Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt: Portrait of a Partnership

David Boyd Morley is a lawyer with the Toronto firm Miller Thomson,
Barristers & Solicitors.

This book’s goals are ambitious ones. It aims to chart the history of
one of Toronto’s oldest law firms, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt, since its
beginnings, when B.B. Osler set up a solo practice in the Town of Dundas
in 1862, as well as to analyze the firm’s progress within the context
of the greater social and political events of the day. In its
storytelling role, the book excels. B.B. Osler had an active litigation
practice. The Tory government chose him as part of its star prosecution
team in the trial of Louis Riel. Cole describes the maneuvering by both
prosecution and defence counsel leading up to Riel’s conviction and
sentencing in a way that makes the trial seem contemporaneous. Readers
interested in corporate skirmishes will also find the book compelling
reading.

Where the book falls short is in its analysis. In trying to cover so
much, it descends in places into a series of vignettes of cases
punctuated by brief descriptions of the firm’s annual profits and the
numbers of lawyers employed. The work was commissioned by the firm, and
Cole deserves praise for maintaining a degree of independence in his
treatment of the subject. As large firms strive to market themselves in
ways that set them apart from their competitors, such histories may
become increasingly popular. Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt is recommended for
law and business-history collections.