Lexpert magazine features articles and columns on developments in legal practice management, deals and lawsuits of interest in Canada, the law and business issues of interest to legal professionals and businesses that purchase legal services.
Issue link: https://digital.carswellmedia.com/i/1547047
64 www.canadianlawyermag.com TOP LITIGATION LAW BOUTIQUES 2026 they do, and the referring people know the work will be handled well. Q: Comprehensive client service and responsiveness came up often in the feedback. How does the firm structure itself to deliver on that consistently? A: We have a unique approach to file and client ownership that encourages collabora- tion rather than internal competition. This allows us to put the best lawyer on a task regardless of the client, and that encourages a quality of work and result that allows us to compete with anyone in the litigation market. We are small enough that we don't need to formally track origination as a metric. Everyone who is here has a good idea of who brings what to the table, and we find that some of the traditional origination metrics can lead to behaviour that is much more oriented to the individual as opposed to the team. Because we aren't meticulously tracking who opens what file, the person who's avail- able and right for the work can be assigned the work, rather than someone holding onto a client relationship. If it's better for the client to have somebody else do the work, we have that other person do it, and the clients are happy. Repeat clients remember how quickly somebody responded to them, and they remember how they are treated, which I think, in many cases, is prob- ably as important as the end result, though the end result obviously matters, too. Excellent lawyers lose cases, too. We have clients who've had a bad result who keep coming back because they appreciate how we do things. If the focus is on the work rather than on who gets credit for it, the clients tend to be happy. McEwan Partners LLP returns to recog- nition this cycle from its Vancouver base. Peer feedback points to bench strength as the firm's defining quality. "Excellent bench strength," says one respondent. Nathanson Schachter & Thompson LLP has been recognized in most cycles since 2014. Respondents describe a strategic, client-tailored approach to litigation. "All partners are experienced litigation counsel who take a strategic approach from the outset of a file, tailored to the particular needs of the file and client," one respondent says. What's ahead for litigation law boutiques As client demand for senior-level attention continues to outpace what many full-service firms can offer at a comparable cost, Canada's litigation law boutiques appear well posi- tioned heading into the next survey cycle, particularly as litigation risk continues to expand across jurisdictions from class actions to mass tort claims. The firms that have sustained recognition across multiple cycles point to a formula that seems durable regardless of market condi- tions: senior lawyer availability, trial readi- ness, and a scale small enough to keep clients working directly with the partners they hired. Several winners point to succession as the next test of that model. At Hunter Litigation Chambers, Randal Kaardal, KC, points to the firm's own generational transition as proof the formula holds. "We've had good succession and evolu- tion," he says, citing Claire Hunter's rise to a national profile more than 20 years after the firm's founders began practising together, with a newer group of lawyers about a decade behind her already recognized in peer guides as leaders in their field. Jordan Goldblatt at Adair Goldb- latt Bieber describes a similar deliberate approach, developing junior lawyers quickly enough that they can eventually take over the firm's senior work. "The quicker we can get people doing that type of work, the better the LITIGATION LEADS A GROWING MARKET Where litigation fits within Canada's expanding legal services industry Market-size and firm-count figures are from IBISWorld's Law Firms in Canada industry report, published December 2025, the most current data available, stated in Canadian dollars. The litigation segment share is drawn from a separate source – Grand View Research / Horizon Databook – using a different market definition, with 2024 as its most current reported year. Figures are independent of Canadian Lawyer's own Top Litigation Law Boutiques survey. 30% of legal services revenue Litigation was the largest revenue-generating segment of Canada's legal services market in 2024, ahead of corporate, real estate, and every other practice area tracked. 35,313 law firm businesses were operating in Canada as of 2025, up 1.1% from 2024 – continuing a slow but steady five-year growth trend. Market Size Number of firms 2024 $21.9 bilion $22.3 bilion 2025 2024 34,929 firms 35,313 firms 2025 +1.8% year over year · 3.5% five-year CAGR (2020–2025) +1.1% year over year · a slow, steady five-year growth trend SPECIAL REPORT