Peter Blaikie: Donald Johnston

Donald Johnston: We started this firm on a handshake, not on a partnership contract, because we knew that it had to be founded on trust, says Roy Heenan, referring to the firm he launched with Donald Johnston and Peter Blaikie, according to The Star. By any measure, Heenan Blaikie was a great success story and Forty years ago, three friends gathered over drinks at McGill University, their alma mater, and agreed to launch a law firm in Montreal. They sealed the deal the way friends do they shook on it. In the early days, the lawyers relaxed by throwing a football around the office. Then Johnston became an MP, so his name came off the door. Former prime minister Pierre Trudeau joined in 1984, and a rush of marquee names followed. In what seemed like no time at all, the firm had 500 lawyers with offices across the country and in Paris. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.