Heenan Blaikie

What really happened at Heenan Blaikie? This is the ultimate account of what went on behind the scenes of the largest law firm dissolution in Canadian history.

Adam Dodek is a professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa. Among his numerous publications are In Search of the Ethical Lawyer; The Canadian Constitution, Third Edition, named by the Hill Times as one of the top 100 books on Canadian public policy; and Solicitor-Client Privilege, which won the Walter Owen Book Prize. He is a recipient of the Canadian Association of Law Teachers Prize for Academic Excellence, the Mundell Medal for excellence in legal writing, and the Law Society of Ontario’s Law Society Medal. He is also a director of the Canadian Association for Legal Ethics and the Canadian Legal Information Institute, and a past governor of the Law Commission of Ontario.

"It’s a great story. Dodek lavishes time and attention on all the ethical lapses and failures, all the nasty headlines that decorated its fall."

Darryl Singer:

"Adam Dodek’s recently published book on the history of a prominent Canadian law firm should be required reading for all who enter the profession."

Anne Giardini:

"You can read this book several ways, including as governance guide, gossip and tragedy... the lessons... are considered and compelling."

Jessica Mach:

"Dodek chronicles the remarkable story of the firm"

Gail J. Cohen:

"[Dodek] offers one of the most illuminating and wide-ranging looks at how large law firms in Canada operate."

Allan Rock, President Emeritus, University of Ottawa:

This is a tale for the ages – meticulously researched, brilliantly structured, engagingly told. It should be required reading for all who aspire to practice law in partnership with others. And it provides timeless insights into not just ambitious lawyers and ego-driven elders, but into human nature itself.

Penny Collenette, lawyer, former senior director in the Prime Minister’s Office, and Order of Ontario recipient:

I love the mixture of law, business, politics, and history! And, of course, the research is awesome.

Malcolm Mercer, chair, Law Society Tribunal (Ontario), and adjunct professor, Osgoode Hall Law School:

Adam Dodek tells the story of the people of Heenan Blaikie in the context of the evolution of Canadian law firms and the practice of law. The making and unmaking of Heenans provides a cautionary tale of the collision between often-laudable personal goals, incoherent collective strategy and governance, and market realities. This is an interesting and instructive account.

Philip Girard, professor, Law, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University:

Dodek has written a very lively and readable book, full of large and colourful personalities, pithy quotations, and dramatic incident. But it does not just tell a fascinating and somewhat tragic story – it is also full of analysis of the deficiencies of governance and management that were longstanding at Heenan Blaikie but that became especially problematic after the mushroom growth of the firm in the 1990s and later.

Robert Lapper, KC, professor – David and Dorothy Lam Chair, Law and Public Policy, University of Victoria:

I had trouble putting Adam Dodek’s book down. It is a compelling and informative read, probably the first of its kind to carefully document and critically analyze the evolution of a law firm from its origin to its eventual collapse.

Rosalie Silberman Abella, retired justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, and Samuel and Judith Pisar Chair, Harvard Law School:

An incredible story of a titanic competition in a great law firm between the best of legal professionalism and the most seductive of market imperatives. Part Agatha Christie, part Icarus, part Bonfire of the Vanities, and all painfully magnetic. Adam Dodek is a brilliant storyteller.