‘We all pull in the same direction’

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Lawson Lundell’s Calgary office showcases robust bench strength and strategic foresight, evolving alongside clients in a rapidly changing Alberta market

WHEN ASKED to describe Lawson Lundell LLP, Shannon Hayes calls the full-service business law firm “thoughtful and forward-looking.” With deep Western roots and a Northern reach, the firm has steadily and strategically expanded from Vancouver – where it was first established 135 years ago – to Yellowknife, Kelowna, and Calgary. “The choices we make are deliberate,” Hayes, partner and leader of the Litigation & Dispute Resolution group in the Calgary office, says. “We anticipate where our clients’ needs are and get organized to meet them.” This approach is exemplified in the Alberta market, which has gone through significant changes brought on by widely fluctuating commodity pricing and a gathering trend toward alternative energy sources, and continues to rapidly evolve. No longer a province invested almost exclusively in oil and gas extraction and related industries – though that’s still a primary focus – it’s transitioning to renewables, financial services, technology, real property development, artificial intelligence, and carbon capture. As the market diversifies, so must legal services – and the skillsets of the lawyers delivering them. From continuing legal education and conferences to case studies and looking to peers to see how they’re dealing with changes, “you have to move alongside your clients,” says Crispin Arthur, administrative partner of the Calgary office and member of the firm’s Business Law, Corporate Finance & Securities, Energy, and Mergers & Acquisitions practice groups. “This transition is rational, thoughtful, and, frankly, led in large part by many of our clients. Our job is to observe where they’re going as they mature, and integrate into that process.”

Lawson Lundell LLP is a leading full-service business law firm in Western and Northern Canada known for our practical, strategic approach to legal and business problems. With over 200 lawyers located in offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Kelowna, and Yellowknife, we are widely recognized by respected legal and business publications. Our experience providing a variety of legal services to a diverse range of clients provincially, nationally, and internationally allows us to deliver quality client service, whatever their particular needs. The approach and philosophy that guide our legal work has been developed through decades of working with our clients and understanding their business and industry objectives.

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“It’s got that unique Lawson stamp on it in that we insist on mutual respect. Whether lawyer to lawyer, partner to associate, or lawyer to staff, it’s got to be there”

Crispin Arthur, Lawson Lundell LLP

However, he adds, nonprofits have been resilient. “Most of our insureds are not only recovering back to their pre-pandemic state, but are in fact expanding,” he says. Parvathy Sree, vice president of nonprofit underwriting for AmTrust Financial Services, agrees. She says some nonprofits, such as homeless shelters and schools, adapted particularly well to the challenges. “Nonprofits with good management and decent financials were able to survive the last year and are seeing the fruits of their hard work and diligence,” Sree says, but she cautions growing organizations to be diligent with loss control and risk mitigation, emphasizing that while claim counts are down and court cases are in limbo, things could change.

Calgary remains a headquarters for many national and international companies, and with that comes high legal demand. This too is becoming increasingly specialized, notes Hayes, who practises commercial litigation and arbitration. Due to parties signing contracts with arbitration clauses that call for the law of Alberta to apply, for example, she sees a lot of corporate work come in via dispute resolution. Another main catalyst for the specialization of services was the bolstering of in-house legal departments. Especially in Alberta, external counsel has become more of a specialized team that gets called in for complicated and unique matters.

“A lot of our major clients who in the 2000s would typically lean on us for everything from soup to nuts have internalized those day-to-day functions,” Arthur says, noting that clients are increasingly seeking bespoke, high-volume, high-value legal services that they don’t have the internal specialization to support. “For example, clients come to us when they need a team of litigators to dedicate days, weeks, months to critically important matters,” he adds. “They look to us for their ‘bet-the-farm’ work.” For Hayes, this is a welcome evolution because it keeps the work that comes in interesting and thought-provoking. “Coupled with the expansion into new industries and ventures, it’s nice to be part of a profession where you’re constantly learning and adapting,” she says.

Established in 1997, Lawson Lundell’s Calgary office “ebbed and flowed largely under the radar” until 2011 when growth – and reputation – began to ramp up. Over the last handful of years, “we’ve seen some seismic acquisitions,” Arthur says. Since joining the firm in 2016, he notes that the office has swelled to 45 lawyers from 11, a jump you don’t typically see outside of a merger. Joining the ranks were groups and individuals from global firms as well as local nameplates, brought together in what Arthur refers to as “a mad experiment that’s working.” There’s risk in building an office composed of people who came aboard with their own ideas of best practices and differing views on who the firm is or should be, but it’s served to create a vibrant culture: while its origin story is different from other offices, the team that’s sprung from it is impressive. “We all pull in the same direction,” Arthur says. “It’s got that unique Lawson stamp on it in that we insist on mutual respect. Whether lawyer to lawyer, partner to associate, or lawyer to staff, it’s got to be there.”

“The Calgary office reflects how legal services will move in the future. We strive for sophisticated, thoughtful work in an environment that is team-focused and supportive”

Shannon Hayes, Lawson Lundell LLP

Hayes adds that she sees the office as a kind of Ellis Island, where those drawn to it bring with them “a settler’s mindset” in that they’re keen and eager to contribute the best of their experience to create something uniquely its own. While a factor for Hayes in her decision to make the leap to Lawson in 2018 was the size and locations of its offices – “It was an incredible opportunity because we have clientele across all industries, are big enough to take on anything, but small enough to know each other personally,” she notes – she was also attracted by the fact that as “a bit of the new kid on the block” in the Calgary market, there was space to step back and think about how they wanted to operate moving forward.

“We’re open-minded, fresh, and modern,” she explains. “We can be creative because we don’t have a 200-year tradition that makes the answer to a lot of questions, ‘That’s just the way we’ve always done things.’” Taking on the challenge of spotlighting the brand was another draw, and the team is seeing movement in this regard: the Calgary office now sits at the table with other leading firms providing high-end, quality advice for clients in a variety of industries. “The Calgary office reflects how legal services will move in the future,” Hayes says. “We strive for sophisticated, thoughtful work in an environment that is team-focused and supportive.”

A specialized team for complicated matters

The ‘Ellis Island’ office

Published August 26, 2024

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The ‘Ellis Island’ office

Alberta issuer financings for select industries

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

Technology

Life sciences

Investment funds

Financial services

Clean technology

Cannabis

Alternative energy

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

Market capitalization of listed reporting issuers

Other Canada

International

Distributions ($ billions)

3.8B

3.2B

4.3B

3.2B

0.5B

2.7B

0.3B

0.5B

2.8B

1.9B

0.6B

0.3B

0.4B

2.9B

2.1B

0.3B

0.2B

0.4B

Not available

2,000

4,000

6,000

Market capitalization ($ billions)

796B

609B

1,196B

518B

3,725B

1,008B

709B

1,484B

587B

4,472B

1,729B

711B

1,714B

466B

5,360B

2,289B

866B

2,054B

377B

6,968B

638B

1,862B

794B

1,757B

321B

742B

6,052B

320B

The forward-looking piece

Lawson Lundell Calgary is currently redoubling efforts to grow its base organically. Its first articling student is now a seventh-year associate, and the office is awash with talent coming up behind them. There’s an alignment that springs from this grassroots effort, Hayes says, as students start their careers together, grow up shoulder to shoulder, and take the existing culture and run with it. “We’re hiring above our weight because we see the value in building up the junior ranks who will inherit the firm,” Arthur adds. “We want to build something that will be here long into the future – that’s the forward-looking piece.” Having established impressive bench strength by attracting top-notch middle and senior practitioners in key areas, the next step is sourcing strategic additions in gaps. Over the next five to 10 years, the focus will be on that critical diversification of the market, lawyers’ skills, and their clients. Companies of highly skilled and motivated people find ways to evolve, and it’s about learning in lockstep with them. “The Alberta corporate world is comprised of highly sophisticated, high functioning, and highly specialized operations,” Hayes sums up. “We’re going to have to work hard to keep up with their needs, but we’re up for the challenge.”

The ‘Ellis Island’ office

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The forward-looking piece

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