Bennett Jones

Bennett Jones LLP is an international law firm with four offices in Canada and one each in Dubai and Abu Dhabi with a representative office in Beijing. It has a total of more than 890 lawyers and staff, including a former deputy prime minister of Canada^[1], a retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada ^[2] and two former Canadian ambassadors to the United States of America.^[3][4]

Notable Firm Members and Alumni

• Rt. Hon. Viscount R. B. Bennett – Founding partner and former Prime Minister of Canada (1930-35) ^[5]
• Maclean Jones ("Mac")– Named partner^[5]
• Hugh L. MacKinnon – Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (formerly titled National Managing Partner) (January 1, 2005-present) ^[6]
• David A. Dodge – Senior Advisor and former Governor of the Bank of Canada (2001-08) ^[7]
• Allan Gotlieb, CC – Senior Advisor and former Canadian Ambassador to the United States of America (1981-89)^[8]
• Michael Kergin – Senior Advisor and former Canadian Ambassador to the United States of America (2000-05) ^[9]
• E. Peter Lougheed PC, CC, QC – Counsel, Member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, and former Premier of Alberta ^[10]
• John C. Major ("Jack") – Counsel and former Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada (1992–2005)^[11][12]
• Anne McLellan, PC, OC – Counsel, former Member of Parliament (1993–2006) and former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada (2003-06)^[13]
• Henry Grattan Nolan, MC - Former Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada (1956-57)^[14]
• Sheridan Scott – Partner and former Canadian Commissioner of Competition (2004-09)^[15]

History

Bennett Jones was founded in Calgary in 1922 with the dissolution of a 25-year partnership between R.B. Bennett and Sir James Alexander Lougheed (Lougheed, Bennett & Company) and the creation of the new partnership Bennett, Hannah & Sanford.^[5]

• 1922 – Bennett, Hannah & Sanford founded. The first partners were Richard Bedford Bennett, Alexander Hannah and Percy LeRoy Sanford. The first associates were Henry Grattan Nolan, Everett James Chambers, Orrin Henry Eyres Might and Louis Carnaby Ross Souter.
• 1928 – Bennett, Nolan, Chambers & Might
• 1939 – Mac Jones articles at Bennett, Hannah, Nolan, Chambers & Might
• 1943 – Mac Jones returns to law from active duty in the Royal Canadian Navy
• 1946 – Bennett, Nolan, Chambers, Might & Saucier
• 1947 – With the Imperial Oil strikes in Leduc, Nolan, Chambers was called upon to help with matters relating to contracts and property law; First office in Edmonton, Alberta, opened
• 1956 – Henry Grattan Nolan appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada
• 1959 – Partners James V.H. Milvain and James H. Laycraft win the last Canadian appeal before the Privy Council in London, England (Wakefield v. Oil City [1959] 29 W.W.R. 638)
• 1968 – Chambers, Saucier, Jones, Peacock, Black, Gain & Stratton
• 1969 – Saucier, Jones, Peacock, Black, Gain, Stratton & Laycraft
• 1971 – Saucier, Jones, Black, Gain, Stratton & Laycraft
• 1974 – First office in Edmonton closed as Saucier Jones Black & Gain Stratton Laycraft sell Edmonton office to Stratton
• 1975 – Jones, Black & Gain; James Herbert Laycraft appointed to the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta (he became chief justice in 1985)
• 1976 – Jones, Black & Company
• 1979 – Jones & Company
• 1980 – Bennett Jones
• 1981 – Bill Britton made Managing Partner
• 1982 – The firm returns to Edmonton, Alberta, opening an office
• 1988 – Margaret Lemay becomes the first female partner of Bennett Jones
• 1989 – Bennett Jones merges with Eastern tax firm Verchere, Noël & Eddy to become Bennett Jones Verchere, giving the firm offices in Toronto and Montreal
• 1991 – Jack Major appointed to the Court of Appeal of Alberta (he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1992)
• 1996 – Firm closes Ottawa office
• 1998 – Firm closes Montreal office
• 2004 – John D.B. McDonald appointed a judge of the Provincial Court of Alberta (he was appointed a Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta and a member ex officio of the Court of Appeal of Alberta in 2006)^[16]
• 2005 – Clifton D. O'Brien, QC, appointed a judge of the Court of Appeal of Alberta^[17]
• 2006 – C. Michael Ryer appointed a Judge of the Federal Court of Appeal^[18]
• 2007 – Kristine Eisdvik, QC, and Jo'Anne Strekaf appointed as Judges of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta ^[19][20]
• 2009 – Firm returns to Ottawa, ON; Steven K. D'Arcy appointed as a judge to the Tax Court of Canada^[21]
• 2010 – Bennett Jones opens a representative office in Beijing ^[22] and the first law office of Bennett Jones (Middle East) LLP in Dubai, making the firm the first Canadian law firm licensed to practice in the UAE^[23]
• 2011 – Bennett Jones opens an office in Abu Dhabi, its second office in the UAE^[24]

Practice Areas

The firm specializes in the following areas of law:^[25]

Further reading

• Saucier, J.J. (1982). The Bennett Firm: Revisited. Bennett Jones.
• Batten, Jack (1997). A History of Bennett Jones Verchere. Bennett Jones Verchere. ISBN 0-9682994-0-7.

External links

• Bennett Jones LLP

Notes

1. ^ Anne McLellan
2. ^ John C. Major
3. ^ Allan Gotlieb
4. ^ Michael Kergin
5. ^ ^{a b c} Batten, Jack (1997). A History of Bennett Jones Verchere. Bennett Jones Verchere. ISBN 0-9682994-0-7.
6. ^ "Hugh L. MacKinnon Profile". bennettjones.com. Bennett Jones. September 30, 2009. http://www.bennettjones.com/people_item.aspx?person=800. Retrieved September 30, 2009. 
7. ^ "David Dodge Profile". bennettjones.com. Bennett Jones. September 30, 2009. http://www.bennettjones.com/people_item.aspx?person=1650. Retrieved September 30, 2009. 
8. ^ "Allan Gotlieb Profile". bennettjones.com. Bennett Jones. September 30, 2009. http://www.bennettjones.com/people_item.aspx?person=945. Retrieved September 30, 2009. 
9. ^ "Michael Kergin Profile". bennettjones.com. Bennett Jones. September 30, 2009. http://www.bennettjones.com/people_item.aspx?person=1662. Retrieved September 30, 2009. 
10. ^ "Peter Lougheed Profile". bennettjones.com. Bennett Jones. September 30, 2009. http://www.bennettjones.com/people_item.aspx?person=926. Retrieved September 30, 2009. 
11. ^ "Jack Major Profile". bennettjones.com. Bennett Jones. September 30, 2009. http://www.bennettjones.com/people_item.aspx?person=807. Retrieved September 30, 2009. 
12. ^ "Supreme Court of Canada Profile for John C. Major". Supreme Court of Canada. September 30, 2009. http://www.scc-csc.gc.ca/court-cour/ju/major/index-eng.asp. Retrieved September 30, 2009. 
13. ^ "Anne McLellan Profile". bennettjones.com. Bennett Jones. September 30, 2009. http://www.bennettjones.com/people_item.aspx?person=821. Retrieved September 30, 2009. 
14. ^ "Supreme Court of Canada Profile for Henry G. Nolan". Supreme Court of Canada. September 30, 2009. http://www.scc-csc.gc.ca/court-cour/ju/nolan/index-eng.asp. Retrieved September 30, 2009. 
15. ^ "Sheridan Scott Profile". bennettjones.com. Bennett Jones. September 30, 2009. http://www.bennettjones.com/people_item.aspx?person=1661. Retrieved September 30, 2009. 
16. ^ Alberta Judicial Appointment Announced - September 18, 2006
17. ^ Federal Court of Appeal Judicial Appointment Announced - May 13, 2005
18. ^ Federal Court of Appeal Judicial Appointment Announced - October 27, 2006
19. ^ Alberta Judicial Appointments Announced - April 27, 2007
20. ^ Alberta Judicial Appointments Announced - November 30, 2007
21. ^ Tax Court of Canada Appointment - April 29, 2009
22. ^ Bennett Jones heads to China - September 28, 2010
23. ^ First Canadian law firm opens in Financial Centre - November 3, 2010
24. ^ Bennett Jones to open in Abu Dhabi - April 5, 2011
25. ^ "Practices – Bennett Jones LLP". Bennett Jones. November 25, 2011. http://www.bennettjones.com/areas_practices_list.aspx. Retrieved November 25, 2011.