Timeline
1912In the midst of a building boom, the firm of Walsh, McCarthy, Carson and Macleod was founded in Calgary in 1912. The practice flourished and included conveyancing, incorporating companies, and drafting agreements and leases. The full staff was 18 individuals.
William Legh Walsh was the first in a long succession of partners from the firm to be appointed to the bench. Walsh later became the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta.
1912 – 1920
Alfred Henry Clarke became a partner, and the firm forged ahead through the period of the Great War. In 1915 it moved to the then newly constructed Canada Life Building, a building which was to be the firm's home for half a century.
1920 – 1930
W.C. Robertson and A.L. Smith joined Macleod in 1920, and the firm became Macleod, Robertson, Smith and Company. Bernus Winter and Roy M. Edmanson later joined the firm, which brought the number of partners to five.
1930 – 1944
Reflecting the desperate economic times, the firm was reduced to two people during the Great Depression – J.E.A. Macleod and Roy Manning Edmanson.
1933 – 1936
Macleod gave back to the profession by serving as the vice-president of the Canadian Bar Association in 1933 and as the president of the Law Society of Alberta in 1936.
1938
Kenneth Sloan Dixon joined the firm in 1938, articling with Macleod, and formed a lifelong bond with his future partner.
1944
Edmanson was appointed to the District Court of Southern Alberta, leaving founding partner J.E.A. Macleod ‘professionally’ on his own for the first time in 32 years.
The firm became Macleod, Riley, McDermid and Dixon in1944, when two University of Alberta law school classmates, Harold William Riley and Neil Douglas McDermid, asked J.E.A. Macleod to join their recently formed legal partnership. Macleod agreed, upon the condition that K.S. Dixon, then serving in the Navy Reserve, be made a partner on his return from WWII.
1945 – 1950
The post-war building boom created a burgeoning mortgage business, handled primarily by Macleod. Dixon soon created and built up a separate real estate department. With the Baby Boom underway, there was more than enough work for everyone – Dixon in real estate, Riley in litigation, and McDermid in oil and gas.
1951 – 1952
The boom saw the firm expand to eight lawyers and three articling students in 1951. By 1952, the firm had tripled due to the efforts and leadership of Riley, McDermid and Dixon.
1957 – 1963
Throughout this time period, the firm grew to include more new partners, despite the appointments of H.W. Riley (1957) and N.D. McDermid (1963) to the Alberta Supreme Court.
1966
Macleod Dixon's founding father, J.E.A. Macleod, died at 88, having been actively engaged in his practice until only a few weeks prior to his death.
1971
Calgary’s booming population required all types of practices, and the firm prospered. The growing number of partners led the firm to change its name to 'Macleod Dixon Barristers and Solicitors'.
1982
Kenneth Sloan Dixon, founder of the modern Macleod Dixon, passed away, after being with the firm for almost 55 years.
1989
The increasingly large number of lawyers and staff with Macleod Dixon saw the firm move to its existing space in Canterra Tower, where it continued to add floors to accommodate its growing team.
1990
Macleod Dixon proactively entered the global economy with the opening of its first international office in Moscow. Macleod Dixon was the first Canadian firm to practice and be accredited in the Russian Federation.
1994
The Toronto office opened, allowing the firm to more effectively conduct business throughout Canada.
1995
The Almaty, Kazakhstan office opened, allowing Macleod Dixon to better serve customers involved with energy in the Central Asian region. Macleod Dixon was the first Canadian firm to practice in and be accredited by the Republic of Kazakhstan.
1997
The Caracas office (Despacho de Abogados miembros de Macleod Dixon) opened, the first law office in Latin America established by a Canadian law firm. The firm has grown from two lawyers to more than three dozen.
2001
The Rio de Janeiro office opened in Brazil. It is currently associated with Veirano e Advogados Associados, one of Brazil's largest law firms.
The Atyrau office, a satellite of Macleod Dixon's Almaty office, opened to serve clients in this Caspian Sea hub city.
2007
Macleod Dixon LLP celebrates its 95th year of operation as a dynamic firm that has grown from a team of 18 in one office, to over 530 spread throughout seven offices around the globe. During this time, the firm has seen its practice areas increase from three to forty, and its lawyers go on to become recognized globally as international leaders in such fields as regulation, energy, dispute resolution, environmental law, and petroleum law.