Aird & Berlis LLP

The Canadian model of urban development leadership, single-office agility, and top-tier mid-market corporate advisory is personified by Aird & Berlis LLP. Founded in Toronto in 1953, the firm was established to provide institutional corporate clients with highly focused, agile legal representation without the overhead and rigidity of multi-national mega-firms. Operating out of a single flagship office at Brookfield Place (181 Bay Street), Aird & Berlis fields more than 200 lawyers and advisors. Led by Managing Partner Jill Fraser, the firm consistently commands Band 1 rankings in Chambers Canada for Real Estate: Zoning/Land Development (Ontario), while maintaining premier national standings in Restructuring & Insolvency, Tax, Energy, and Cannabis/Life Sciences.

Aird & Berlis is widely regarded as the undisputed leader in Ontario municipal and land use planning law, shaping the skyline and infrastructure developments of the Greater Toronto Area and beyond. The firm's municipal and development team acts for leading residential and commercial developers, infrastructure consortia, and public municipalities before the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT), municipal councils, and appellate courts. Beyond its municipal pillar, Aird & Berlis maintains a formidable corporate/commercial, real estate, and restructuring bench, advising major Canadian financial institutions, private equity funds, and middle-market growth companies on domestic M&A, project financings, and cross-border insolvencies.

On the recruitment and talent development front, Aird & Berlis runs an engaging, high-touch program, welcoming cohorts of approximately 12 to 14 2L summer students alongside 12 to 14 articling candidates each year. The firm utilizes a structured rotation system across Corporate/Commercial, Litigation, Municipal/Land Use, and Real Estate/Tax, giving students substantive drafting responsibilities, direct client exposure, and attendance at OLT hearings and commercial closing tables from day one. Operating from the 18th floor of Brookfield Place at 181 Bay Street, Aird & Berlis pairs high-calibre transaction and tribunal tempo with an open-door, highly collaborative culture.