Visionary CEO steers Stringam Law’s expansion
Kurt Schlachter’s path to CEO of Stringam Law was more of a winding country road than a straight line – fitting for someone raised in a small town in the heart of Alberta’s agriculture belt. At 18, he left his family farm and moved to Lethbridge to pursue a degree in neuroscience with ambitions of becoming a physician. But it wasn’t long before he realized that wasn’t for him.
Putting thought into what interested him, the law kept coming up. Schlachter attended law school in Saskatoon; a summer position at Stringam brought him back to his home province, and by the time he completed his articling, he’d planted the roots of what would become a
22-year journey with the firm – from junior associate to CEO.
“When I started, we had one office with around eight lawyers and a handful of staff; today we’re approaching 200 total team members including nearly 60 lawyers across multiple locations,” Schlachter says of what is now one of Western Canada’s fastest-growing regional firms. “We’re in growth mode, and it’s been exciting to be a part of that.”
Spotlight
Stringam Law is a regional law firm serving clients through our professional, tailored legal services. We strive to always challenge the status quo – providing uncompromising solutions through innovative methods no matter how complex the case is. We offer compassionate yet assertive representation, treating each of our clients like family. Today, Stringam is a full-service law firm providing premium legal expertise to clients throughout Western Canada. Our firm is unlike any in Western Canada. We are rooted in our rich heritage, but at the same time forward-thinking in our approach – truly UNCOMMON Law!
Company Profile
16
OFFICES ACROSS WESTERN CANADA
16
PRACTICE AREAS
48%
FIRM’S LAWYERS WHO BELONG TO DIVERSE GROUPS, (E.G., WOMEN, BIPOC, LGBTQ2S+)
Bio
Spotlight
Milestones
Media
Accolades
Company Profile
Years of Experience
25
Career highlight
Being selected as Stringam’s first CEO in 2023
Favourite quote
“Luck favours the prepared”
Kurt Schlachter, KC
Stringam Law CEO
From aspiring doctor to full-time CEO, Kurt Schlachter brings small-town grit and big-picture thinking to one of Western Canada’s fastest-growing law firms
Read on
“The idea is to provide a proactive management and succession strategy complemented by a larger-firm infrastructure so we can deliver high-quality services in smaller markets for years to come”
Kurt Schlachter, KC
Stringam Law
Share
Karen Adams
President and CEO at Fundserv
Before becoming CEO of Fundserv, Karen Adams held a variety of leadership roles around the world – and she learned that listening and understanding are key to both providing service and developing talent
Read on
Share
Share
Karen Adams
Career highlight
Before becoming CEO of Fundserv, Karen Adams held a variety of leadership roles around the world – and she learned that listening and understanding are key to both providing service and developing talent
Read on
IN Partnership with
Large-firm infrastructure in smaller markets
Published May 12, 2025
Find out more
Find out more
Subscribe
InHouse
Resources
Events
Rankings
Practice Areas
News
Copyright © 2025 KM Business Information Canada Ltd.
Advertise
About us
Contact us
Privacy
Terms of Use
Submit your move
Canadian Lawyer subscription
Canadian Lawyer InHouse subscription
Newsletter
Digital editions
Authors
External contributors
Editorial board
RSS
Law Times
Canadian Law List
Lexpert® Rising Stars
Canadian Law Awards
News
Practice Areas
Rankings
Events
Inhouse
Resources
Subscribe
Copyright © 2025 KM Business Information Canada Ltd.
Advertise
About us
Contact us
Privacy
Terms of Use
Submit your move
Canadian Lawyer subscription
Canadian Lawyer InHouse subscription
Newsletter
Digital editions
Authors
External contributors
Editorial board
RSS
News
Practice Areas
Rankings
Events
Inhouse
Resources
Subscribe
Copyright © 2025 KM Business Information Canada Ltd.
Advertise
About us
Contact us
Privacy
Terms of Use
Submit your move
Canadian Lawyer subscription
Canadian Lawyer InHouse subscription
Newsletter
Digital editions
Authors
External contributors
Editorial board
RSS
“We’re excited about the future of our firm and what we can bring to Western Canada and beyond. What I’m interested in building extends long term and far beyond my timeline in this role. We’re doing something different or even uncommon, and it’s something I’m greatly proud of ”
Kurt Schlachter, KC
Stringam Law
Schlachter was immersed in interesting work and important client interactions from the beginning of his career. From transactional work to family law to litigation, everything he handled added to his overall skill set. It was his broad approach to law that got him hooked on the business side of the legal industry, which he says they don’t teach you about in law school.
“I had to learn it from the ground up, but it’s where my passion lies,” he explains. “The excitement around developing a strategy, identifying an opportunity, and going for it – it gets my blood pumping.”
Schlachter became a partner in 2010 and moved up the ranks to various management roles, ending up as regional managing partner for Lethbridge and southwest Alberta and on the firm’s management committee. With partners juggling full-time practices and management duties, the firm recognized its leadership model lacked long-term strategy. In 2022, Stringam created a dedicated CEO role – and Schlachter was the clear choice.
With expertise across multiple practice areas, an ICD designation and experience on external boards, and already a vocal participant in strategic conversations, Schlachter was well equipped to drive forward the firm’s vision: “To be Western Canada’s leading full-service law firm, offering our clients premium legal representation wherever they are located, by embracing innovation in all aspects of our service delivery.”
Though Stringam has grown by leaps and bounds, much like its CEO it has kept its small-town roots. Other than an expanding presence in Calgary, the firm maintains “a deliberate focus” on mid-market centres.
“The idea is to provide a proactive management and succession strategy complemented by a larger-firm infrastructure so we can deliver high-quality
services in smaller markets for years to come,” Schlachter says, adding that Stringam has no aspirations to be “Big Law.”
“It aligns with who we are culturally, who our people are, who our clients are, and our commitment to being part of our communities,” Schlachter adds. “We work with small business owners, farmers, families – there’s pride in being part of that. And like-minded individuals are the kinds of partners we’re looking to join forces with going forward.”
A flexible culture
Stringam is a place that takes its work seriously but is also unafraid to lean into its fun side. While a formal “thoughtful and deliberate” culture plan is in the works – around big moves like two significant mergers that occurred in 2024 – it centres around six core values: respect, integrity, teamwork, accountability, loyalty, and inclusiveness.
“We have a balanced and adaptive culture,” Schlachter says, noting that one of the things he prides himself on is the flexibility the firm offers its people. Whether it’s working from home, heading out early for their child’s school play, or keeping a modified schedule because that’s when they’re most productive, “we create space for everyone to do what works best for them without any formal structure.”
“There’s no standardized approach because one size doesn’t fit all,” he adds. “While our people enjoy a lot of autonomy, which sets the firm apart from many competitors, we hold each other accountable to perform our roles and responsibilities to a high standard.”
That non-rigid mindset is also evident in the firm’s early and eager adoption of technology. Stringam’s fully integrated systems allow its lawyers to collaborate as though they were in the same room, with a lawyer out of Swift Current, Saskatchewan, able to seamlessly – and securely – access documents a colleague is working on in Grande Prairie, Alberta.
The firm’s approach to innovation is to stay ahead and take advantage, with Schlachter noting that technology “isn’t an existential threat to the profession, but a multiplier.” It allows lawyers to do what they do more efficiently, driving up capacity to gain market share more cost effectively, allowing them to help more clients.
Schlachter firmly believes in diversity, equity, and inclusion across the firm, from increasing access to justice in the communities Stringam serves to internal policies. For Schlachter, it’s not complicated: the concept is everyone is welcome and has an opportunity to be their best selves and work shoulder to shoulder in moving the firm’s mission forward.
Practising ‘uncommon law’
Schlachter owes a lot of his success to the mentorship of John Evans, KC,
former managing partner of Stringam. Calling Evans the most impactful in a long line of high-functioning people he’s been lucky enough to work closely with over his career, Schlachter went from his mentor’s articling student “a million years ago” to taking the reins from him as CEO – something of a full-circle moment.
“I inherited what John established, and he’s the initial visionary for what we believe the firm can achieve,” Schlachter reflects. “He was thrilled for me to step up into the CEO role because he’s put in a lot of hard work for a long time – both into the firm and into me.”
The overarching message is one of perseverance: even when things are difficult, if you keep your head down and keep moving forward, you’ll hit your stride. And while Evans undoubtedly had a profound impact on Schlachter and his career, the CEO’s success is also attributable to his childhood experiences.
“You get a grittier, more down-to-earth perspective as a farm kid; you develop resilience, pride of ownership, and basic business sense,” Schlachter says. “I’m not afraid to roll up my sleeves and do the hard work. I approach everything from a position of mutual respect and collaboration, and I expect my people to deliver.”
As Stringam continues its ambitious growth trajectory, Schlachter is laser-focused on the right fit with the right people. Those who join must understand that what they’re building at Stringam is bigger than any one person or group: it’s about rolling their efforts into the greater good.
True to his country roots, Schlachter’s door is always open. If his vision resonates, he encourages people to reach out and see if there’s synergy.
“We’re excited about the future of our firm and what we can bring to Western Canada and beyond,” he says. “What I’m interested in building extends long term and far beyond my timeline in this role. We’re doing something different or even uncommon, and it’s something I’m greatly proud of.”
2010
2020
2022
2023
2024
Joined partnership
2010
Achieved ICD.D designation
2020
Recognized as King’s Counsel
2022
Became CEO of Stringam
2023
Achieved Doctor of Laws, honoris causa
Scaled firm by 20%
2024
Milestones
2010
2020
2022
2023
2024
Joined partnership
2010
Achieved ICD.D designation
2020
Recognized as King’s Counsel
2022
Became CEO of Stringam
2023
Achieved Doctor of Laws, honoris causa
Scaled firm by 20%
2024
Milestones
2010
2020
2022
2023
2024
Joined partnership
2010
Achieved ICD.D designation
2020
Recognized as King’s Counsel
2022
Became CEO of Stringam
2023
Achieved Doctor of Laws, honoris causa
Scaled firm by 20%
2024
Milestones
188
STringam Team Members