Baker McKenzie
Automatically compiled listing. Details may contain errors.21 lawyers · Established 1949 · City of Toronto
One of 2,276 law firms listed in Toronto, and one of 462 handling Business & Corporate Law.
About Baker McKenzie
Baker McKenzie's Toronto lawyers advise Canadian, American and other multinational clients on complex matters, both within Canada and across borders, as part of a global firm with more than 70 offices. The Canada team is recognized above all for corporate transactions, labour and employment, litigation and tax.
Around that core, the team has been adding depth in competition and foreign investment, international arbitration, financial services regulation, and technology and data work, including AI and FinTech. Its AI, blockchain and FinTech group is led from Toronto.
The Toronto office opened in 1962 and now counts over 200 lawyers and business professionals. It sits at 181 Bay Street, Suite 2100, and George Avraam is its managing partner.
Clients come to the office for practical advice grounded in their business, whether the matter is a deal, a dispute, an investigation, a workforce question, a regulatory shift or a move into a new market. Toronto lawyers routinely team up with colleagues in other countries on multijurisdictional deals, approvals, investigations and disputes, and the office's phone number is +1 416 863 1221.
History
The firm began in Chicago. Russell Baker, a University of Chicago Law School graduate, opened Baker & Simpson there with Dana Simpson in 1925, and in 1949 John McKenzie, who'd studied at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, joined Baker and helped build the international side of the practice. Before the partnership existed, Baker and McKenzie had shared a taxi home by chance. The move abroad started in 1955, when a Venezuelan lawyer approached the firm about a joint venture office in Caracas.
Canada followed in 1962, when a Canadian tax lawyer opened the Toronto office single-handedly. By 2012 the office was marking its 50th year in the city, and it was by then a full-service practice in which Canadian lawyers practised Canadian law, something not every big U.S. firm with a presence here offered.
Practice areas
Business & Corporate Law
Civil Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Intellectual Property
Bankruptcy & Insolvency
Real Estate Law
Corporate transactions and capital markets
David Palumbo chairs the Corporate Transactions Practice Group in Toronto and acts for dealers in securities, institutional investors, and public as well as private companies in fields like healthcare and life sciences, tech, gaming and mining, including special committees and foreign buyers on go-private deals and foreign companies setting up in Canada. Carole Turcotte has substantial experience with mining companies and an investment funds practice serving fund managers, pension funds and insurance groups. Recent Canadian mandates include TMX Group's proposed purchase of Cboe Australia, alongside its Cboe Canada acquisition.
Trials, appeals and arbitration
George Avraam has led appeals and reviews in Ontario's Divisional Court and Court of Appeal, the Federal Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada, with a practice that takes in cross-border commercial disputes, fraud and fiduciary claims, and shareholder and partnership conflicts. Avraam was lead counsel to McMaster University in Michalski, 2022 ONSC 2625, where the court turned away a challenge to McMaster's mandatory vaccine policy. Brendan O'Grady's arbitration clients have included Fortune 500, private and state-owned businesses, in arbitrations seated in Canada and elsewhere.
Our guide: Litigation and Dispute Resolution in Toronto
IP litigation and IP assets
The Toronto IP litigation group, which Chambers ranks, was built by Jim Holloway, who still leads it. Holloway's own work covers trademark, copyright, patent and trade secret disputes, anti-counterfeiting and grey market matters, and questions about building and using AI models, and away from litigation it extends to developing, protecting and earning revenue from intellectual property.
Labour and employment
Jennifer Bernardo represents clients in labour, employment and corporate/commercial matters before administrative tribunals, labour arbitrators and every level of Ontario court. Bernardo also investigates and advises on workplace issues such as accommodation, harassment and discrimination, collective bargaining and reductions in force, and co-wrote the fourth edition of the Employment Contracts Handbook.
Tax controversy, planning and indirect tax
Jacques Bernier leads the firm's Canadian tax practice, resolving clients' Canadian tax controversies and litigating them in court. Emmanuel Sala is both a lawyer and a chartered professional accountant, with recent work centred on OECD BEPS measures in Canada such as the Global Minimum Tax Act and the EIFEL rules, while Bryan Horrigan concentrates on GST/HST, PST and other indirect taxes, mainly for high-tech and e-commerce businesses.
Good to know
Wheelchair accessible
By appointmentReported cases
-
Krishnamoorthy v. Olympus Canada Inc., 2017 ONCA 873
The court held that Olympus Canada's offer of employment was consideration for the termination clause, allowed the employer's appeal, set aside the summary judgment and sent the action to trial. George Avraam and Jeremy Hann acted for Olympus Canada, the appellant, and the Supreme Court of Canada later denied leave to appeal.
Decisions where the firm's lawyers appeared as counsel, from public court records. Past cases don't predict future results.
Milestones & recognition
- Chambers Canada's 2027 guide ranks 18 Canada-based Baker McKenzie lawyers across 13 practice areas and gives the firm 11 practice area rankings, with new ones in Information Technology, Litigation: Administrative & Public Law and the guide's first Artificial Intelligence category.
- Jim Holloway was named Canada's Trademark Lawyer of the Year by MIP in 2024 and Canada's Copyright Lawyer of the Year by MIP in 2026.
- Two of the Toronto office's lawyers are certified by the Law Society of Ontario as specialists, one in civil litigation and one in commercial and corporate law.
In the community
- Jennifer Bernardo co-chairs the Toronto office's Pro Bono Committee and, as pro bono counsel, has fought off applications for third-party records concerning survivors of human trafficking.
- The firm's Canadian pro bono work includes projects on human trafficking, forced labour and immigration.
- Each summer, the firm's summer associates join students, associates and partners from across the region on a pro bono project tackling a different social justice issue.
- Jacques Bernier served on the board and executive committee of the Power Plant Art Gallery and was its president and board chair from 2019 to 2022.
- Chuck Magerman received the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal for service to the community.
Affiliations & connections
- The Advocates' Society: George Avraam and Jennifer Bernardo of Baker McKenzie's Toronto office are members of The Advocates' Society.
- Canadian Tax Foundation: Jacques Bernier of Baker McKenzie is a member of the Canadian Tax Foundation.
- American College of Trial Lawyers: George Avraam of Baker McKenzie's Toronto office was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers in 2026.
Lawyers 21
Amalan Thiageswaran
Associate
Brendan O'Grady
Partner
Civil Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Bryan Horrigan
Partner, Tax Practice Group
Carole Turcotte
Partner, Corporate Transactions Practice Group
Business & Corporate Law
Charles M. Magerman
Partner
David Palumbo
Partner, Chair of the Corporate Transactions Practice Group
Business & Corporate Law
Emmanuel Sala
Partner, North America Tax Practice Group
George Avraam
Partner, Managing Partner (Toronto)
Civil Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Jacqueline Chan
Associate
Intellectual Property
Jacques Bernier
Partner, Canadian Tax Practice
Jennifer Bernardo
Partner, Employment & Compensation Law Practice Group
Employment & Labour Law
Jim Holloway
Partner
Intellectual Property
Jing Xu
Senior Associate
Business & Corporate Law
Julia Webster
Partner
Justine Johnston
Senior Associate
Matthew Cook
Associate
Matthew De Lio
Associate
Employment & Labour Law
Mohamed ElFar
Counsel
Nancy Hamzo
Partner, North American Transactions Group
Business & Corporate Law
Nell Slochowski
Associate
Immigration Law
Stuart Clark
Associate
Certified Specialists
A designation granted by the Law Society of Ontario, not a self-declared area of focus.
This firm’s lawyers at a glance
- Called to the bar
- 1989–2024 · median 11 years in practice 16 of 21 lawyers
- Law schools
- Queen's University (5), University of Ottawa (4), University of Toronto (3), Bond University, Osgoode Hall Law School, Universite Laval and 4 more 19 of 21 lawyers
- Languages on the roster
- Arabic, English, French, Greek, Spanish
Who handles what
The neighbourhood
Baker McKenzie works from the Bay Wellington Tower at 181 Bay Street, one of the two towers of Brookfield Place, a complex filling the block framed by Yonge Street, Wellington Street West, Bay Street and Front Street West. The towers are joined by the Allen Lambert Galleria, an atrium by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava that runs from Bay Street to Sam Pollock Square and has been nicknamed the "crystal cathedral of commerce". The complex keeps 12 preserved heritage buildings, among them a former Bank of Montreal branch from 1885 at Yonge and Front, and it ties into the PATH, with shops and a food court below ground.
Frequently asked questions
- Can Baker McKenzie's Toronto team take a trade case to the Canadian International Trade Tribunal?
- Baker McKenzie's Canadian International Trade & Customs practice is headed by Julia Webster, who has represented clients before the Canadian International Trade Tribunal, the President of the Canada Border Services Agency, the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal. Webster's work spans trade remedies like anti-dumping and countervailing duties, customs, economic sanctions and blocking legislation, and export controls.
- Does Baker McKenzie in Toronto guide deals through Investment Canada Act reviews?
- Baker McKenzie's Justine Johnston regularly advises on foreign investment reviews under the Investment Canada Act, including industrial, cultural and national security reviews, and on public interest reviews under the Canada Transportation Act. Nancy Hamzo also routinely advises on competition and foreign investment requirements in Canada.
- Will Baker McKenzie defend a company facing a cross-border competition class action in Canada?
- Baker McKenzie partner Brendan O'Grady has spent more than a decade in class proceedings, with a particular focus on defending cross-border competition matters. O'Grady has appeared in the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Canada, the Tax Court of Canada and superior courts nationwide.
- Was Baker McKenzie part of the Supreme Court of Canada's Bill 21 appeal?
- Baker McKenzie appeared at the Supreme Court of Canada for the Canadian Constitution Foundation in the appeal over Quebec's Act Respecting the Laicity of the State (Bill 21), making submissions during the intervenors' closing arguments. George Avraam led the team, with Haadi Malik and Anton Rizor, and as of April 2026 a decision was expected in the coming months.
- How does articling work at Baker McKenzie's Toronto office?
- Baker McKenzie's articling program runs through three rotations in different practice areas, and the firm generally hires its articling students from its own summer associate class.
Where to find them
181 Bay Street, Suite 2100, Toronto, Ontario M5J 2T3
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Real Estate LawThis listing was generated by AI from public sources in October 2026. It may contain errors, and we can’t guarantee it’s accurate or complete. Before you rely on anything here, verify it on the firm’s own website. Verify licence status in the Law Society of Ontario directory ↗
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