partnership industry law firm founded 1973 defunct 2014 headquarters montreal quebec products legal advice website heenanblaikie.com heenan blaikie llp is a now defunct canadian law firm . it practiced in the areas of business labour and employment litigation taxation entertainment law and intellectual property law . 1 the firm was founded in 1973 by roy heenan donald johnston and peter blaikie . 2 based in montreal at one time the firm had over 500 lawyers with offices in toronto ottawa calgary vancouver victoria quebec city sherbrooke trois rivi res and paris 3 4 and representative offices in singapore . 1 2 5 and a satellite office in los angeles which closed its doors in december 2015 . the firm was one of the top ten firms in canada ; 6 as of february 2011 it was the sixth largest law firm in canada . 5 it became the largest law firm to close in canadian history after its partners voted to dissolve the firm on february 5 2015 . 7 8 the firm closed its doors on february 28 2015 . 9 contents 1 history 2 work 3 past notable lawyers and alumni 4 references 5 external links history edit the firm was founded in 1973 by roy heenan donald johnston and peter blaikie as johnston heenan blaikie . 2 8 after johnston left to become a member of parliament in 1978 the firm was renamed heenan blaikie . 7 the firm was one of the first to expand across canada in the 1970s helping pioneer the concept of national law firms . 7 it also established a reputation as the landing ground for former prime ministers both jean chr tien and pierre trudeau joined the firm after their respective political careers ended . 7 8 at one point the home of over 500 lawyers the firm began to suffer financial trouble in 2013 . hurt by falling revenues from a drop off in business from resource companies 10 the opening of a paris office at a time the economy was struggling there 7 and the end of several major cases at the same time 11 the firm announced a drop in income per partner of 10 to 15 percent . one week later the firm faced a rash of defection with nearly 30 senior partners exiting for more profitable firms . 12 the firm voted on february 5 2014 to start the orderly dissolution of the firm the largest in canadian history surpassing the previous record set by goodman and carr in 2007 . 7 on february 28 2014 the firm closed its doors leaving a skeleton crew of support staff to wind down the firm s operations over the next few months . 9 work edit at the international level heenan blaikie was counsel to the canadian employers council an organisation that represents canadian employers at the international labour organization ilo . heenan blaikie was also the canadian member of the national workers compensation defense network nwcdn an organization of independent law firms in the united states and canada with an established workers compensation practice and experience in defending employers and insurance companies in workers compensation and related actions . in addition to its european and asian presence its paris office served as a foray into the african market . 3 however the firm s activities in africa have garnered controversy as its endeavours there included a working relationship with ari ben menashe from whom the firm has since tried to distance itself . 13 14 past notable lawyers and alumni edit the right honourable jean chr tien p.c. c.c. o.m. q.c. former prime minister of canada 15 the honourable donald j. johnston p.c. o.c. q.c. a co founder of the firm former secretary general of the paris based organisation for economic co operation and development oecd pierre marc johnson frsc former premier of the province of quebec andr bureau o.c. former chair of the canadian radio television and telecommunications commission and current chair of astral media the honourable michel bastarache c.c. former justice of the supreme court of canada the honourable john w. morden former associate chief justice of ontario the honourable ren dussault frsc formerly a judge on the qu bec cour d appel the right honourable pierre elliott trudeau former prime minister of canada 16 the honourable justice david stratas federal court of appeal the honourable clement gascon justice of the supreme court of canada references edit a b heenan blakie llp . bloomberg businessweek . retrieved 2011 11 18 . a b c david j. bilinsky 2009 09 08 . simon chester of heenan blaikie answers 30 questions . thoughtfullaw.com . retrieved 2011 11 18 . a b heenan blaikie gets 4 norton rose partners . law times . thomson reuters canada ltd. 2011 01 17 . retrieved 2011 11 20 . joanne harris 2011 09 02 . canada s heenan blaikie bulks up in paris . centaur media plc. retrieved 2011 11 20 . a b michael mckiernan 2011 02 27 . largest law firms in canada . law times . thomson reuters canada ltd. retrieved 2011 11 18 . christopher guly 2011 07 01 . the history of canada s top law firms big fish in a small pond . the lawyers weekly . retrieved 2011 11 19 . a b c d e f mcfarland janet ; gray jeff 2014 02 05 . storied law firm heenan blaikie sunk by a shifting legal landscape . the globe and mail . thomson reuters canada ltd. retrieved 2014 02 05 . a b c heenan blaikie partners vote to wind up operations . financial post . february 5 2014 . a b madhavi acharya tom yew 2014 02 27 . heenan blaikie closes its doors . toronto star . retrieved 2014 03 07 . canadian law firm heenan blaikie plans restructuring amid defections . the wall street journal . february 3 2014 . bay street watches as heenan blaikie tries to regroup . canadian lawyer magazine . february 3 2014 . retrieved february 6 2014 . new vancouver law firm rises from ashes of heenan blaikie . february 5 2014 . brian hutchinson and graeme hamilton 2011 11 11 . the long reach of ari ben menashe . national post . national post postmedia network inc. retrieved 2011 11 21 . brian hutchinson 2011 11 18 . the unbelievable life of ari ben menashe . national post . national post postmedia network inc. retrieved 2011 11 21 . jean chr tien . cbc . 2009 07 13 . retrieved 2011 11 18 . english john 2009 . just watch me the life of pierre elliott trudeau volume two 1968 2000 . toronto random house . isbn 9780676975246 . external links edit web site for heenan blaikie v t e law firms of quebec montreal based firms ogilvy renault1 heenan blaikie2 ravinsky ryan lemoine fasken martineau stikeman elliott mccarthy t trault borden ladner gervais dunton rainville 1merged with norton rose 2defunct retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title heenan blaikie & oldid 734636273 categories law firms established in 1973companies based in montrealdefunct law firms of canada1973 establishments in canada2014 disestablishments in canadalaw firms disestablished in 2014 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages fran ais edit links this page was last modified on 15 august 2016 at 18 02 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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