“Many of the firms that have chosen to become national firms will not become top-tier firms, but then I have to say that because we have not chosen to go down that route,” says Mark Young, managing partner of Cassels Brock & Blackwell.
Cassels is a prime example of a large Toronto-based firm that chose not to follow those that have entered into mergers to create national platforms during the past couple of years. With 153 lawyers Cassels chose to remain solely in Toronto and focus on financial services work – that is to say top-end corporate and M&A work – as well as developing its local tax, real estate, litigation and media and communications practices.
