Margaret Waddell, one of the founders of the Toronto law firm Waddell Phillips PC, on Dec 12. She founded the boutique commercial and civil litigation firm in 2017 with John K. Phillips and Julia Tremain.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Legal Moves is a monthly roundup of job changes at Canada’s law firms.
Prominent class-action litigator Margaret Waddell is leaving the law firm she co-founded more than seven years ago to join Sotos LLP.
Ms. Waddell, who is known for taking on high-profile, social-justice cases involving allegations of institutional wrongdoing, said leaving a firm that has her name on the wall was a difficult choice, but she was attracted to the talent and resources that Sotos could offer.
“It was not an easy decision to make. But at the end of the day, what’s most important to me is what’s best for the people that I’m serving: the class members on my cases. And I think that ultimately, I can do a better job for them,” she said.
In 2017, Ms. Waddell joined forces with John K. Phillips and Julia Tremain to form Waddell Phillips, a boutique commercial and civil litigation firm that has grown to about a dozen lawyers.
During her time there, Ms. Waddell worked on consumer-protection cases, residential school survivor lawsuits and, in 2022, won a $10-million settlement against the Royal Winnipeg Ballet after allegations that a former instructor had taken nude and semi-nude photos of students who attended the school between 1984 and 2015.
Ms. Waddell, 61, said one of the other reasons she decided to move to Sotos, which has about 25 lawyers, involved succession planning given where she’s at in her career, and that class actions can take years – sometimes a decade or more – to reach a conclusion.
“The lawyers at Sotos are a little bit younger. I see them as being the future of class actions. They’ll be able to see some of the cases that take longer to resolve through to the end,” she said. “I figure I’ve got another decade, but you have to start planning well in advance.”
John Yiokaris, the co-managing partner at Sotos, said Ms. Waddell is bringing to the firm a wealth of experience in both class action and complex litigation. “We are confident that she will take our firm’s commitment to delivering excellence in advocacy and client service to new heights.”
Ms. Waddell starts at Sotos on Jan. 1.
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The end of 2024 brought a number of significant moves in the legal world.
Maxine Ethier, a sought-after mergers and acquisitions lawyer who regularly works with investments and asset management in regions such as the United States, Asia and Latin America, has joined McCarthy Tétrault’s business law group in Toronto. Her international expertise includes M&A and private equity, especially involving infrastructure, energy transition and real estate sectors.
“McCarthy Tétrault’s M&A and Private Equity Groups have an exceptional track record of managing complex global transactions across various sectors, including infrastructure, energy transition and real estate,” Ms. Ethier said in an e-mail. “With my previous experience in the real assets industry, combined with the firm’s renowned industry expertise, we are uniquely positioned to help clients achieve successful outcomes.”
In November, Bennett Jones announced that pension lawyer Allyson Marta would be joining the firm’s Toronto office as a partner. Ms. Marta’s expertise includes pensions and benefits aspects in mergers and acquisitions, as well as legal and regulatory matters relating to retirement and benefit plans. She said via e-mail that she made the move to Bennett Jones because they “share the same vision that strategic pensions and benefits advice is a key component of a full-service corporate practice.”
Meanwhile, Gowling WLG welcomed Robin McKechney as a partner in the firm’s white-collar defence and investigations group in Toronto. He said he was attracted to Gowling’s international platform. “In the white-collar space, given the complexity of foreign regulation of money laundering, corruption and sanctions, it is more important than ever for clients to have expertise with a global reach.”
The firm also announced it has brought Al Hounsell on board as the national director of AI, innovation and knowledge in Canada. He had previously served as director of strategic innovation at Norton Rose Fulbright. “I made the move due to the strong desire of Gowlings to invest in AI as it increasingly impacts every area of the practice of law,” Mr. Hounsell said in an e-mail.
Earlier this month, MLT Aikins LLP announced that Joshua Krane would be joining the firm to head up the competition law and foreign-investment practice. Mr. Krane, who has a practice ranging from regulatory matters and high-stakes commercial disputes to advertising law involving digital marketing and foreign investment law, said Western Canada is a key economic driver for the country and competition issues have never been more important.
“I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to lead the competition team at one of Canada’s fastest growing and well-regarded law firms,” he said in an e-mail.
At Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Hélène Deschamps Marquis joined the firm as the national co-leader of privacy and cybersecurity. Her practice includes breach and incident response, regulatory compliance, and the negotiation of complex cross-border technology arrangements and transactions.
“With BLG’s vast expertise, I can provide my clients with a broader legal approach while providing cutting-edge strategies to protect and empower businesses in an era of digital transformation,” she said in an e-mail.
Also this month, Singleton Urquhart Reynolds Vogel LLP announced that tax and estate lawyer Parveen Karsan would be joining as chair of the tax practice group and co-chair of the wills and estates practice group.
DLA Piper also welcomed new talent. Litigator Samantha Ip, who has expertise representing clients in the private insurance, construction and engineering sectors, made the move after spending nearly 25 years at Clark Wilson LLP.
She said she felt her clients would be better served with DLA’s national and international platform. Brian Poston, whose practice area includes defending tort-based litigation, as well as operational and risk management issues – particularly involving the aviation and the aerospace industry – also joined the firm.
Meanwhile, Pierre Fitzgibbon, Quebec’s former minister for economy, innovation and energy, is joining Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP as a special adviser.