Commercial Real Estate Lawyer Bianca Kratt at the Borden Ladner Gervais LLP office in Calgary on Oct. 4.Gavin John/The Globe and Mail
Legal Moves is a monthly roundup of job changes at Canada’s law firms.
In high school, Bianca Kratt thought she was going to be a dentist, so she loaded up her schedule with advanced courses in math, physics and chemistry.
But when the time came to choose a career, she had a last-minute change of heart.
“I wanted to be close to people. I didn’t want to have tools in someone’s mouth, and then they can’t talk to me … I like working as a team, brainstorming ideas to find solutions, putting forward arguments,” Ms. Kratt said. “I think that drove me to law school.”
Last week, the 46-year-old joined Borden Ladner Gervais LLP as a partner in the commercial real estate group in Calgary. Previously, she had spent a decade at Parlee McLaws LLP, a regional firm in the province.
Ms. Kratt said she was inspired to make the move after being elected vice-president of the Canadian Bar Association earlier this year. The role means she will automatically become president of the organization in September, 2025.
“Being so involved with the Canadian Bar Association, I thought that this would give me a better platform for the work I do to promote or improve access to justice in Canada,” she said. “And the idea of joining a new team, working on bigger files – bigger national matters – was also appealing.”
Ms. Kratt, a member of the Huron-Wendat First Nation, grew up in a small town outside Quebec City called Saint-Raymond. She trained in civil law at Université Laval and then promptly moved to Alberta “for love,” she says. (They’re still happily married.) At the time, Ms. Kratt spoke very little English, but has since become fluent.
In those early days – before she had completed her common law degree at the University of Manitoba – she worked as a legal assistant for a lawyer who had a practice that focused on real estate and land development. It was a great fit for her skill set: a people person who thrives in minutiae.
Today, Ms. Kratt’s practice focuses on commercial real estate – including acquisitions and dispositions, leasing, project development and condominium projects – and banking.
In October, Bennett Jones welcomed Mahnaz Jan Ali to its Montreal office. She was previously the director of legal affairs in the transactional investment group at Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.
“After over 10 years in private practice and nearly two years in-house with one of the largest institutional investors in Québec, I decided to return to private practice and join the exceptional transactional team at Bennett Jones,” Ms. Jan Ali told The Globe and Mail in an e-mail. “I want to have a bigger impact serving the firm’s clients around the world to better understand Québec’s dynamic market in all areas of banking and financial services, while taking into account in-house realities.”
Meanwhile, Aird & Berlis announced Keith Brown joined the firm as a partner in the Indigenous practice group. Mr. Brown, who specializes in providing advice on Aboriginal and Treaty rights matters, such as the duty to consult and accommodate, follows a number of former colleagues who also moved to Aird & Berlis from Gowling WLG.
“The A&B Toronto and Vancouver-based Indigenous practice teams have complementary strengths for one another, being Aboriginal rights litigation/negotiation in Toronto and natural resources regulatory, environmental, and project development in Vancouver,” he told The Globe in an e-mail.
Also last month, McMillan brought on Sharon Singh, who will serve as the co-head of the firm’s Indigenous and environment practice in Vancouver. In Toronto, the firm added Timothy Baron as a partner in capital markets and securities, and Catherine Doyle as a partner in financial services. In Calgary, Christopher Keliher joined as a partner in restructuring and insolvency.
At Gowling WLG, Kim Walker joined the Business Law Group as a partner in Ottawa where she will focus on commercial lending. The firm also expanded its tax group in Toronto with partners Lesley Kim and Victoria Rodrigues, as well as counsel John Campbell.
In Toronto, prominent employment lawyer Kathryn Marshall, previously a partner at Levitt LLP, launched her own firm: Marshall Law. “It was time to take control of my future and build a firm around my vision which is to fearlessly help plaintiffs stand up to bullies and big business and take on novel cases and big fights,” she said.
Finally, Miller Thomson LLP announced that Florind Polo was joining the Business Law Group as a partner in Toronto. “His deep knowledge in M&A and corporate finance, makes him a strategic addition to our growing Corporate Finance and Securities team as we continue to deliver tailored solutions that meet our clients’ needs across major sectors of the Canadian economy,” said Kenneth R. Rosenstein, managing partner in Toronto, in a release.