Bennett Jones
Encyclopedia
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, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and two former Canadian ambassadors to the United States of America.
Law firm
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...
with four offices in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and one each in Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
and Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi , literally Father of Gazelle, is the capital and the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates in terms of population and the largest of the seven member emirates of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western...
with a representative office in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
. It has a total of more than 890 lawyers and staff, including a former deputy prime minister of Canada, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and two former Canadian ambassadors to the United States of America.
Notable Firm Members and Alumni
- Rt. Hon. Viscount R. B. BennettR. B. BennettRichard Bedford Bennett, 1st Viscount Bennett, PC, KC was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, politician, and philanthropist. He served as the 11th Prime Minister of Canada from August 7, 1930, to October 23, 1935, during the worst of the Great Depression years...
– Founding partner and former Prime Minister of Canada (1930-35) - Maclean Jones ("Mac")– Named partner
- Hugh L. MacKinnon – Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (formerly titled National Managing Partner) (January 1, 2005-present)
- David A. DodgeDavid A. DodgeDavid A. Dodge, OC, FRSC is a Canadian economist. He served a seven-year term as Governor of the Bank of Canada from February 1, 2001 to January 31, 2008. He was succeeded by Mark Carney. On September 12, 2008 he joined Bennett Jones LLP, a leading Canadian law firm, as a senior advisor in their...
– Senior Advisor and former Governor of the Bank of CanadaBank of CanadaThe Bank of Canada is Canada's central bank and "lender of last resort". The Bank was created by an Act of Parliament on July 3, 1934 as a privately owned corporation. In 1938, the Bank became a Crown corporation belonging to the Government of Canada...
(2001-08) - Allan GotliebAllan GotliebAllan Ezra Gotlieb, is a Canadian public servant and author.-Life and career:Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Gotlieb received his BA from the University of California at Berkeley, his MA from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, and his LL.B degree from Harvard University, where he was editor of...
, CC – Senior Advisor and former Canadian Ambassador to the United States of America (1981-89) - Michael KerginMichael KerginMichael Kergin is a Canadian career diplomat, who has been a member of the foreign service in some capacity since 1967, when he joined the Department of External Affairs....
– Senior Advisor and former Canadian Ambassador to the United States of America (2000-05) - E. Peter Lougheed PC, CC, QC – Counsel, Member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, and former Premier of Alberta
- John C. MajorJohn C. MajorJohn Charles "Jack" Major, CC, QC is a Canadian jurist and was a puisne justice on the Supreme Court of Canada from 1992 to 2005....
("Jack") – Counsel and former Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada (1992–2005) - Anne McLellanAnne McLellan|-...
, PC, OC – Counsel, former Member of Parliament (1993–2006) and former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada (2003-06) - Henry Grattan NolanHenry Grattan NolanHenry Grattan Nolan, was a Canadian lawyer and jurist.Born in Calgary, Alberta, the son of Patrick James "Paddy" Nolan, a criminal defence lawyer, and Mary Elizabeth Lee, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Alberta in 1914 and was awarded a Rhodes scholarship for Alberta...
, MC - Former Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada (1956-57) - Sheridan ScottSheridan ScottSheridan Scott is the former Commissioner of Competition of the Competition Bureau of Canada. She joined the Ottawa office of law firm Bennett Jones in March 2009 after leaving the Bureau....
– Partner and former Canadian Commissioner of Competition (2004-09)
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.- 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 MajorJohn C. MajorJohn Charles "Jack" Major, CC, QC is a Canadian jurist and was a puisne justice on the Supreme Court of Canada from 1992 to 2005....
appointed to the Court of Appeal of AlbertaCourt of Appeal of AlbertaThe Court of Appeal of Alberta is an Canadian appellate court.-Jurisdiction and Hierarchy within Canadian Courts:The Court is the highest court in Alberta, Canada...
(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)
- 2005 – Clifton D. O'Brien, QC, appointed a judge of the Court of Appeal of Alberta
- 2006 – C. Michael Ryer appointed a Judge of the Federal Court of Appeal
- 2007 – Kristine Eisdvik, QC, and Jo'Anne Strekaf appointed as Judges of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta
- 2009 – Firm returns to Ottawa, ON; Steven K. D'Arcy appointed as a judge to the Tax Court of Canada
- 2010 – Bennett Jones opens a representative office in Beijing 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
- 2011 – Bennett Jones opens an office in Abu Dhabi, its second office in the UAE
Practice Areas
The firm specializes in the following areas of law:- Aboriginal law
- Antitrust and competition lawCompetition lawCompetition law, known in the United States as antitrust law, is law that promotes or maintains market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies....
and unfair competitionUnfair competitionUnfair competition in a sense means that the competitors compete on unequal terms, because favourable or disadvantageous conditions are applied to some competitors but not to others; or that the actions of some competitors actively harm the position of others with respect to their ability to... - Appellate advocacy and judicial reviewJudicial reviewJudicial review is the doctrine under which legislative and executive actions are subject to review by the judiciary. Specific courts with judicial review power must annul the acts of the state when it finds them incompatible with a higher authority...
- Asset/equipment finance and leasingLeasingLeasing is a process by which a firm can obtain the use of a certain fixed assets for which it must pay a series of contractual, periodic, tax deductible payments....
- BankruptcyBankruptcyBankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
and restructuringRestructuringRestructuring is the corporate management term for the act of reorganizing the legal, ownership, operational, or other structures of a company for the purpose of making it more profitable, or better organized for its present needs... - BiotechnologyBiotechnologyBiotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...
- Business immigration
- Class actionClass actionIn law, a class action, a class suit, or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued...
s - Climate changeClimate changeClimate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
and emissions tradingEmissions tradingEmissions trading is a market-based approach used to control pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants.... - Commercial and business lawCommercial lawCommercial law is the body of law that governs business and commercial transactions...
- Constitutional lawConstitutional lawConstitutional law is the body of law which defines the relationship of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary....
- Construction lawConstruction lawConstruction law is a body of law that deals with matters relating to building construction and related fields. It covers a wide range of legal issues including contract law, bonds and bonding, guarantees and sureties, liens and other security interests, tendering, construction claims, and related...
- Corporate governanceCorporate governanceCorporate governance is a number of processes, customs, policies, laws, and institutions which have impact on the way a company is controlled...
- Defamation
- ElectricityElectricityElectricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
- Labor and employment law and occupational safety and healthOccupational safety and healthOccupational safety and health is a cross-disciplinary area concerned with protecting the safety, health and welfare of people engaged in work or employment. The goal of all occupational safety and health programs is to foster a safe work environment...
- Media and Entertainment
- Environmental lawEnvironmental lawEnvironmental law is a complex and interlocking body of treaties, conventions, statutes, regulations, and common law that operates to regulate the interaction of humanity and the natural environment, toward the purpose of reducing the impacts of human activity...
- Financial servicesFinancial servicesFinancial services refer to services provided by the finance industry. The finance industry encompasses a broad range of organizations that deal with the management of money. Among these organizations are credit unions, banks, credit card companies, insurance companies, consumer finance companies,...
- ForestryForestryForestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
- FraudFraudIn criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...
and white-collar crimeWhite-collar crimeWithin the field of criminology, white-collar crime has been defined by Edwin Sutherland as "a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation" . Sutherland was a proponent of Symbolic Interactionism, and believed that criminal behavior was... - Gaming lawGaming lawGaming law can be described as the set of rules and regulations that apply to the gaming or gambling industry. Gaming law is not a branch of law in the traditional sense but rather is a collection of several areas of law that include criminal law, regulatory law, constitutional law, administrative...
- Governmental affairs and Public policyPublic policyPublic policy as government action is generally the principled guide to action taken by the administrative or executive branches of the state with regard to a class of issues in a manner consistent with law and institutional customs. In general, the foundation is the pertinent national and...
- Health lawHealth lawHealth Law is the federal, state, and local law, rules, regulations and other jurisprudence affecting the health care industry and their application to health care patients, providers and payors, and vendors to the health care industry, including without limitation the relationships among...
and medical malpracticeMedical malpracticeMedical malpractice is professional negligence by act or omission by a health care provider in which the treatment provided falls below the accepted standard of practice in the medical community and causes injury or death to the patient, with most cases involving medical error. Standards and... - Income trustIncome trustAn income trust is an investment that may hold equities, debt instruments, royalty interests or real properties. The trust can receive interest, royalty or lease payments from an operating entity carrying on a business, as well as dividends and a return of capital.The main attraction of income...
s and real estate investment trustReal estate investment trustA real estate investment trust or REIT is a tax designation for a corporate entity investing in real estate. The purpose of this designation is to reduce or eliminate corporate tax. In return, REITs are required to distribute 90% of their taxable income into the hands of investors...
s (REITs) - InsolvencyInsolvencyInsolvency means the inability to pay one's debts as they fall due. Usually used to refer to a business, insolvency refers to the inability of a company to pay off its debts.Business insolvency is defined in two different ways:...
- intellectual propertyIntellectual propertyIntellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
and copyrightCopyrightCopyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
/trademarkTrademarkA trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
/patent law - International Commercial Arbitration
- International trade lawInternational trade lawInternational trade law includes the appropriate rules and customs for handling trade between countries. However, it is also used in legal writings as trade between private sectors, which is not right. This branch of law is now an independent field of study as most governments has become part of...
- Information technology and computer law
- Litigation and arbitrationArbitrationArbitration, a form of alternative dispute resolution , is a legal technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts, where the parties to a dispute refer it to one or more persons , by whose decision they agree to be bound...
- Mergers and acquisitionsMergers and acquisitionsMergers and acquisitions refers to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling, dividing and combining of different companies and similar entities that can help an enterprise grow rapidly in its sector or location of origin, or a new field or...
- MiningMiningMining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
- Oil and gas
- Pensions and benefitsEmployee benefitEmployee benefits and benefits in kind are various non-wage compensations provided to employees in addition to their normal wages or salaries...
- PrivacyPrivacyPrivacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively...
- Private equityPrivate equityPrivate equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....
- ProcurementProcurementProcurement is the acquisition of goods or services. It is favourable that the goods/services are appropriate and that they are procured at the best possible cost to meet the needs of the purchaser in terms of quality and quantity, time, and location...
and outsourcingOutsourcingOutsourcing is the process of contracting a business function to someone else.-Overview:The term outsourcing is used inconsistently but usually involves the contracting out of a business function - commonly one previously performed in-house - to an external provider... - Product regulation and product liabilityProduct liabilityProduct liability is the area of law in which manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, retailers, and others who make products available to the public are held responsible for the injuries those products cause...
- Project financeProject financeProject finance is the long term financing of infrastructure and industrial projects based upon the projected cash flows of the project rather than the balance sheets of the project sponsors...
- Public infrastructure projects (Public-private partnerships)
- Real estateReal estateIn general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
and Property development - Regulatory
- Renewable energyRenewable energyRenewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
and fuels - RetailRetailRetail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
and Hospitality industryHospitality industryThe hospitality industry consists of broad category of fields within the service industry that includes lodging, restaurants, event planning, theme parks, transportation, cruise line, and additional fields within the tourism industry. The hospitality industry is a several billion dollar industry... - Securities law
- Structured financeStructured financeStructured finance is a broad term used to describe a sector of finance that was created to help transfer risk and avoid lawsStructured finance is a broad term used to describe a sector of finance that was created to help transfer risk and avoid laws...
- Tax lawTax lawTax law is the codified system of laws that describes government levies on economic transactions, commonly called taxes.-Major issues:Primary taxation issues facing the governments world over include;* taxes on income and wealth...
- TechnologyTechnologyTechnology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
- Telecommunications
- Transportation
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.