Bigger, brighter, bolder: Gowling WLG and ESB Lawyers join forces

In 1995, Gowling WLG — then Gowling Lafleur Henderson — became the first national Canadian law firm to locate in the Hamilton region, and since then has come to advise and act for many of the region's largest businesses and institutions. 

Over that same period, the firm as a whole has grown significantly to become one of the largest law firms in Canada, and the largest firm in Ontario, with three offices strategically located throughout the Southern Ontario economic corridor. In 2016, Gowling WLG became a truly global firm by merging with the UK's Wragge Lawrence Graham. 

Locally, we are harnessing our broad industry expertise and robust global platform to forge strategic partnerships with the City of Hamilton, as well as with the region's key stakeholders, all with a view to unlocking our region's vast economic potential in service of our community and clients. 

ESB Lawyers was established in 1991. Over the course of its 27-year history, what had originally started as a two-person litigation practice flourished into one of Southern Ontario's prestige boutique firms — comprising 18 lawyers with notable expertise across multiple areas.

In 2005, a partnership was forged that would officially establish Evans Sweeny Bordin LLP. In 2013, the firm grew significantly by adding a number of the region's leading practitioners in business law, trusts and estates, real estate, and administrative law. 

Central to ESB's success is a deeply entrenched culture of service — to clients, the profession and, importantly, the surrounding community — that underpins their work, their accomplishments and their relationships with many of the region's key players. 

The rapid expansion of our regional office through the addition of some of the region's best and most community-centric practitioners represents a significant investment in the success of our recent resolve to partner with the region's key institutions, including McMaster University and Innovation Park, Mohawk College and the City of Hamilton itself to accelerate regional economic development and technology commercialization. This unprecedented strategy of regional collaboration is centred on our unique capacity to connect these institutions to our global network of relationships in hopes of catalyzing opportunity both here and abroad. 

Examples of our efforts include:

• Lion's Lair (Sept. 28) - Sponsor
• The Hamilton Steel Summit (Sept. 7) - Title sponsor (featuring a keynote address from Gowling WLG partner Richard Dearden)
• Canada's Innovation Corridor Summit (June 26) - Presenting sponsor for three years

As we move forward with our considerably strengthened regional professional complement and our growing global presence, we look forward to expanding and strengthening these partnerships and the health and vitality of our region.