TORONTO, July 9, 2012 – Mergermarket.com and Thompson Reuters have recently released 2012 league tables showing Bennett Jones ranking 4th amongst Canadian law firms in terms of deals announced in the first half of the 2012, measured by value. The Calgary-based law firm with offices in Toronto, Edmonton, Ottawa, Beijing and the Middle East is showing no signs of slowing down.

Helping to bolster their ranking are deals like Glencore's $6.1 billion acquisition of Viterra and its related business dispositions, Mitsubishi's $2.9 billion acquisition of a 40% interest in Encana's Cutbank Ridge natural gas assets, NAL Energy's $1.9 billion acquisition by Pengrowth Energy and Flint Energy Services $1.25 billion acquisition by URS Corp. Bennett Jones is also acting as Canadian counsel to Grupo Modelo on Anheuser-Busch InBev's $20 billion acquisition of the Mexican brewer.

These M&A deals combined with strong IPO activity have kept the lawyers at Bennett Jones in both Ontario and Alberta very busy.

"As a lawyer you never want to complain about being busy", says Stephen Bowman, Managing Partner of Bennett Jones' Toronto office, "but our incredible bench strength has enabled us to continue to take on as much work as our clients can throw at us."

Shaky commodity prices and an uncertain economy have seen many firms slow down over the past few quarters. But in Calgary, the heart of Canada's oil and gas sector, nothing could be further from the truth for Bennett Jones.

"We have worked hard to build the depth and experience both in terms of corporate transactions and the oil and gas industry that enables us to meet the needs of a wide range of domestic and international clients. It's gratifying to see the kind of confidence that so many clients have placed in our lawyers", said Perry Spitznagel, Bennett Jones Vice-Chairman & Managing Partner, Calgary.

Whether or not Bennett Jones can keep rolling like it is will soon be seen but for now they don't show any signs of slowing down.

About Bennett Jones

Bennett Jones is home to more than 360 lawyers and business advisors and 495 staff in eight offices – Calgary, Toronto, Edmonton, Ottawa, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha and Beijing. Our firm's leadership position is reflected in the law we practice, the groundbreaking work we do, the client relationships we have and the quality of our people.