Heenan Blaikie

The firm was founded in 1973 by Roy Heenan, Donald Johnston, and Peter Blaikie as Johnston Heenan Blaikie. After Johnston left to become a Member of Parliament in 1978, the firm was renamed Heenan Blaikie.

The firm was one of the first to expand across Canada in the 1970s, helping pioneer the concept of national law firms. It also established a reputation as the landing ground for former Prime Ministers: both Jean Chrétien and Pierre Trudeau joined the firm after their respective political careers ended.

The firm had billings of $222 million and a profit of $75 million for 2013, its last full year of operation.

Closure

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, the opening of a Paris office at a time the economy was struggling there, and the end of several major cases at the same time, the firm announced a drop in income per partner of 10 to 15 percent. The managing partners suggested two options, either a major downsizing of the firm, or a restructuring that could split up the Montreal and Toronto offices. One week later, the firm faced a rash of defections, with nearly 30 senior partners exiting for more profitable firms.

While the firm was still profitable, Heenan suggested the loss of trust as the problem as the firm was recently torn apart by "infighting and clashing visions". After Heenan retired as chairman in 2012, a successor was not chosen to keep the firm unified and tensions between the Montreal and Toronto offices grew.

The firm's partners voted on February 5, 2014, to start the orderly dissolution of the firm. It was the largest law firm dissolution in Canadian history, surpassing the previous record set by Goodman and Carr in 2007. On February 28, 2014, the firm closed, leaving a skeleton crew of support staff to wind down the firm's operations over the next few months.