For more than 100 years, Gowlings has provided a broad range of expert legal services. Today, as one of Canada's largest national law firms, Gowlings has offices in all major business and technology centres across Canada – Montréal, Ottawa, Kanata, Toronto, Hamilton, Waterloo Region, Calgary and Vancouver. With a representative office in Moscow, the firm serves clients' needs in Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union.

The three pillars of Gowlings practice are business law, intellectual property and advocacy. While independently focused on their respective areas of expertise, our professionals work together in cross-disciplinary industry groups or client-dedicated teams to give our clients timely access to our best advice.

In addition to its pre-eminence in corporate and business law, Gowlings is recognized for its expertise in information technology, energy and infrastructure, international trade, advertising and media, professional liability and the environment. Gowlings is also one of Canada’s leading providers of government relations and regulatory affairs at both federal and provincial levels of government.

Gowlings professionals appear regularly before the Supreme Court of Canada. They have acted for the U.S. and Mexican governments regarding the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and the North American Free Trade Agreement, respectively. They have been leaders in the development of landmark Canadian legislation such as the Protection of Personal Information and Electronic Documents Act (C-6) and they continue to provide public policy advice to governments around the world on legislation relating to insolvency and the regulation of financial institutions.

Business Law

At Gowlings, our professionals provide responsive, timely recommendations on business law issues on everything from individual contracts to public offerings.

Recognized as a leading, national firm in business law, we draw on extensive experience across a number of industry sectors including automotive, manufacturing, mining, high technology, oil and gas, finance and investment, venture capital, healthcare and advertising. By understanding the dynamics of various industries, this group provides its clients the best service possible.

Intellectual Property

Since the early 1900s, Gowlings has been recognized as a leader in intellectual property law. The IP group provides representation on all matters relating to the enforcement of patents, trade marks, copyrights, industrial designs, trade secrets and other rights, and the full range of litigation services before federal and provincial courts at both trial and appeal levels.

Many of our IP professionals are ranked as Canadian and world leaders in surveys published by Mondaq, Euromoney, and Lexpert.

In 2006, Gowlings was named by Managing Intellectual Property as “Canadian IP Law Firm of the Year,” and ranked in the top-tier of MIP’s World IP Survey in trade mark and copyright law for the tenth consecutive year, while also achieving top-tier status in patent law.

Advocacy

The Gowlings advocacy professionals have expertise in civil and commercial disputes, insurance, employment and labour relations, administrative and regulatory matters, including competition law, and professional and product liability claims and related matters.

They provide top-level advocacy services within and outside the business community, sharing their expertise with skilled professionals in the firm’s other practice areas. They appear at all levels of the federal and provincial courts and participate in dispute resolution proceedings such as mediations and arbitrations.