Awardees
Aecon Group Inc.

BMO Financial Group

GS1 Canada

Tilray

Canadian Law Department of the Year

Bell Canada

Excellence Awardees
Aecon Group Inc

Air Canada

BMO Financial

Hudson's Bay Company

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan

Pembina Pipeline Corp

RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust

LEGAL PROFESSION AWARDS

The Gowling WLG Award for Woman of the Year

Audrey Boctor - IMK LLP

Claire Hunter, Q.C. - Hunter Litigation Chambers

Excellence Awardees
Barbara De Dios - Canadian Dental Services Corp

Faren Bogach - WeirFoulds LLP

Heather L. Treacy, Q.C., ICD.D. - DLA Piper (Canada) LLP

Jennifer Suess - RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust

Kerry O'Reilly Wilks - TransAlta Corporation

Leanne O'Leary - Cox & Palmer LLP

Pro Bono Initiative of the Year

BMO Financial Group – “Closing the access to justice gap through pro bono activities”

Excellence Awardees
Cox & Palmer LLP – “Newfoundland Court of Appeal decision in Re A.A”

Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP – “Pro Bono Gender Markers initiative”

Lax O'Sullivan Lisus Gottlieb LLP, co-counsel McCarthy Tétrault LLP – “Court of Appeal for Ontario decision in Canadian Civil Liberties Association v Canada”

Nicola Law Group – “Traffic Court Duty Counsel Project”

The Bereskin & Parr Award for Diversity Initiative of the Year

McCarthy Tétrault LLP – “Inclusion Now”

Excellence Awardees
Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP – "Our People First: Mental Health Strategy"

Jensen Shawa Solomon Duguid Hawkes LLP – “Enhancing Diversity and Inclusion in Recruitment and Advancement Policy”

Lenczner Slaght Royce Smith Griffin LLP – “ReferToHer™"

Ministry of the Attorney General – “Bimickaway"

Norton Rose Fulbright LLP – “Achieving greater representation of women in leadership and partnership”

Smart & Biggar LLP – “Diversity Goals: Diversity Leadership & Programs”