The Weekly Brief: November 6, 2026

A Bay Street practice head changed firms this week. Stikeman Elliott hired the lawyer who led McCarthy Tétrault's national insurance and reinsurance group, DLA Piper added a capital markets partner in Toronto, and Calgary gained partners at Miller Thomson and Dentons. Mathews Dinsdale added three labour and employment lawyers in Toronto. In British Columbia, a firm paid the price for failing to supervise a legal assistant with access to its trust account, and Alberta lawyers start choosing their benchers on Tuesday.

Market and pay: a practice head moves, and Calgary adds partners

On October 29, Stikeman Elliott announced that Hartley Lefton has joined as a partner in Toronto, working across its national insurance and reinsurance, financial products and services, and M&A groups. He acts for insurers, reinsurers, brokers, and investors on buying and selling insurers, brokerages, and books of business, and on licensing, financing, outsourcing, and product launches. Stikeman said he strengthens its reach in insurance and financial services (Stikeman Elliott release). He comes from McCarthy Tétrault, where he led the national insurance and reinsurance group after joining as a partner in 2020, and he was called in Ontario in 2007 (Droit-inc).

On November 2, DLA Piper said Andrew Elbaz has joined its corporate practice in Toronto as a partner. His work covers capital markets, M&A, and private equity, and the firm's Canada CEO, Russel Drew, tied the hire to its continued investment in Canada and its capital markets practice. The announcement does not name his previous firm (DLA Piper).

Calgary had a busy week. On November 2, Miller Thomson announced that Jason Wang has joined its Calgary office as a partner in corporate, M&A, and securities. He advises public and private companies, issuers, underwriters, and agents on M&A, equity and debt financings, and capital markets work, including plans of arrangement, takeover bids, and cross-border deals. The firm presented the hire as part of a wider push in business law, following its integration of the Vancouver team from Mogan Daniels Slager in October. The release does not name his previous firm (Miller Thomson).

Dentons added Laura Mensch as an employment and labour partner in Calgary, Canadian Lawyer reported on November 5. Her management-side practice covers workplace investigations, labour disputes, and employment issues in transactions, for federally and provincially regulated employers, public institutions, and First Nations (Canadian Lawyer). It follows the 10-lawyer employment and labour team, led by partners Richard J. Charney, John Mastoras, and Daniel McDonald, that Dentons announced in Toronto and Ottawa on October 13 (Law Times).

Two Toronto firms also grew on November 2:

• Mathews Dinsdale welcomed Jennifer Hodgins and Anne K. Gallop as partners and Julia Bassett as counsel. Hodgins, called in 2011, was a partner in the employment and labour group of an international firm in Toronto and focuses on pay equity and federally regulated employers (Hodgins, Gallop, Bassett).
• KMB Law welcomed Colin Carruthers as a partner and head of intellectual property. Called in 2015, he led the trademark group at a Toronto IP boutique (Precedent).

Every move here is in our partner moves tracker, with its source. Year-end associate bonus season is close: we log each firm announcement in the Bay Street bonus tracker as it is made. If you are weighing a move of your own, start with a lateral business plan.

Regulators: a $45,000 fine for failing to supervise

On November 3, the Law Society of British Columbia announced that Stevenson Luchies & Legh, a Vancouver Island firm, will pay a $45,000 fine under a consent agreement dated October 16. Over eight years starting in 2016, a legal assistant wrote about 95 trust cheques totalling $465,513.40 to a numbered company of which the assistant was a director, for purposes unrelated to the firm's legal work. The firm found the problem in 2024 (Law Society of BC).

The firm admitted that it did not properly supervise an assistant who had access to its trust accounting system and records, that it ran trust shortages, and that it did not keep proper trust records. The law society took into account its quick remedial steps, its hiring of outside accountants to rebuild the records, and the fact that the partners repaid the money personally, so no client lost funds.

The lesson for any firm is about controls, not only honesty. If one person can prepare, sign off, and reconcile trust cheques, the firm, not just that person, carries the risk.

This week: Alberta bencher voting, November 10 to 17

The Law Society of Alberta's bencher election runs from Tuesday, November 10 to Tuesday, November 17 (election notice). Voting is online through eBallot: credentials go by email on November 10 to the address on file, and voting closes at 4:30 p.m. Mountain time on November 17. Active members as of October 20 can vote, and you can select up to 19 benchers (Law Society of Alberta election FAQ).

By the numbers: the Alberta bar

Alberta had 13,117 practising lawyers in the Federation of Law Societies' 2025 statistics report, and only 15 firms with 51 or more lawyers. With a market that size, two partner hires in a week at national firms in Calgary are worth noticing. Our Calgary legal market guide has more on the city.

The Weekly Brief is published every week. Have news about a move, a new firm, or a change in pay? Tell us at will@laterallawreport.com and include a public source.