Leading oil and gas law firms in Ontario

Here are Ontario’s leading oil and gas law firms based on the results of Lexpert’s extensive peer survey. For the complete list of the province’s most recommended energy, oil and gas lawyers and law firms, check out our practice area rankings.

Oil and gas law is the branch of the legal profession that governs oil and gas production. In the survey, the practice encompasses all areas of upstream and downstream work, including exploration, construction, financing, taxation, environmental approvals, joint ventures and syndication, and federal and provincial regulatory applications.

Most frequently recommended oil and gas law firm

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Year established: 1856

Number of lawyers: 6
Partners: Melanie Baird, Brock W. Gibson, David C. Kruse, Andrew Skodyn, Andrew Thompson

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Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP (Blakes) is one of Canada’s largest full-service law firms, providing legal advice to leading domestic and international businesses. It has offices in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary and Montréal, and international headquarters in New York, London and Beijing. The firm handles transactions of all sizes and levels of complexity, whether an issue is local or multi-jurisdictional, or practice-area specific or interdisciplinary. The firm’s oil and gas team consists of expert lawyers with in-depth experience and knowledge of the industry. These lawyers act for a client base starting at the initial search for hydrocarbon resources to the final sale to consumers, including exploration and production companies, refining, supply and trading companies, transportation and marketing companies, industry financiers and other stakeholders. The team manages mergers and acquisitions, competition and environmental hearings, regulatory applications, and ownership and operational issues for a wide range of national and international players in the energy industry.

Consistently recommended oil and gas law firms

Dentons Canada LLP

Year established: 2013

Number of lawyers: 20+ (Energy)
Number of ranked lawyers: 3
Partners: Vivek Bakshi, Heidi E. Clark, Michael Henriques, Sonja K. Homenuck, Radha Khosla, David R.J. Lefebvre, Rubén Eduardo Luján, Don Macintosh, Mark A. Mahoney, Helen T. Newland, Kelli N. Patel, Philip M. Rimer, Rob R. Roth, Michael Sabusco, Mike D. Schafler, Lampros Stougiannos, Sandy Walker

Dentons Canada LLP is one of the country’s largest business law firms. It has an established history in six of Canada’s key economic centres, namely Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Montréal and Vancouver. Internationally, Dentons offers a strong presence having experienced lawyers in more than 170 locations in over 75 countries. The firm has more than 500 lawyers across Canada, providing clients with on-the-ground legal experience across many key industries. Dentons energy practice group boasts enormous experience across the energy sector and provides strategic assistance to clients encompassing the entire energy value chain from oil majors, independents, transportation companies, power generators and utilities, financial institutions and large customers. Its lawyers work for more than 40 governments on energy-market reform and major project procurement, which adds a depth of perspective rare amongst law firms.

McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Year established: 1855

Number of lawyers: 12
Number of ranked lawyers: 2
Partners: Benjamin T. Aberant, Scott Bergen, Jonathan Bitran, Scott Chalmers, Daye Kaba, Christopher Langdon, David A.N. Lever, Shea T. Small, Steven Tanner

McCarthy Tétrault LLP is one of Canada’s largest full-service law firms, offering expert legal services to clients in Canada and around the world. The firm delivers integrated business, litigation, tax, real estate and labour and employment offerings through its offices in Toronto, Montréal, Québec City, Calgary, Vancouver, New York in the US and in London, UK. McCarthy Tétrault’s oil and gas practice spans the entire industry, from upstream to downstream. Its clients come from various sectors, including oil sands, pipelines, upgraders and refineries, shale gas, LNG, energy services and equipment providers. The team conceives and executes strategic responses to large and complex projects and transactions while coordinating a suite of associated considerations, including environmental, litigation, regulatory and Aboriginal matters. The group also boasts significant experience in complex mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and other commercial contracts and agreements involving upstream, midstream and downstream oil and gas assets.

Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP

Year established: 2012 (Canada)

Number of lawyers: 40+ (Energy)
Partners: Kevin Ackhurst, David M.A. Amato, Andrea Brewer, Mark A. Convery, Terence S. Dobbin, Robert Frank, Anne K. Gallop, Karen Galpern, John Grant, Andrew Grossman, Elana M. Hahn, Michael H. Lieberman, Andrew McCoomb, David Ng, Adrienne Oliver, Eric Reither, Barry N. Segal, C. Nicole Sigouin, Cathy Singer, Jennifer Teskey, Troy Ungerman, Ruth I. Wahl, Allyson Whyte Nowak, Anna Wilkinson

Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP is an international full-service business law firm with more than 3,700 lawyers and legal staff based in North and Latin America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Middle East and Africa. It has offices in more than 50 cities worldwide, including Toronto, London, Houston, New York, Mexico City, Hong Kong, Sydney and Johannesburg. The firm serves the world’s largest corporations and financial institutions. Its energy practice boasts lawyers spread across every major energy market, supporting clients across the entire energy value chain. The firm takes pride in being at the heart of the transition to a low-carbon economy, helping clients in all industries assess and respond to the opportunities and challenges this presents. The firm’s energy practice covers oil and gas, power and utilities, renewables and water.

Torys LLP

Year established: 1941

Number of lawyers: 8
Number of ranked lawyers: 1
Partners: Rose Bailey, Amanda C. Balasubramanian, Don Bell, Yael Bienenstock, David A. Dell, Huw Evans

Torys LLP is one of Canada’s largest full-service business law firms with offices in Toronto, Montréal, Halifax, Calgary and New York. It advises clients on a wide range of transactions, including banking and debt finance, board advisory and governance, capital markets, competition and foreign investment, consumer protection, corporate restructuring, intellectual property, litigation and dispute resolution, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and tax. Torys’ oil and gas practice helps clients maximize opportunities in their most important matters, with targeted insight in global markets. Its lawyers serve clients in the energy resource sector working other offices domestically and overseas. The team advises clients at every stage in the sector pipeline, from exploration and production to processing and transportation. It also serves clients in the upstream, midstream and downstream markets, including explorers, producers, service providers, marketers and investors.

Repeatedly recommended oil and gas law firms

Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP

Year established: 1961

Number of lawyers: 9 (Energy)
Partners: William Buchner, Vincent A. Mercier, Carol D. Pennycook, Alexandria J. Pike, Sarah V. Powell, Anthony Spadaro, Gillian R. Stacey, Derek R.G. Vesey, Nicholas C. Williams

Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP (Davies) is among Canada’s leading full-service business law firms. It specializes in high-stakes and complex matters. The firm’s clients include businesses and financial institutions in North America and abroad. Davies has offices in Toronto, Montréal and New York. Davies’ energy group understands the complex challenges involved whether a client is undertaking a critical capital project or making a strategic acquisition in a dynamic energy sector. It boasts extensive experience in range of transactions, including construction and financing, public-private partnerships, environmental and regulatory compliance and mergers and acquisitions, spanning all energy sectors. These include electricity, oil and gas, and nuclear or renewable energy.

Gowling WLG

Year established: 1887

Number of lawyers: 50+ (Energy)
Number of ranked lawyers: 2
Partners: Christopher M. Andree, Nurhan Aycan, Ahab Adel-Aziz, James D. Barker, Edward G. Betts, Darryl J. Brown, Paul Carenza, Adam Chamberlain, Irene Choe, Van Cottrill, Allen V. Craig, Mark W. Crane, Harry Dahme, Graham H.H. Darling, Guy David, Myron B. Dzulynsky, Ash Gupta, Daniel R. Hayhurst, Michael Herman, Jahmiah Ferdinand-Hodkin, Faithe H. Holder, Robert G.S. Hull, Glen Jennings, Mark Ledwell, Luc Lissior, Ian MacDonald, Lisa A. MacDonnell, Manuel A. Martins, Ian A. Mondrow, Natalie Mullins, Rodney Northey, W. Ian Palm, Paul Seaman, James J. Shanks, Peter Simeon, Mark J. Sprigings, Christopher M. Stanek, David P. Stevens, France M. Tenaille, Thomas J. Timmins, Faran Umar-Khitab, Laura Van Soelen, Lilly A. Wong, Martin Zablocki, Jay Zakaïb

Gowling WLG is an international full-service business law firm that boasts a network of more than 1,400 legal professionals in 19 cities worldwide. The firm serves clients in key sectors, including energy, financial services, life sciences, natural resources, infrastructure, real estate and technology. It has logged more than 9,400 pro bono hours and has been repeatedly recognized as a top employer committed to diversity, inclusion and innovation. Gowling’s multidisciplinary energy team advises governments, regulators, project developers, network companies, financial institutions and investors, energy suppliers and traders, technology companies and the sector supply chain. It has strong experience across all generation types, including thermal, waste hydropower, wind, biomass, solar, new technologies and nuclear. The team’s lawyers have played a leading role in major transactions, market transformation programmes and litigation in countries around the world.