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Aikins Law

Aikins MacAulay & Thorvaldson LLP (Aikins Law) is a law firm based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Established in 1879 by James Aikins, Aikins, MacAulay & Thorvaldson LLP is the oldest and largest law firm in Manitoba.

History
Born and educated in Ontario, James Albert Manning Aikins arrived in Winnipeg in 1879 at the age of 28. At the time, Winnipeg’s population was 6,500.

On February 19, 1879, Aikins began in a little office over a book and stationery shop on Main Street. Within a few years of Aikins arriving in Winnipeg, the city’s population tripled. Aikins had established his firm at the beginning of Winnipeg’s most dramatic period of expansion – the years prior to the First World War.

Aikins took on partners and their practice expanded with the city’s growth. By 1881, publicly supplied electricity became available in Winnipeg, sparking an industrial boom. For years, Aikins acted as counsel to the Canadian Pacific Railway. The Aikins firm incorporated Great West Life.

Aikins had an eye for legal talent and hired and trained some of Manitoba’s best lawyers including Isaac Pitblado and D. A. Thompson (who each went on to form competing firms). In 1914, Hugh Robson of the Aikins firm helped found the University of Manitoba Law School. Later that year, James Aikins was instrumental in establishing the Canadian Bar Association. For that, and a lifetime of community service, James Aikins was knighted in 1914.

In 1919, a young lawyer from Morden by the name of John A. MacAulay caught the attention of Sir James Aikins. Sir James took the young lawyer under his wing and it was not long before MacAulay became one of the leaders of the firm.

It was at about this time that Sir James stepped back from the practice of law. Always active in politics, he was elected to Parliament. In 1916, Sir James was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba, a position he filled for years. Sir James died in 1929, the same year his firm was celebrating its fiftieth anniversary.

In 1969, Aikins acquired its present day name when the Firm merged with Thorvaldson and Company, led by Senator G. S. (Solly) Thorvaldson. With the merger, Aikins became the largest law firm between Toronto and Vancouver at that time.

The law firm Sir James Aikins established continued to grow and prosper. In 1973, Brian Dickson, a former Aikins partner, was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada, and in 1984 was appointed Chief Justice of that court. In 2006, another former partner, Marshall Rothstein was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Areas of Practice

 * Aboriginal
 * Alternative Dispute Resolution
 * Arbitration
 * Bankruptcy, Insolvency and Corporate Recovery
 * Class Action
 * Closely Held Companies
 * Construction
 * Corporate and Commercial
 * Criminal Law and Regulatory Offences
 * Environmental
 * Family
 * Financial Services
 * Immigration
 * Insurance
 * Labour and Employment
 * Litigation
 * Mergers and Acquisitions
 * Municipal
 * Pension
 * Real Estate - Commercial
 * Real Estate - Residential
 * Securities
 * Taxation
 * Technology, Privacy and Intellectual Property
 * Transportation
 * Wills, Trusts and Estates

Awards
2012 - Aikins won first place at The Legal Marketing Association’s Your Honour Awards in the advertising campaign category for the Aikins Was There campaign.

Notable Firm Lawyers and Alumni
Martin Freedman Richard J. F. Chartier John A. MacAulay Barbara Hamilton Martin S. Minuk Marshall Rothstein Lori Spivak Brian Dickson

World Services Group
Aikins is a member of World Services Group, a global network whose members are among the top providers of professional business services. World Services Group has more than 130 member firms representing worldwide clients.