Hicks Morley

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).

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

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

• Labour and employment law
• Management-side legal services
• Collective bargaining representation
• Workplace law advisory
• Human resources legal counsel

Headquarters

HQ city

Waterloo

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. 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

Core 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

Named customers8 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct 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

• LinkedInca.linkedin.com/company/hicks-morley
• Instagraminstagram.com/hicksmorleylaw
• Xx.com/hicksmorley

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hicks Morley