OKT (Olthuis Kleer Townshend LLP)

About OKT (Olthuis Kleer Townshend LLP)

OKT, formally Olthuis Kleer Townshend LLP, is a Toronto law firm that works exclusively in Indigenous law. It has a second office in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, and its partners and associates represent Indigenous governments, organizations and individuals across the country. John Olthuis, Nancy Kleer and HW Roger Townshend founded the firm in 2000, and it marked its 25th anniversary in 2025 with a podcast episode in which all three founders reflected on how the firm began.

The practice covers four areas: protecting Aboriginal and treaty rights, economic development, managing lands and resources, and strengthening self-government. OKT has advised on more than 200 Impact and Benefit Agreements across Canada, work that combines corporate deal-making with Indigenous rights expertise. Olthuis, a founding partner, was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in December 2023 for decades of work on Indigenous rights that goes back to the 1970s inquiry into the proposed Mackenzie Valley Pipeline.

Townshend retired from the partnership on January 1, 2024 and continues at OKT as Senior Counsel. Kleer remains a partner. In the 2025 Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, the firm was named "Most Frequently Recommended" for Indigenous law, and 23 of its lawyers received a Lexpert ranking that year.