Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP (Gowlings) was a Canadian and international law firm, with about 700 legal professionals in 10 offices in Canada, as well as in London, Moscow, and Beijing. The firm offered legal support in business law, advocacy/litigation and intellectual property law. On July 8, 2015, Gowlings announced that they would amalgamate with UK firm Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co to create a new international law firm called

Gowling WLG Gowling WLG is a multinational law firm formed by the combination of Canada-based Gowlings and UK-based Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co in February 2016. Gowling WLG is Canada's largest law firm by revenue. In the UK, Gowling WLG was ranked 15th ...

. The new firm launched in February 2016.

History

Gowlings' originated with the firm Henderson & McVeity, which was founded in Ottawa in 1887. Its name passed through numerous permutations, but included references to the lawyers Gordon Gowling, George and Gordon Henderson. In the 1980s, the firm expanded beyond its traditional

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

base, establishing offices in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Kitchener, and

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. Starting in the mid-1990s, Gowlings created a national platform through a succession of mergers with other law firms in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and

. The firm eventually adopted the simple brand name "Gowlings" (which had long been in informal use).

Notable firm members

* Leonard Walter Brockington (1888–1966). Founding chairman of the

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

, 1936-1939 * Gordon F. Henderson (1912–1993). President of the

Canadian Bar Association The Canadian Bar Association (CBA), or Association du barreau canadien (ABC) in French, represents over 37,000 lawyers, judges, notaries, law teachers, and law students from across Canada. History The Association's first Annual Meeting was ...

, 1979–1980; Chancellor of the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

, 1991–1993 *

Roy McMurtry Roland Roy McMurtry (May 31, 1932 – March 18, 2024) was a Canadian lawyer, judge and politician in Ontario. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1985, serving in the cabinet of Bill Dav ...

(1932– ).

Attorney-General of Ontario The attorney general of Ontario is the Attorney general, chief legal adviser to Monarchy in Ontario, His Majesty the King in Right of Ontario and, by extension, the Government of Ontario. The attorney general is a senior member of the Executi ...

, 1975–1985 and

Chief Justice of Ontario The Court of Appeal for Ontario (frequently mistakenly referred to as the Ontario Court of Appeal) (ONCA is the abbreviation for its neutral citation) is the appellate court for the province of Ontario, Canada. The seat of the court is Osgoode Ha ...

, 1996-2007 *

Ray Hnatyshyn Ramon John Hnatyshyn ( ; March 16, 1934December 18, 2002) was a Canadian lawyer and statesman who served as the 24th governor general of Canada from 1990 to 1995. Hnatyshyn was born and educated in Saskatchewan and served in the Royal Canadian ...

(1934–2002). 24th

Governor-General of Canada The governor general of Canada () is the federal representative of the . The monarch of Canada is also sovereign and head of state of 14 other Commonwealth realms and resides in the United Kingdom. The monarch, on the advice of his or her Ca ...

, 1990–1995 * Ian Scott (1934–2006).

, 1985–1990 *

Donald Mazankowski Donald Frank Mazankowski (July 27, 1935 – October 27, 2020) was a Canadian politician who served as a cabinet minister under prime ministers Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney, including as deputy prime minister under Mulroney. After retiring from ...

(1935– ).

Deputy Prime Minister of Canada The deputy prime minister of Canada ()When the position is held by a male, the French title is ''vice-premier ministre du Canada"'' is a minister of the Crown and a member of the Cabinet of Canada, Canadian Cabinet. The office is conferred at ...

, 1986–1993 *

Martin Cauchon Martin Cauchon (born 23 August 1962) is a Canadian lawyer and politician in Quebec Canada. He served as a Liberal Party of Canada, Liberal Cabinet of Canada, Cabinet minister in the government of Jean Chrétien. He unsuccessfully ran for the 2 ...

(1962– ).

Minister of Justice (Canada) The minister of justice and attorney general of Canada () is a dual-role portfolio in the Canadian Cabinet. The officeholder in the role of Minister of Justice () serves as the minister of the Crown responsible for the Department of Justice ...

and

Attorney General of Canada The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as st ...

, 2002–2003;

Minister of National Revenue (Canada) The minister responsible for the Canada Revenue Agency () is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), as well as the administration of taxation law and collection. The position is ...

, 1999-2002 *

Lawrence Cannon Lawrence Cannon, (born December 6, 1947) is a Canadian politician from Quebec and Prime Minister Stephen Harper's former Quebec lieutenant. In early 2006, he was made the Minister of Transport. On October 30, 2008, he relinquished oversight ...

(1947– ).

Minister of Foreign Affairs (Canada) The Minister of Foreign Affairs () is the minister of the Crown in the Cabinet of Canada, Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for overseeing the Government of Canada, Government of Canada's international relations and is the lead minister respons ...

, 2006–2008 and

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...

's former

Quebec lieutenant In Canadian politics, a Quebec lieutenant () is a Quebec politician who is selected by the party leader to be the main advisor or spokesperson on issues specific to Quebec. This is particularly the case when the leader is an anglophone, though se ...

Frank Marrocco Frank Neal Stephen Marrocco served as a Canadian judge from 2005 until 2020 and as Associate Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Justice from 2013 to 2020. He was initially appointed to the Superior Court of Justice in 2005 on the recommenda ...

. Associate Chief Justice (2005–) of the

Ontario Superior Court of Justice The Superior Court of Justice (French: ''Cour supérieure de justice'') is a superior court in Ontario. The Court sits in 52 locations across the province, including 17 Family Court locations, and consists of over 300 federally appointed judges. ...

,Ontario Courts website
/ref>

References

{{reflist Defunct law firms of Canada