National (May 8, 2026) – Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG) won four awards at the 2026 Benchmark Canada awards gala: Firm of the Year and three Litigator of the Year awards.
Robert J.C. Deane, K.C. won Arbitration Litigator of the Year, Patrick Hawkins was named Health Law/Medical Litigator of the Year, and Andrew Pozzobon was honoured with the Emerging Talent Litigator of the Year award. BLG’s Insurance practice took home Insurance Firm of the Year.
The awards recognize the Firm's work on complex, multi-jurisdictional disputes across Canada, including arbitrations, class actions, regulatory investigations and commercial litigation.
The results capped a strong year of recognition for BLG's disputes practice. Benchmark shortlisted BLG for nine Firm of the Year awards:
- Alberta Firm of the Year
- Arbitration Firm of the Year
- Class Action Firm of the Year
- Construction Firm of the Year
- Health Law/Medical Firm of the Year
- Insurance Firm of the Year
- Labour and Employment Firm of the Year
- Product Liability Firm of the Year
- Securities Firm of the Year
Eight BLG partners were named as finalists for Litigator of the Year awards :
- Robert J.C. Deane, K.C. for Arbitration Litigator of the Year
- Michelle Maniago for Class Action Litigator of the Year
- Caitlin Sainsbury for Competition Litigator of the Year
- Andrew Pozzobon for Energy/Resources Litigator of the Year
- Luke Dineley for Insurance Litigator of the Year
- Patricia L. Morrison, K.C. for Construction Litigator of the Year
- Patrick J. Hawkins for Health Law/Medical Litigator of the Year
- David Di Paolo for Securities Litigator of the Year
Rising talent and national rankings
The 2026 Benchmark Litigation guide includes 80 BLG partners: 72 Litigation Stars and eight Future Stars. Benchmark ranks BLG "highly recommended" across all regions where the Firm operates.
Seven partners advanced from Future Star to Litigation Star this year: Andrew Pozzobon, Erin Cutts, and Loni da Costa (Alberta); Luke Dineley (British Columbia); Graham Splawski and Andrew Punzo (Ontario); and Hugo Saint Laurent and Karine Fahmy (Québec).
Benchmark Litigation evaluates law firms and individual lawyers through peer review interviews, client feedback and case analysis.