Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Website: blakes.com
Head office address (Canada): 199 Bay Street, Suite 4000, Commerce Court West, Toronto, ON M5L 1A9
Year established: 1856
Ownership structure: private partnership (LLP), Canadian
Target market/client profile: Canadian and international businesses, pension fund administrators, plan sponsors, and financial institutions seeking business law and pensions, benefits, and executive compensation counsel
Number of professional staff: around 1,500
Canadian office locations: Toronto (head office), Calgary, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP (Blakes) is a Toronto-based Canadian law firm with a national network of offices and an international presence in New York and London. It has practised law in Canada for more than 170 years.

History of Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Edward Blake was called to the Ontario bar in 1856 and soon partnered with his younger brother Samuel Hume Blake. The two built one of Toronto's earliest corporate law practices. The firm operated as Blake, Lash & Cassels before taking its current name, Blake, Cassels & Graydon, in 1953.

From two brothers to a national firm

The firm grew fast in Canada's early post-Confederation years. In 1867, Blakes incorporated what would become part of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, a client relationship the firm still holds today.

By 1885, Blakes had grown to 15 lawyers, putting it in the same tier as the biggest corporate practices in Canada at the time.

That same era brought another milestone. In 1894, Clara Brett Martin articled at Blakes and was called to the bar in 1897. She became the first woman lawyer in Ontario and the British Empire.

Blakes builds an international footprint

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP opened a Beijing office in 1998 and later added offices in New York and London. Blakes also became the exclusive member firm in Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec for Lex Mundi, a global network with reach in more than 125 countries.

Blake, Cassels & Graydon's recent direction

In 2017, Blakes launched Nitro, a legal services program for emerging technology companies. The firm joined the Mindful Business Charter in 2021 as the first Canadian-based law firm to do so.

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP products and services

Blakes offers legal services across several practice areas relevant to Canadian plan sponsors, pension administrators, and financial institutions:

Pensions, benefits, and executive compensation

• pension plan governance: design, administration, and compliance
• pension fund investments: private equity, debt, and infrastructure
• executive compensation: ESOPs, LTIPs, and deferred compensation
• plan de-risking: restructuring and wind-up advisory
• benefit plan compliance: drafting and review of group benefit agreements
• fiduciary advisory: governance protocols for plan sponsors

Employment and labour

• employment law: hiring, termination, and workplace policies
• labour relations: union drives and collective agreement advisory
• employment litigation: wrongful dismissal and trade secrets disputes
• transactional employment: M&A employment advisory

Corporate and commercial

• mergers and acquisitions: domestic and cross-border deals
• capital markets: securities and corporate finance
• corporate governance: board and special committee advisory
• competition and antitrust: merger review and strategy

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP also offers AI-powered legal tools for contract analysis, e-discovery, and cybersecurity response through its suite of proprietary solutions.

Leadership and governance

Bryson Stokes serves as firm managing partner of Blakes and has held the role since January 2020. He previously led the corporate group in Toronto and has served in several senior roles at the firm. Stokes was admitted to the Ontario bar in 1992 and holds an LLB from Osgoode Hall Law School.

Stokes leads Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP alongside its Executive Committee:

• Silvana M. D'Alimonte as partner, Toronto
• Brian A. Facey as partner, Toronto
• Michael I. Gans as partner, Toronto and New York
• Neil Katz as partner, Montreal
• Kate McGilvray as partner, Toronto
• Holly Reid as partner, Toronto
• Susan Tomaine as partner, Vancouver

Geoff Belsher chairs the firm and focuses on M&A, corporate finance, and corporate governance. His practice includes advising boards of directors and special committees on major Canadian deals.

Client base and market focus

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP works with Canadian and international clients across the public and private sectors. Its pensions and benefits group advises some of Canada's largest pension funds, including:

• OMERS
• OTPP
• CPP Investments
• PSP Investments
• HOOPP

The firm also serves banks, insurance companies, trust companies, and investment managers on pension and benefits matters.

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP's employment and labour team works with employers across financial services, energy, manufacturing, and technology. Blakes operates out of five Canadian cities and holds offices in New York and London.

Awards, recognition, and industry involvement

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP has earned recognition for its pensions and benefits practice from several legal industry bodies. The firm's lawyers have also been featured in Benefits and Pensions Monitor (BPM) awards programs.

Awards and recognition

• Chambers Canada 2026: Band 1 nationwide in pensions, benefits, and executive compensation
• Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2026: one of the most frequently recommended law firms in pensions and employee benefits
• Legal 500 Canada 2026: top-tier ranking in pensions
• OBA Award for Excellence in Pensions and Benefits Law: senior counsel Jeremy Forgie (2024)
• Canada's Top 100 Employers (2026): recognized for workplace practices
• Canada's Best Diversity Employers: named 15 times since 2008
• BPM Rising Stars 2025: featured partner Adam Ngan
• BPM Hot List 2023: featured partner Jeff Sommers

Partner Adam Ngan was also named a 2025 Lexpert Rising Star for his pensions and benefits work. Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP was also featured in our Service Provider Awards 2023 as a top benefits and pensions service provider in Canada.

Industry memberships and involvement

• Association of Canadian Pension Management (ACPM): represented on the National Policy Committee
• C.D. Howe Pension Policy Council: represented by a Blakes pension partner
• Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario: past and present advisory roles
• Lex Mundi: exclusive Canadian member firm in Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec
• Mindful Business Charter: first Canadian-based law firm to sign, 2021

Blakes says it runs one of Canada's larger pro bono programs and supports the Daily Bread Food Bank through the Daily Bread Toronto Law Firm Challenge, a fundraiser it created in 2003.

The latest Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP news