Twenty years ago, McKenzie Lake Lawyers employed 15 lawyers working at their head office in London. Since then, the firm has grown to a team of more than 70 lawyers, based in London, Guelph and Victoria, British Columbia. It now has a reach across Southern Ontario, from the Niagara Peninsula to Windsor and north to Manitoulin Island. Michael Peerless, Managing Partner at McKenzie Lake Lawyers says, “We work with individuals and organizations dealing with various legal problems. We are capable of taking on a range of cases from the smallest cases to large and complex real estate and litigation matters.”
Reach and range of legal expertise
Less than an hour away from Stratford, McKenzie Lake is a full-service law firm with a broad range of expertise in numerous industries and practice areas. Excluding criminal matters, the firm handles everything including agri-business, personal injury, real estate and wills and estates. They deal with corporate and commercial cases for small and large business, and they have numerous specialized areas of law such as tax and estates that are complex and ever changing.
Peerless says, “We’re one of the leading class-action law firms in the country and we’re also one of the leading family law firms with a large team of excellent family lawyers and legal staff.” Michael Peerless has 30 years of experience dealing exclusively with class actions, mass torts, and multi-party litigation. He says, “Any legal problem that an individual or small business may have, we can help.”
People can be intimidated by the thought of talking to a lawyer. But Peerless assures people, “We’re a friendly, family-oriented firm. We believe in work-life balance. We don’t have a quota of difficult minimum hours that lawyers need to put in that turns them into machines only doing one thing.”
Leading the way through COVID
Through the pandemic, McKenzie Lake Lawyers continued to work almost uninterruptedly to give their clients the legal advice they needed. Peerless says, “we came back into the office in a very safe way, and we were one of the first businesses in London that were public about requiring vaccination to make it safe for everyone to return to the office. We have 150+ employees whose safe return to the office made a difference not only for our clients, but for local stores, restaurants and businesses in the down-town. Many people in our office including me are still wearing masks. We took it very seriously from the beginning.”
Important to give back
McKenzie Lake is committed to supporting the health and well-being of the community in southwestern Ontario. The firm has been involved with numerous charitable organizations and events for many years, including the United Way.
Last year, Michael Peerless was the Chair of the United Way Lawyers’ Leadership Challenge for the region, which set a record for fundraising. “At McKenzie Lake Lawyers, we have a long tradition of giving back to the communities we work and live in. We encourage our lawyers and staff to get involved with organizations in and outside of the office and we have a very high participation rate that we are very proud of,” says Peerless.
"Our lawyers and staff have supported many organizations over the years, including but not limited to Ronald McDonald House, Spinal Cord Injury Ontario, SARI therapeutic horseback riding, Community Fridge London, Guelph Wish Fund for Children, Guelph Hospital Foundation, the Guelph and London Chamber of Commerce and numerous minor sports teams and initiatives. Peerless confirms that “when we have an opportunity, if we can help, we should. That’s not just donations or sponsorships, that’s being engaged and getting involved.”
McKenzie Lake is a firm proud of their service to clients and the communities they serve. If you need legal advice, please contact McKenzie Lake Lawyers at (519) 672-5666 or visit: www.mckenzielake.com.
