In Heenan Blaikie: The Making and Unmaking of a Great Canadian Law Firm (UBC Press), Professor Dodek explores how Heenan Blaikie established itself as one of the first truly national law firms in Canada. For four decades the firm thrived. At its peak it boasted offices across Canada and in Paris and counted, at various times, two former prime ministers and two former Supreme Court justices among its staff. In 2014, Heenan Blaikie’s partners voted to dissolve the firm. The collapse was fast and came as a great surprise to the legal community, spurring countless questions and speculation. How could a seemingly profitable firm suddenly fail? Was it brought down by clashing visions? Was it stretched too thin – a victim of its own success?
Professor Dodek’s new book offers a thoroughly researched and highly detailed account of the forces that built—and eventually dismantled—the firm. He conducted interviews with over 180 former Heenan Blaikie lawyers and more than 40 insiders in the legal community. The result is a book that will not only interest lawyers, law practitioners and law students, but anyone curious about what goes on behind the curtains of even the most successful businesses.
The Honourable Rosalie Abella, former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, calls the book “[a]n incredible story of titanic competition in a great law firm between the best of legal professionalism and the most seductive of market imperatives. Part Agatha Christie, part Icarus, part Bonfire of the Vanities, and all painfully magnetic. Adam Dodek is a brilliant storyteller.”
Guided by his firm belief that the law exists for the benefit of all Canadians, Professor Dodek has made it his scholarly mission to think deeply and critically about the issues faced by the legal profession, by individual lawyers, by the courts, and by the systems of government and politics. Widely recognized for his thorough and engaging writing, he imbues complex subjects with an energy and passion that makes them both deeply informative and highly readable. His past works include The Canadian Constitution (Dundurn), which was named by The Hill Times as one of the Best 100 Books in Politics, Public Policy and History of 2013 and Solicitor-Client Privilege (LexisNexis), which won the Walter Owen Book Prize in 2015. His book The Charter Debates: The Special Joint Committee on the Constitution, 1980-81 and the Making of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was published by U of T Press in 2018. And in 2016, he published In Search of the Ethical Lawyer: Stories of the Canadian Legal Profession with UBC Press. Professor Dodek has received numerous honours including the Law Society of Ontario’s Law Society Medal in 2015 and the David W. Mundell Medal for Excellence in Legal Writing in 2017.
The University of Ottawa’s Public Law Centre and the Conway Professionalism Speaker Series (sponsored by Conway Baxter Wilson LLP) will host a launch event for the book on November 12, 2024, which will feature remarks by Professor Dodek and a panel discussion with Professor Amy Salyzyn, May Cheng of Dipchand LLP and JD candidate Vanessa D’Ambrosio. The panel will be moderated by Professor Vanessa MacDonnell.
The event has been accredited for 1.5 Professionalism hours by the Law Society of Ontario. Lunch will be served and copies of the book will be available to purchase at the event.
WHAT: Book Launch – Heenan Blaikie: The Making and Unmaking of a Great Canadian Law Firm
WHEN: Tuesday, November 12, 2024, 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
WHERE: University of Ottawa, Fauteux Hall (57 Louis-Pasteur Pvt.), Room 302.
Register for free via Eventbrite.
Another launch event will take place on November 27, 2024 from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. at the Rideau Club. This event will feature Professor Dodek in conversation with the Toronto Star’s Ottawa Bureau Chief Tonda MacCharles.
Refreshments will be served, and copies of the book will be available for purchase.
WHAT: Heenan Blaikie: The Making and Unmaking of a Great Canadian Law Firm – a conversation with Adam Dodek and Tonda MacCharles
WHEN: Wednesday, November 27, 2024, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
WHERE: Rideau Club, 99 Bank Street, 15th Floor.