White Shoe Law
2 lawyers · City of Toronto, Simcoe County
One of 2,345 law firms listed in Toronto, and one of 764 handling Business & Corporate Law.
About White Shoe Law
White Shoe Law is a Toronto law firm that advises business owners, entrepreneurs and their families on corporate, commercial and estate matters. It grew out of btl counsel, a firm founded by Blair Trudell, who was called to the Ontario Bar in 2007 and started out practicing commercial litigation at Gowling LLP and later at Cavalluzzo Hayes. Trudell later launched the Canadian division of the fine art photography retailer YellowKorner, ran it as founder and CEO, and started btl counsel after it sold in 2016 to combine that business background with a legal practice. The firm has since been renamed White Shoe Law, with the same team continuing the same corporate, commercial and estate work under the new name.
The firm's main office is on Scollard Street in Toronto, with a second office on Hurontario Street in Collingwood. Its lawyers work in corporate and commercial law, commercial agreements, employment law, real estate, mergers and acquisitions, litigation and dispute resolution, and wills, estates and trusts, and the firm also runs a multi family office practice that coordinates succession planning and other advisory work for business owning families. Rather than treating outside accounting and employment law needs as ordinary referrals, the firm describes its work with a small group of independent advisers on tax planning, business coaching and workplace law as an extension of its own advisory work.
Practice areas
Milestones & recognition
- The firm's founder, Blair Trudell, was called to the Ontario Bar in 2007 and began practice in commercial litigation at Gowling LLP and then Cavalluzzo Hayes.
- Trudell launched the Canadian division of YellowKorner, a fine art photography retailer, and ran it as founder and CEO until its sale in 2016, then founded btl counsel to bring an entrepreneurial background into a legal practice.
- btl counsel was renamed White Shoe Law, continuing the same corporate, commercial and estate practice under the new name.
In the community
- One of the firm's lawyers chairs a neighbourhood spring festival in Toronto's Cabbagetown.
Good to know
Wheelchair accessible
LGBTQ+ friendlyLawyers 2
This firm’s lawyers at a glance
- Called to the bar
- 2009 · median 17 years in practice 1 of 2 lawyers
- Law schools
- University of Ottawa, University of Windsor 2 of 2 lawyers
Who handles what
Offices 2
The neighbourhood
White Shoe Law's Toronto office sits on Scollard Street in Yorkville, a few blocks north of Bloor Street. Yorkville started out as a Victorian era suburb, became Toronto's bohemian centre in the 1960s when musicians like Joni Mitchell and Neil Young played its coffee houses, and has since turned into one of the city's denser business and retail districts, home to the Mink Mile's office and shopping buildings and hotels including the Four Seasons Toronto. It's a fitting setting for a firm built around business owners and family advisory work rather than walk in retail clients.
The firm's second office is on Hurontario Street in Collingwood, within the town's Heritage Conservation District on Georgian Bay. Collingwood built its early economy on shipbuilding, with a shipyard that opened in 1883 and later launched Canada's first steel hulled ship, the Huronic, in 1901, and today runs largely on tourism, with the Blue Mountain ski hills nearby and a downtown of preserved heritage buildings. It's a smaller, second office rather than a full headquarters, and it puts the firm within reach of clients along the Georgian Bay corridor.
Frequently asked questions
- What areas of law does White Shoe Law handle?
- Corporate and commercial law, commercial agreements, employment law, real estate, mergers and acquisitions, litigation and dispute resolution, and wills, estates and trusts, along with a multi family office practice for business owning families.
- Where is White Shoe Law located?
- The main office is on Scollard Street in Toronto's Yorkville area, and there's a second office on Hurontario Street in Collingwood.
- Can White Shoe Law help incorporate my new business?
- Yes. The firm offers flat fee start up packages that bundle incorporation, a minute book, a founder shareholder agreement and a set number of hours of legal consultation, with larger packages adding investor and financing documents for companies raising capital.
- Does White Shoe Law handle succession planning for a family business?
- Yes. Family Enterprise Succession and Transition is one of the firm's listed practice areas, covering governance design, business planning and the legal documents needed to carry a business to the next generation.
- Can White Shoe Law prepare a will or power of attorney?
- Yes. Wills, Estates and Trusts is a listed practice area, covering wills, powers of attorney, family trusts and wealth transfer planning alongside the firm's corporate and business work.
- Does White Shoe Law only work with large companies?
- No. Its start up packages are built for founders incorporating a first company, while its multi family office and succession work serves more established business owning families, so the practice spans both ends of that range.
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