Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie LLP

The Canadian model of specialized workplace advocacy, institutional management-side labour relations, and province-wide public and private sector counsel is embodied by Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie LLP. Founded in Toronto in 1972, the firm was established with a dedicated focus: representing employers exclusively in human resources law, collective bargaining, and workplace disputes. Today, Hicks Morley has grown to become Canada's largest employment and labour boutique, fielding more than 120 lawyers across five Ontario offices in Toronto, Waterloo, London, Kingston, and Ottawa. Led by Managing Partner Craig S. Rix, the firm consistently commands the Band 1 ranking in Chambers Canada for Employment & Labour (Management - Ontario and Nationwide) and is perpetually recognized as a top-tier workplace law practice by Lexpert and The Legal 500.

Unlike full-service corporate firms where employment groups often operate as transaction-support divisions, Hicks Morley devotes its entire institutional machinery to human resources law and workplace advocacy. The firm serves as trusted strategic counsel to both major private-sector conglomerates and cornerstone public-sector institutions. Its client roster spans Canada's "Big Five" Schedule I banks, global manufacturers, airlines, telecommunications providers, and major professional sports franchises, alongside widespread representation of Ontario municipalities, school boards, public hospital networks, universities, and police services boards. The firm's advocates appear regularly before the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB), the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB), the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO), grievance arbitration panels, and all levels of civil court.

On the recruitment and talent development front, Hicks Morley runs one of the most hands-on, specialized student programs in the country, hiring cohorts of approximately 11 2L summer students and roughly 10 to 13 articling candidates in its Toronto headquarters. Directed by Director of Professional Resources Cheryl Biehler, the student experience is built around early, substantive advocacy exposure. Rather than spending months on back-office document reviews, students actively participate in grievance arbitrations, collective bargaining sessions, human rights mediations, and wrongful dismissal hearings, drafting pleadings, preparing examination outlines, and engaging directly with client human resources leadership. Operating from the 39th floor of the TD South Tower at 77 King Street West, Hicks Morley pairs high-volume tribunal tempo with a transparent, collaborative culture and dedicated professional mentorship.