Legal Moves is a monthly roundup of job changes at Canada’s law firms.

Toronto’s Aird & Berlis LLP has opened an office in Vancouver, after spending much of the past year building an Indigenous practice group in the province.

Managing Partner Jill Fraser said the firm has had a handful of lawyers in British Columbia since 2017 working in the areas of infrastructure, corporate and real estate. But things changed in January, 2024, when they brought over a number of lawyers who specialize in Indigenous law, including Jason Madden, who is Métis, and Alexandria Winterburn, who is First Nations.

The pair, who came from Pape Salter Teillet LLP, became co-leads of the newly created practice group, which was based in Toronto. However, last spring, Aird & Berlis poached a group from Gowling WLG, bringing the total head count to nine.

“At that point we decided to really establish a physical preference,” Ms. Fraser said.

The Vancouver team has now grown to 11 and will soon add an articling student, but they also have plans to hire a couple more lawyers. Their new downtown space has 14 offices.

The firm has established a Vancouver strategy task force to map out the best ways for the new office to grow. In addition to the Indigenous law group and real estate practices, Ms. Fraser said they’re also looking at what’s possible in the area of financial services.

One of the key tasks in the coming months, Ms. Fraser said, is finding ways to integrate Vancouver with the Toronto office.

“With the Vancouver office, we can offer expanded services to some of our existing clients. These are clients in Ontario who maybe also do business in British Columbia. Previously, we would have had to refer that work out, now we can do it ourselves,” Ms. Fraser said.

Ms. Fraser got her start at Aird & Berlis in the mid 1990s as an articling student. At the time, there were 75 lawyers. Today there are about 270.

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The first quarter of 2025 has seen a wave of movement across Canada’s legal sector.

In January, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP welcomed commercial lawyer Junior Sirivar, who joined the firm as a partner in the litigation and dispute resolution group. Mr. Sirivar left McCarthy Tétrault LLP after more than 20 years.

Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP brought on Natasha Smith, a partner in the Toronto office’s tax, trusts, charity and not-for-profit group. She came from Miller Thomson LLP. “At 38 years old, moving to Cassels felt like the right step in my career,” Ms. Smith said in an e-mail. “I was given an opportunity to build a specialized team at a firm expanding its charity/NFP client base, while ensuring my existing clients have access to the services and support of a top-tier national corporate law firm.” Also at Cassels, Elizabeth Earon – previously of Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP – joined the real estate and development group in Calgary.

At Miller Thomson, Daniel Mahler joined as a partner and the co-lead of the national real estate transactions and leasing group out of Toronto. He was previously with Aird & Berlis.

Meanwhile, Dentons brought on Sanjay Joshi as a partner in the corporate group in Toronto. Mr. Joshi, who works in the area of multi-jurisdictional mergers and acquisitions, securities and corporate finance, had been with DLA Piper. The firm also added Rick Pawluk, whose expertise captures numerous sectors, including energy, oil and gas, mining, biotechnology and agribusiness, as a partner in the Calgary office’s corporate group. He came from Fasken.

At Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Noelle Engle-Hardy joined as partner in the intellectual property group. She comes from Cozen O’Connor. BLG also announced that David Di Paolo had been appointed national managing partner and CEO. His term begins on July 1.

In Toronto, Bennett Jones added Gatlin Smeijers as a partner. His practice focuses on environmental and regulatory law, particularly for the mining, energy and manufacturing sectors. Previously, Mr. Smeijers had been the associate vice-president, legal at Glencore. “Making the move to Bennett Jones, and back to private practice, was largely driven by the opportunity to join a team of highly recognized environmental and regulatory lawyers, some of whom I have known for almost 15 years,” he said in an e-mail.

At Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Anne-Frédérique Bourret joined the Montreal office as a partner in the environmental group and Christine Perry, whose practice includes domestic and cross-border matters such as trust taxation, personal tax and estate planning, joined the Toronto office as a partner.

Finally, JFK Law LLP has made a major new hire by bringing on Nadir André as a partner. Mr. André, who is a member of the Matimekush-Lac John First Nation, has more than 25 years of experience acting for Indigenous governments, organizations and businesses in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Atlantic regions. Previously, he had been a partner in BLG’s Montreal office.

“Although working in a big firm has been a rich experience for me and my clients, I believe that joining an Aboriginal law boutique is more aligned with my values and the type of law that I want to practice moving forward,” he told The Globe in an e-mail. “Furthermore, JFK Law has big plans to become the first ‘Coast to Coast to Coast’ Aboriginal Law Firm by expanding in Quebec and the Atlantic. I must say that I love this plan.”