Hicks Morley
Hicks Morley is a Canadian management-side labour and employment law boutique founded in 1972, with 120+ lawyers across five Ontario offices serving employers in education, healthcare, government, financial services, and manufacturing through billable-hour advisory and litigation services.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1972
- HeadquartersWaterloo, Canada
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Hicks Morley does
Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie LLP is a Canadian management-side labour and employment law boutique founded in 1972 and headquartered at the Royal Trust Tower in Toronto. The firm is organized as an Ontario Limited Liability Partnership and is privately held by its partners, with no external ownership or institutional investors indicated. It employs nearly 250 members, including over 120 lawyers, distributed across five Ontario offices (Toronto, Waterloo, London, Kingston, Ottawa). The practice is exclusively dedicated to advising and representing employers — i.e., management rather than unions or employees — on workplace-law matters.
The firm's service catalogue is built around nine core practice areas: Labour Relations, Employment Law, Litigation, Pensions/Benefits & Compensation, Human Rights, Occupational Health, Workplace Safety & Insurance, Information/Data Security & Privacy, and Pay Equity. Specialized offerings include workplace Cannabis law and dedicated advisory hubs for emerging regulatory topics such as U.S. tariffs. The practice is delivered across more than twenty industry verticals, with Education (school boards, universities, colleges), Healthcare, Government (federal, provincial, municipal), Financial Services, and Manufacturing as primary concentrations. The firm also provides knowledge resources (FTR Now, Case In Point publications) and a structured training-and-events program spanning conferences, in-person and virtual training, webinars, and client-specific training.
Revenue is generated almost entirely through professional service fees on a billable-hours basis, with no disclosed pricing schedules; quotes vary by matter complexity, practice area, and lawyer seniority. The go-to-market is reputation-led rather than sales-led — the firm relies on analyst recognition (Chambers Canada, Best Lawyers, Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, Lexpert Who's Who), thought-leadership publications, training events, and direct lawyer-to-client relationships. There is no reseller, distributor, or technology-product channel. Customer logos include 50+ Ontario school boards, hospitals and long-term care providers, federal and provincial ministries, municipalities, financial institutions, manufacturers, and the Canadian Football League (where partner Stephen Shamie serves as general counsel).
Hicks Morley firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Hicks Morley
- Legal name
- Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie LLP
- Website
- https://hicksmorley.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1972
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Hicks Morley is a Canadian management-side labour and employment law boutique founded in 1972, with 120+ lawyers across five Ontario offices serving employers in education, healthcare, government, financial services, and manufacturing through billable-hour advisory and litigation services.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Hicks Morley industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Labour and Employment Legal Services
- NAICS
- Legal Services (5411)
- SIC
- Services-Legal Services (8111)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Employment & Labor Law (BPAHAAAD)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Labor Relations & Employment Practice Advisory (BPAHAGAK)
Keywords
Where Hicks Morley is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Waterloo
- HQ country
- Canada
- HQ region
- North America
Offices6 records
Markets served
Hicks Morley business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Legal Services: Professional legal fees charged to employers for labour relations, employment law, litigation, pensions and benefits, human rights, occupational health, workplace safety, and information privacy advisory and advocacy services. Revenue is generated through billable hours for legal advice, courtroom and tribunal representation, negotiation, alternative dispute resolution, policy development, and strategic planning.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels6 records
Hicks Morley product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Hicks Morley is a management-side labour and employment law firm providing legal advisory, negotiation, advocacy, and litigation services to employers across Ontario and Canada. The firm's core offering spans collective bargaining, grievance arbitration, wrongful dismissal defense, human rights and accommodation counsel, occupational health and safety, workplace safety and insurance, pensions and benefits, pay equity, and information privacy law, delivered through dedicated practice areas to clients in education, healthcare, government, financial services, manufacturing, and other sectors.
Product overview
Hicks Morley is a management-side labour and employment law firm offering a comprehensive suite of legal services through distinct practice areas including Labour Relations, Employment Law, Litigation, Pensions/Benefits & Compensation, Human Rights, Occupational Health, Workplace Safety & Insurance, Information/Data Security & Privacy, and Pay Equity. The firm serves clients across diverse industries (Education, Healthcare, Financial Services, Government, Manufacturing, etc.) through offices in Toronto, Waterloo, London, Kingston, and Ottawa. Knowledge resources include publications like FTR Now and Case In Point, alongside client training programs. The firm operates as a unified legal practice rather than a software platform or technology product.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Labour Relations Services Advisory and representation on unionized workplace matters for employer clients, including collective bargaining, grievance arbitration, labour board proceedings, and strike management.
- Employment Law Services Advice and representation on non-unionized employment matters for employers, including wrongful dismissal litigation, employment contracts, terminations, and employment standards compliance.
- Litigation Services Courtroom advocacy and tribunal representation for employers covering class actions, directors and officers liability, injunctions, judicial review, appeals, privacy matters, and wrongful dismissal claims.
- Pensions, Benefits & Compensation Services Advisory on pension plan governance, plan administration, investment compliance, employee benefit plans, compensation matters, and pension issues in mergers and acquisitions for employer clients.
- Human Rights Services Advice and representation on human rights issues, discrimination claims, workplace accommodation, and human rights tribunal proceedings for employer clients.
- Occupational Health Services Advisory and representation on occupational health and safety compliance, workplace safety, OHSA orders and charges, and health and safety policies for employer clients.
- Workplace Safety & Insurance Services Advice on workplace safety insurance matters, WSIB claims, workplace safety appeals, and workers compensation issues for employer clients.
- Information, Data Security & Privacy Services Advisory on privacy compliance, data security, information governance, freedom of information requests, and privacy-related litigation for employer clients.
- Pay Equity Services
Companies that use Hicks Morley
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Hicks Morley technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Hicks Morley partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Hicks Morley competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Cavalluzzo LLP: Toronto-based firm with a strong employment and labour practice (including union-side work), competing in the same tribunals and overlapping in Ontario workplace-law matters, though positioned on the worker side of the bar.
- Sherrard Kuzz LLP: Toronto-based employment and labour law boutique serving management-side clients across Ontario, competing directly for the same employer-side mandates in collective bargaining, grievance arbitration, and human rights matters.
- Koskie Minsky LLP: Toronto-based firm recognized for its union-side labour and employment practice, frequently on the opposing side of Hicks Morley matters and competing for visibility in Ontario workplace-law thought leadership.
- Filion Wakely Thorup Angeletti: Toronto-based boutique management-side labour and employment law firm and the most direct Canadian head-to-head competitor to Hicks Morley, with a comparable specialized focus and similarly strong Chambers/Best Lawyers rankings in Ontario.
Emerging players
- Rubin Thomlinson LLP: Toronto-based workplace investigation and employment law firm; competes for employer-side mandates around workplace investigations, harassment, and human rights that overlap with Hicks Morley's human rights and occupational health practice.
Broad incumbents
- Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt: Top-tier Canadian law firm with an employment and labour group serving corporate clients; competes with Hicks Morley particularly for sophisticated corporate employment mandates, executive compensation, and pension matters.
- Norton Rose Fulbright Canada: Global law firm with a major Canadian employment and labour practice that competes with Hicks Morley for large multi-jurisdictional employer mandates, offering broader geographic reach at the cost of specialist boutique focus.
- McCarthy Tétrault: Leading Canadian national firm with a top-ranked employment and labour practice, frequently competing with Hicks Morley for in-house counsel mandates from large Ontario-based employers, financial institutions, and public-sector bodies.
- Fasken Martineau DuMoulin: National Canadian firm with a strong employment, labour and human rights practice, competing for the same institutional and corporate clients and offering full-service capabilities that a boutique cannot match.
- Stikeman Elliott: Canadian national firm with an active employment and labour practice, particularly strong in executive compensation and senior-level mandates; competes for premium corporate employment work that may otherwise route to Hicks Morley.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Hicks Morley social profiles
Digital presenceHicks Morley financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Hicks Morley leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
Hicks Morley funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Hicks Morley M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Hicks Morley
What does Hicks Morley do?
Hicks Morley is a management-side labour and employment law firm providing legal advisory, negotiation, advocacy, and litigation services to employers across Ontario and Canada. The firm's core offering spans collective bargaining, grievance arbitration, wrongful dismissal defense, human rights and accommodation counsel, occupational health and safety, workplace safety and insurance, pensions and benefits, pay equity, and information privacy law, delivered through dedicated practice areas to clients in education, healthcare, government, financial services, manufacturing, and other sectors.
Is Hicks Morley a public or private company?
Hicks Morley is a private company. It is classified as management employee owned and is currently operating.
When was Hicks Morley founded?
Hicks Morley was founded in 1972. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Hicks Morley based?
Hicks Morley is headquartered in Waterloo, Canada, in the North America region.
How does Hicks Morley make money?
One revenue line is on record: legal Services.
Who are Hicks Morley's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Cavalluzzo LLP, Sherrard Kuzz LLP, Koskie Minsky LLP and Filion Wakely Thorup Angeletti. Rubin Thomlinson LLP is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada, McCarthy Tétrault, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin and Stikeman Elliott.
Does Hicks Morley have an API?
No public API is recorded for Hicks Morley.
What industry is Hicks Morley in?
Hicks Morley's product category is Labour and Employment Legal Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHAAAD, Employment & Labor Law, with a secondary code of BPAHAGAK, Labor Relations & Employment Practice Advisory. Its NAICS code is 5411 and its SIC code is 8111.