here . for other uses see blake disambiguation . blake cassels & graydon llp headquarters toronto ontario canada no . of offices 11 in 7 countries worldwide no . of employees 1441 canada major practice areas general practice key people brock gibson qc chairman robert m. granatstein managing partner date founded 1856 founder edward blake company type limited liability partnership slogan blakes means business website www.blakes.com blake cassels & graydon llp blakes ; is a canadian based international business law firm . it is one of the seven sisters in toronto canada . founded in 1856 by dominick edward blake blakes has offices in montreal ottawa toronto calgary vancouver new york city london bahrain beijing and associated offices in al khobar and shanghai . the firm s international capabilities are extended by its charter membership in lex mundi the world s largest non exclusive referral network of independent law firms with member firms in 160 jurisdictions . blakes is an advisory member of techlaw group inc. an international network of 18 law firms in more than 31 countries whose primary mission is to advance clients interests in all areas of technology related business . the current chair of blakes is brock gibson . he was elected to this post in january 2009 and is the first leader to hail from one of the firm s offices in western canada . robert granatstein has been the firm managing partner since 2002 . blakes also has office managing partners in each of its other offices . contents 1 blakes a history 2 notable members and alumni 3 references 4 external links blakes a history edit 1856 blakes was launched after dominick edward blake3 5 was called to the bar and entered into partnership with stephen m. jarvis in toronto . soon it was blake & blake when brother samuel hume blake joined . 1867 blakes incorporated what would become canadian imperial bank of commerce one of the firm s most valued and oldest clients . 1878 blakes was the first business in canada to install a telephone system that provided a direct link to the offices of the ontario court of appeal and the supreme court of canada at osgoode hall . 1882 zebulon aiton lash11 joined blakes and built a corporate law practice that earned him a reputation as the foremost canadian corporation lawyer of his time and as one of the ten greatest canadian lawyers ever 12 according to canadian lawyer magazine . 1885 with 15 lawyers blakes was already among the largest and leading corporate law firms in the young canadian confederation . 1894 blakes helped start the legal career of clara brett martin10 the first woman lawyer in ontario and the british empire . after articling at blakes she was called to the bar in 1897 . 1930 blakes moved to toronto s 25 king street west a 34 storey 145 metre structure that was the tallest building in the british commonwealth for more than 30 years . 1953 the firm s name was changed to blake cassels & graydon9 . 1959 frankel corp. ltd. v. minister of national revenue s.c.r. 713 blakes was counsel to the appellant in this leading case for determining when a taxpayer has a separate business . 1968 composers authors and publishers assoc. of canada limited v. ctv television network limited et al. s.c.r. 676 blakes represented the defendant . the plaintiff s contention that the defendants had infringed section 3 1 f of the copyright act by communicating the named musical works by radio communication could not be supported on the literal meaning of the statute because in view of the statutory definitions what was communicated was not the works but a performance of the works . 1970 in the decade when canada formally joined the g7 of leading industrial nations and hosted the montreal summer olympics blakes had grown to 66 lawyers . 1979 r. v. chapin 2 s.c.r. 121 blakes represented the defendant . after two trials and two appeals it was determined that the migratory birds convention act is a regulatory statute enacted for the general welfare of the canadian public and its wildlife . section 14 1 creates a public welfare offence and it is not subject to the presumption of full mens rea . 1980 labatt breweries of canada ltd. v. attorney general of canada 1 s.c.r. 914 blakes won the case for the appellant as it was determined that section b. 02.130 to b. 02.135 of the food and drug regulations are invalid and that sections 6 and 25 1 c of the food and drugs act are ultra vires parliament in so far as they relate to malt liquors . 1985 blakes became one of canada s first national law firms after opening an office in calgary where the firm continues to be a leading adviser to the energy sector . 1986 blakes was among the first canadian law firms to expand internationally with an office in london england which extended the firm s reach throughout eastern and western europe . 1989 blakes continued to expand west with an office in vancouver that has since grown to be a leading adviser to natural resources companies financial institutions technology businesses and governments . 1990 blakes opened its ottawa office an invaluable link for clients interfacing with lawmakers federal agencies and the region s thriving technology sector . 1994 schmidt v. air products canada ltd. 2 scr 611 blakes represented the respondent in the first supreme court of canada decision concerning pension surplus and contribution holidays . 1998 the blakes beijing office opened to serve clients involved in the ever increasing flow of east west commercial trade . today blakes is the only major canadian law firm with an office in china . 1 2001 blakes launched its office in montr al a leading canadian centre for banking financial services securities mergers and acquisitions energy and information technology businesses . 2003 blakes creates the daily bread toronto law firm challenge 13 which engages a number of toronto law firms to raise money for the daily bread food bank . in 2003 the challenge raised over c 60 000 . 2004 blakes expanded south of the border to better serve cross border clients with the establishment of offices in the united states . 2009 blakes is the first canadian law firm to establish a presence in the gulf region opening an office in manama bahrain and forming an exclusive association with the firm of dr. saud al ammari in al khobar saudi arabia . 2 2009 grant v. torstar corp. scc 61 2009 3 scr 640 served as counsel to the respondent in this case where the supreme court recognized the defence of responsible journalism against a claim of defamation . 2011 blakes is recognized as one of canada s best diversity employers 16 for the fourth consecutive time by mediacorp canada inc. 2012 blakes donates c 383 000 to quebec s medical industry . the donation was made in support of the fondation du centre hospitalier de l universit de montr al chum and the mcgill university health centre foundation s muhc joint corporate campaign15 to revitalize montr al s university hospitals . 2012 andersen v. st. jude medical inc. 2012 onsc 3660 blakes was counsel to the defendants . the court dismissed the plaintiff s action in its entirety . this much anticipated decision was the culmination of the first product liability class action common issues trial to be completed in ontario . notable members and alumni edit dominick edward blake kathryn bush clara brett martin zebulon aiton lash peter hogg brock gibson rob granatstein references edit blakes listing in lex mundi blakes listing in techlaw dominick edward blake wikipedia listing dominick edward blake political biography joseph schull edward blake the man of the other way 1833 1881 toronto macmillan of canada 1975 . joseph schull edward blake leader and exile 1881 1912 toronto macmillan of canada 1976 . robert brown the house that blakes built toronto blake cassels august 1980 . forster ben ; swainger jonathan 1998 . blake edward . in cook ramsay ; hamelin jean . dictionary of canadian biography . xiv 1911 1920 online ed . . university of toronto press . t.d. regehr lite relationships partnership arrangements and nepotism at blakes a toronto law firm 1858 1942 in essays in the history of canadian law ed . carol wilton toronto university of toronto press 1996 207 247 . backhouse constance 2005 . martin clara brett . in cook ramsay ; b langer r al. dictionary of canadian biography . xv 1921 1930 online ed . . university of toronto press . zebulon ailon lash wikipedia listing top ten greatest lawyers ever canadian lawyer magazine about the daily food bank law firm challenge announcement blakes donates scholarship to university of toronto william hume blake blakes makes donation to montreal hospitals best diversity employer by mediacorp canada inc. blakes scholarship with university of manitoba national post article regarding blakes being named law firm of the year canada by chambers and partners external links edit blakes website blakes recruitment website join blakes blakes linkedin company page blakes facebook page blakes twitter blakes listing in bloomberg blakes listing in canadian venture capital & private equity association cvca blakes listing in chambers and partners blakes listing in lex mundi blakes listing in lexpert blakes listing in who s who v t e seven sisters law firms of toronto blake cassels & graydon davies ward phillips & vineberg goodmans mccarthy t trault osler hoskin & harcourt stikeman elliott torys retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title blake cassels % 26 graydon & oldid 740329229 categories business lawcanadian lawyerscompanies based in torontoforeign law firms with offices in the united stateslaw firms of canadalaw firms established in 18561856 establishments in canada 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 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