The Seven Sisters refers to a collection of seven leading Canadian law firms with offices in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

. The term can be traced back to at least 2001, when it may have been coined by Sandra Rubin to describe the top seven Canadian law firms by mergers and acquisitions deal volume. These seven firms are still referred to as the Seven Sisters, regardless of how their deal volume presently ranks. In alphabetical order the Seven Sisters are:

• Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
  Blake, Cassels & Graydon
  Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP – Blakes for short – is a Canadian-based international business law firm. It is one of the "seven sisters" in Toronto, Canada....
  
  
• Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP
  Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg
  Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP is an integrated firm of more than 240 lawyers with offices in Toronto, Montreal, and New York. It is one of the Toronto law firms known as the Seven Sisters. Davies focuses on business law and is consistently at the heart of large and complex commercial and...
  
  
• Goodmans LLP
  Goodmans LLP
  Goodmans LLP is a Canadian corporate law firm with offices in Toronto and Vancouver. It is one of the seven sisters; a collection of seven leading Canadian law firms with offices in Toronto. First established in Toronto in 1917 by David Bertram Goodman, Goodmans LLP now has approximately 200 lawyers...
  
  
• McCarthy Tétrault LLP
  McCarthy Tétrault
  McCarthy Tétrault LLP is a law firm with offices in Canada’s major commercial centres and in London, UK. It provides business law, litigation, tax, real estate, and labour and employment law services....
  
  
• Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
  Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt
  Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP is one of Canada’s largest business law firms practising nationally and internationally from its offices in Toronto, Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, and New York. It is one of Bay Street's "seven sisters". Clients include industry and business leaders in all segments of the...
  
  
• Stikeman Elliott LLP
  Stikeman Elliott
  Stikeman Elliott LLP is a Canadian corporate law firm. It is known as one of the "seven sisters" in Toronto and has approximately 500 lawyers in five Canadian offices as well as offices in New York, London , and Sydney. It was founded in 1952 by H...
  
  
• Torys LLP

See also

• Magic circle
  Magic Circle (law)
  The "Magic Circle" is an informal term used to collectively describe what are generally regarded to be the five leading UK-headquartered law firms and the four or five leading London-based commercial barristers' chambers.-Law firms:...
  
  , seen as the five (or six) top law firms in the United Kingdom
  United Kingdom
  The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
  
  ; also used to describe the top four Commercial Chambers
  Chambers (law)
  A judge's chambers, often just called his or her chambers, is the office of a judge.Chambers may also refer to the type of courtroom where motions related to matter of procedure are heard.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :...
  
   at the Bar
• Global Quartet or Big Four, referring to members of the Magic Circle
  Magic Circle (law)
  The "Magic Circle" is an informal term used to collectively describe what are generally regarded to be the five leading UK-headquartered law firms and the four or five leading London-based commercial barristers' chambers.-Law firms:...
  
   other than Slaughter and May
  Slaughter and May
  Slaughter and May is an international law firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom and a member of the 'Magic Circle' of leading UK law firms. It also has offices in Beijing, Brussels and Hong Kong....
  
   as it has, in general, not pursued a policy of international expansion
• White shoe firm
  White shoe firm
  White shoe firm is a phrase used to describe the leading professional services firms in the United States, particularly firms that have been in existence for more than a century and represent Fortune 500 companies...
  
  s or Charmed Circle, referring to law firms perceived to be the leading New York City
  New York City
  New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
  
   law firms
• Big Six, referring to six Australia
  Australia
  Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
  
  n law firms perceived to be the top tier
• Big Three, referring to three law firms considered to be the top tier in Texas, United States
• Big Five
  Big Five law firms (South Africa)
  The Big Five law firms is a term informally used in South Africa to refer to those law firms which, collectively, are perceived to be the largest firms based in South Africa....
  
  , referring to the five largest law firms in (South Africa)