Calling all early adopters. These firms are for you. Some wow clients by staying one step ahead in technology and communications. Others are cornering new markets

Practice Prowess

Capitalizing on emerging business trends by creating new practice groups is a smart move. Here, Precedent recognizes the firms that are out front.

Cleantech

Lawyers, scientists and environmentalists — together at last. Cleantech is an umbrella term for new technologies or scientific methods that lessen negative environmental impacts. Firms across Toronto are opening new practice groups aimed specifically at advising these companies and helping them manage the investments they procure to launch their green inventions.

“Cleantech can mean protecting the environment or promoting renewable energy, while for other companies it relates more to technology and process improvements,” says David Pamenter, c0-leader of Gowlings’s newly formed Cleantech group. “We try to identify Cleantech companies that we think can compete in a larger marketplace and then we help them to do so.” With Cleantech companies in Canada now numbering over 400, it’s a trend that’s here to stay.

Top billing
With a long history in Cleantech and an official practice group since 2008, Miller Thomson has some 20 Toronto lawyers representing the industry. The firm, which has had a presence in the field for about a decade, is counsel for many of Ontario’s wind farms and other renewable energy developers, and they’re partnering with Toronto’s MaRS, a Canadian organization for the promotion of innovation, to offer legal services that will help emerging Cleantech companies break into the global marketplace.

Talk clean to me
With 20 Toronto lawyers in its Cleantech group, Ogilvy Renault leads the popular “Cleantech in Canada” seminar series with Deloitte and MaRS, and has been a leader in the Cleantech legal world ever since it opened its practice group back in 2007. In fact, just last April, group co-chair Richard Sutin co-authored “Listing in Canada: An Opportunity for Cleantech Issuers,” a 16-page paper that’s a major resource for the international Cleantech industry.

Edging in on the leaders
Cleantech groups at McCarthys, Heenan Blaikie and Gowlings.

Go East

With an abundance of oil, a wealth of capital and open policies toward foreign investment, it’s no surprise that Canadian firms are setting their sights on the Middle East. Whether opening overseas offices, explaining sharia law to Canadians or acting for Abu Dhabi’s royal family, these four firms are embracing the Middle East.

The doer
Last year, Blakes expanded its presence in the Middle East when it opened offices in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Tim Sunar, one of two Blakes lawyers that set up the new practice, says many cases involve Canadian businesses investing in the Gulf. “Being here, I’ve met CEOs and government leaders — people I would never have come in contact with in Canada,” says Sunar.

The diversifier
Heenan Blaikie’s new Middle East and North Africa practice group helps Canadian businesses establish themselves in countries such as Algeria, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Michael Woods, group co-chair, served in Algeria and Saudi Arabia as a diplomat at the Canadian embassies of both countries.

The big hitter
Stikeman Elliott’s established Middle East practice group works with large private and state-owned enterprises investing in Canada. Stikemans has represented a variety of clients, ranging from the royal family of Abu Dhabi to the Kuwait Airways Corporation and has been recognized for its work in negotiated and hostile takeovers.

The broker
Many Muslim clients comply with sharia law — which, among other things, forbids the collection or payment of interest when it comes to finance — and Bennett Jones’s Islamic Finance practice group serves this niche, providing assistance to both Canadian and international clients. Partner Dany Assaf is becoming a go-to lawyer in this area; he’s spoken about Islamic finance at the Rotman School of Management and on Canada AM.

Pioneering Practices

Every year, firms open up more practice groups, but some are infinitely more small talk worthy than others. These firms are leading the charge with new groups that sip, strut and…contain

• Wine: Heenan Blaikie
• Fashion: Cassels
• Crisis Management: Gowlings

iFIRM

Embracing new technology has the potential to give firms a leg-up. Torys put that theory to the test when it launched its iPhone app last March and are reaping the benefits. The app contains the firm’s Twitter feed, new publications, a staff directory complete with photos and the firm’s contact info with a map. It also features 25 videos of staff explaining everything from Canadian merger reviews to the firm’s student programs. Prognosticators say it won’t be long before firm apps are the industry norm.

Who’s not afraid of social media?
Though you might believe otherwise, Twitter has uses beyond reposting Justin Bieber videos and spreading rumours that Mel Gibson is dead. Nearly all of the firms we spoke with have embraced the tweet as a legitimate form of communication and self-promotion. In fact, some are so tweet-happy, they do it — gasp! — several times a day.

Tweeting one for the team
Not only does tech-savvy McCarthys have a Twitter feed (@McCarthy_ca) with more than 250 followers, it’s also got a trio of lawyer tweeters running their own practice-related feeds, who together have amassed nearly 1,500 followers. Associate James Gannon tweets about copyright law, posting on topics such as downloading sheet music, while partner John Boscariol keeps his followers up-to-date with international trade law (“Sanctions Alert: The Brave New World of Doing Business with Iran”). Partner Barry Sookman gets extra points for diligence — he often updates his Twitter feed on technology law more than 25 times a day with links and posts.

Spreading the love
While Twitter is great for self-promotion, it’s also made for sharing. The team behind Osler’s Twitter feed (@Osler_Law) embraces this ethos, sometimes re-tweeting the posts of other law firms. Osler has shared links originally posted by Gowlings, Torys and Ogilvy Renault. The firm’s sociable approach has earned it nearly 700 followers — the most of any firm surveyed.

Frequent Tweeter
With multiple tweets daily, the steady flow of useful (”Summary of Canadian Economic Sanctions”) and informative (“Expensive mistakes — Can employers withhold pay from employees due to error or negligence?”) tweets from Ogilvy Renault (@ogilvyrenault) [Ed. Note: The law firm can now be followed at: https: @nortonrose_ca] has earned it 600 2,400 followers and counting.