Blake Cassels and Graydon’s Vancouver office held an event on January 14 headlined by Olympic snowboarding gold medalist Ross Regaliati. “Blake House” was set up on its 23rd floor, where clients and visitors could relax in front of flat screen televisions while sipping drinks from a bar. The firm is distributing 600 tickets to events including the Canada-U.S. hockey game on February 21st. Senior litigation partner Marvin Storrow helped campaign to bring the Olympics to Vancouver in the early part of the decade. He is renowned in Canada for bringing the first test cases affirming the rights of Aboriginal people in the 1970s. He was one of two partners at the firm asked to carry the Olympic torch.
Two firms also directly sponsor Olympic athletes. Stikeman Elliot sponsors Zina Kocher. Kocher is competing in the winter biathlon, which combines cross-country skiing and target shooting. Osler Hoskin & Harcourt sponsors speed skater Clara Hughes, who is also Canada’s flag bearer in the games. Hughes is the only Canadian athlete to win medals in both the summer and winter Olympics. In 2006 she won a gold and silver medal at the Torino winter games. She won two bronze medals in cycling in the Atlanta summer games in 1996.