McCarthy Tétrault received multiple honours at the annual Canadian Law Awards gala, which celebrate outstanding expertise in the Canadian legal industry. This distinguished recognition underscores our position as our clients’ go-to legal and business advisors across industries. Our accolades include:
Litigator of the Year: Michael Rosenberg. This award recognizes Michael’s leadership, innovation, and dedication in 2025 across a number of important legal decisions, including defending the fundamental rights for vulnerable people, particularly those lacking safe drinking water, adequate housing, and child welfare reform.
Female Trailblazer of the Year (Private Practice):Martha Harrison. This award recognizes Martha’s unwavering dedication to shaping law and policy in an unprecedentedly challenging environment. Martha has built a truly unique, market-leading, international legal practice and has earned a reputation as a go-to expert for Canadian and international clients alike. As one of the few women in this specialized field, she is dedicated to sponsoring and mentoring women across the international trade industry.
M&A Deal of the Year: Cenovus Energy's successful acquisition of MEG Energy under a plan of arrangement, despite a hostile bid from Strathcona Resources. John Piasta led the team that advised Cenovus, and included Mike Bennett, Toby Allan, Farhiyah Shariff, Jack Schroder, Ashley Wilson,Bryce Safton, Jonathan Brisebois, Rahul Bhutani, Conrad Parken, Joe Palin, Trevor Morawski, Audrey Bouffard-Nesbitt, Sean Smyth, Shane D’Souza, Chris Puskas, Thomas McInerney, Brian Bidyk, Ashley Urch, Riley Thackray, Brett Anderson, Matthew Kraemer, Erica Hennessey, Daniel Downie, Jason Gudofsky, Debbie Salzberger, John Gilmore and Susan Nickerson.
Infrastructure & Projects Deal of the Year: Trillium Health Partners C$13.9 billion hospital redevelopment project. We advised Infrastructure Ontario and Trillium Health Partners on the procurement and closing of the first progressive DBFM and one of the largest healthcare projects in Canadian history. Tristan Musgrave led a team that included James Kelsall, Puneet Kohli, Brad Nicpon, Julie Parla, Godyne Sibay, Ian Mak, Anca Neacsu, Scott Chalmers, Carrie Fleming, Ailbish Bruchet, Marie Doyle, Meg Heesaker, Byron Shaw, Sam Rogers, Gurvir Sangha, Cynthia MacDougall, Belinda Schubert, Robert Glasgow, Keith Rose, Kate McNeill-Keller, Chris Zawadzki and Mehak Suri.
Insolvency & Restructuring Deal of the Year: Representing Rothmans, Benson & Hedges in Canadian tobacco's CCAA restructuring and settlement of nearly $1 trillion of claims before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. Chief Justice Morawetz described the restructuring as “among the most complex insolvency proceedings in Canadian history.” Jamey Gage led a team that included Heather Meredith, Trevor Courtis, Meena Alnajar, Paul Steep, Patrick Williams, Raj Juneja, Stephanie Dewey, Jeremy Ho, DJ Lynde, Victoria Everett, Matt Sanders, Etienne Guertin, Sarit Pandya, Nicholas Alevras and Marie-Josée Marcoux.
Commercial Litigation Team of the Year: McCarthy Tétrault for Shamattawa First Nation v. Canada (Attorney General), 2025 FC 1927. Michael Rosenberg and Kosta Kalogiros won judgment on the common issue for First Nations in this class action for Canada’s failure to address long term drinking water advisories. This is the first decision to define the federal government’s legal duty to provide safe drinking water on First Nations reserves, establishing a landmark precedent.
Capital Markets Deal of the Year: Stonlasec8 Alliance's C$736 million investment in Enbridge's Westcoast pipeline. We advised Enbridge Inc. in connection with a historic transaction in which Stonlasec8 Indigenous Alliance Limited Partnership, a partnership owned by 38 First Nations in British Columbia, acquired a 12.5% interest in Enbridge’s Westcoast natural gas pipeline system. Robin Mahood and Morgan Troke led the M&A and financing aspects of the transaction, with Brett Anderson and Kim Brown leading on tax matters, and Robin Sirett leading on regulatory matters. The team included Bryn Gray, Rachael Carlson, Claire Sung, Grace Simpson, Sandra Belton, Michele Zinsli Ma, Isabel Gonzales, Jenna Clark, Matthew Yensen, Trena Graff, Randy Schwartz, Colton Dennis, Craig Shirreff, Donna Dulaba and Majic Greenwood.
Recipients of Canadian Law Awards are determined based upon peer surveys and industry research, led by editors at Key Media, publisher of Lexpert, Canadian Lawyer and InHouse magazines. The awards recognize leading law firms, in-house legal teams, individual lawyers and deals and cases shaping the future of law in Canada. A full list of those recognized can be found on the Canadian Law Awards’ website.