Aust Legal (Aust LLP)
9 lawyers · Established 2010 · Montréal, City of Toronto
One of 656 law firms listed in Montréal, and one of 274 handling Business & Corporate Law.
About Aust Legal (Aust LLP)
Aust Legal, also known as Aust LLP, is a small business law firm headquartered in Montreal, with a second office in Toronto. Thomas Laporte Aust founded the firm in 2010 after leaving McCarthy Tetrault, one of Canada's national law firms. The firm positions itself as an alternative to the national firm model, and its work centres on mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital financing, due diligence, corporate governance, and executive employment law.
The team is small by design. Alongside the founder, it includes lawyers, of counsel, and two senior advisors who spent decades at other national law firms before joining Aust Legal, plus paralegals and support staff across both offices. The firm operates in English and French. It also publishes a running list of client transactions it has advised on, spanning acquisitions, financings, and corporate reorganizations for companies in technology, health services, and industrial sectors.
Practice areas
Milestones & recognition
- Thomas Laporte Aust founded the firm in 2010 after leaving McCarthy Tetrault. Laporte Aust holds a B.A. (Hons.) from Queen's University (2001) and an LL.B. from Universite Laval (2004), and was admitted to the Barreau du Quebec in 2006 and the Law Society of Ontario in 2021.
- Laporte Aust co-authored Le contrat d'emploi, a text on employment contracts published in October 2013 by Editions Yvon Blais Thomson Reuters.
- A senior counsel at the firm spent 29 years as a partner at Stikeman Elliott before two years at Dentons Canada, and has been recognized by Lexpert, Best Lawyers, and Martindale for corporate law and mergers and acquisitions.
- A senior strategic advisor at the firm spent 20 years at Stikeman Elliott in Montreal, later served as a senior advisor to the RCMP's senior executive committee, and is the founding editor in chief of Executive Employment Law (LexisNexis).
- A senior strategic advisor at the firm was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2023, after more than 40 years in business law practice.
Good to know
Wheelchair accessibleLawyers 9
Alessio Cardillo
Lawyer
Business & Corporate Law
Andrew D. Johnston
Lawyer
Business & Corporate LawEmployment & Labour Law
Anne-Sophie Hébert
Lawyer
Business & Corporate LawIntellectual Property
Edward B. (Ted) Claxton
Senior Counsel
Business & Corporate Law
Foster Nadeau-Salomon
Lawyer
Business & Corporate Law
Nan Wang
Of Counsel
Peter O'Brien
Senior Counsel, C.M.
Business & Corporate Law
Roxanne Beaucage
Lawyer
Business & Corporate Law
Thomas Laporte Aust
Lawyer
Business & Corporate LawEmployment & Labour Law
This firm’s lawyers at a glance
- Called to the bar
- 1985–2025 · median 9 years in practice 7 of 9 lawyers
- Law schools
- University of Montreal (3), Université Laval (2), Dalhousie University, University of Ottawa 7 of 9 lawyers
- Languages on the roster
- English, French, Italian, Spanish
Who handles what
Offices 2
The neighbourhood
Aust Legal is headquartered in Montreal; its Toronto office at 3 Bridgman Avenue is a satellite location, a modest presence rather than a second flagship.
The firm's Toronto lawyers work alongside the larger Montreal team on the same corporate and commercial files, using the local address to serve Ontario clients and cross border transactions.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Aust Legal a Toronto firm?
- Not originally. Aust Legal is headquartered in Montreal, where Thomas Laporte Aust founded it in 2010, and it operates a second office at 3 Bridgman Avenue in Toronto. Clients working with the Toronto office are still supported by the same corporate and commercial team.
- What kind of legal work does Aust Legal handle?
- The firm focuses on business law: mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital financing, due diligence, corporate governance, and executive employment law. It describes itself as a transactional based endeavour.
- I'm raising a financing round for my startup. Can Aust Legal help?
- Private equity and venture capital financing is one of the firm's core areas. Its published transaction history includes financing rounds and equity deals for companies at various stages, so this is work it regularly takes on.
- We're buying or selling a company. Does Aust Legal do M&A work?
- Yes. Mergers and acquisitions, including purchase and sale of assets or shares and corporate reorganizations, is the firm's lead practice area, and its site lists a long history of acquisition and financing transactions it has advised on.
- Does Aust Legal handle executive employment contracts?
- Yes, this is a named practice area. The founder co-authored a text on employment contracts, and the firm advises on employment agreements, severance, and restrictive covenants for executives and companies.
- Does the firm work in French as well as English?
- Yes. Aust Legal operates a bilingual website and several of its lawyers hold bar admissions in Quebec, reflecting the firm's Montreal base alongside its Toronto office.
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