TORONTO (November 5, 2013) – Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP (Blakes), one of Canada’s leading business law firms, today announced that two of its partners, Jeff Bakker and Philippe Bourassa, have been honoured as “Lexpert Rising Stars: Leading Lawyers Under 40.” The event took place last night at The Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto.
“We are very proud of Jeff and Philippe for this significant achievement,” said Brock Gibson, the Firm’s Chair. “They are both extremely hard working and dedicated individuals, and on behalf of the Firm, I congratulate them.”
Jeff Bakkerpractises corporate and securities law. His primary focus is on securities matters, particularly in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, corporate governance, and continuous disclosure compliance. Mr. Bakker has experience in representing both private and publicly traded issuers listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the New York Stock Exchange and the TSX Venture Exchange.
Philippe Bourassa’s practice focuses on corporate and commercial law, with a particular emphasis on infrastructure projects, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and energy. He has advised public and private corporations, as well as institutional investors, on a broad range of domestic and international commercial transactions, including acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, reorganizations and financing transactions.
About Lexpert Rising Stars
The “Lexpert Rising Stars: Leading Lawyers Under 40” awards are presented to lawyers from law firms and in-house counsel, aged 40 or under, who are seen to be rising stars in the Canadian legal community. Lexpert selects the finalists based on a number of criteria, and an advisory board votes on the winning candidates.
About Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
At Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, we serve a diverse national and international client base, and our integrated office network provides clients with access to the Firm’s full spectrum of capabilities in virtually every area of business law. Blakes has offices across Canada and in New York, Chicago, London, Bahrain, Beijing and associated offices in Al-Khobar and Shanghai. Thanks to our clients and the challenging work they generate, in 2013, Blakes was named “Law Firm of the Year: Canada” by Chambers and Partners. This is the fourth time we have been honoured with this award, more than any other Canadian firm. Blakes was also named “Canada Law Firm of the Year” for the fifth consecutive year by Who’s Who Legal. For the last five years, Blakes has been the busiest Canadian M&A law firm, according to Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters league tables.
More information on Blakes is available by visiting the Firm’s website at www.blakes.com or by following us on Twitter @BlakesLaw.
