When I started this firm in 1989, my vision was to create a small firm of very talented, business-minded lawyers to support owners and managers of privately held companies.  I had come from a large-firm platform where small and mid-sized companies soon discovered that they didn’t belong.  In a nimble boutique environment, I could strip away layers of overhead and focus my attention on attracting the best legal talent available.

With this goal in mind, and a handful of loyal and supportive clients, Baker & Company was born.  Since then I have become a trusted advisor to Presidents and Senior Managers of more than 400 private companies.  Happily, some of my “start-up” clients from the early days are now large and successful companies – and still growing!  Seeing the results of seeds sown so many years ago is one of the truly rewarding aspects of my legal career.

Like other academic careers, studying and learning is a significant component of the everyday practice of law; student life and the associated humility never ends. Fortunately, legal expertise is cumulative and I am the happy beneficiary of more than three decades of practice experience.  I have never felt better prepared than I do now for the diverse challenges that our clients face in a constantly evolving business climate.

I have had the distinct privilege of mentoring many young lawyers who chose to begin their careers in the fast-paced, first quality, practice environment that characterizes Baker & Company. In this academic and supportive environment, they work in teams with more experienced lawyers, performing research and handling routine matters, allowing our senior talent to focus intently on deal design and creating innovative legal solutions.

I am sometimes teased by my colleagues who say that my mind resides permanently at 30,000 feet.  I must admit that this is my favourite perspective from which I approach most problems.  From there, one sees forests and not trees and it is a much better vantage from which to get an early warning of those “lions and tigers and bears” that the Tin Woodsman admonished Dorothy about back in 1939.  Notwithstanding the delight of these lofty views, I have never lost my love for capturing and describing complex ideas in plain English language.  As a student of Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins and Mark Twain, my fascination with language and its power continues to grow.  I spend many hours each week drafting letters, legal opinions and contracts; tasks that require that I be firmly on the ground, delighting in tiny details and consorting with nuance.

Baker & Company is here to support you and your business in a complex legal environment.  True to our initial vision, we offer services at every level of complexity.  Whether you are buying a condo or implementing a tax-driven restructuring, we’d like to help.