In 1912, entertainer Guy Weadick’s dream of a cowboy championship came to fruition with the first staging of what came to be known as the Calgary Stampede.
Meanwhile, across town, two enterprising Nova Scotians were engaging in their own piece of western frontiership, opening the law firm that would one day become the Calgary office of Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP.
The firm will celebrate the joint centenaries by running a chuckwagon in the Rangeland Derby at this year’s Stampede, piloted by former Canadian champion Vern Nolin.
FMC’s Calgary office traces its roots to the firm founded by Lloyd Hamilton Fenerty and Henry Phipps Otty Savary in the city 100 years ago. They rented office space in a building at 8th Avenue and 1st Street SE, just a couple of blocks from FMC’s current location.
By 1985, their firm, Fenerty Robertson Fraser & Hatch, had grown in tandem with the Alberta oil industry, with 60 lawyers calling it home. In 1991, they merged with Edmonton’s Milner & Steer, before two further mergers created the national firm Fraser Milner Casgrain.
“I would like to personally congratulate FMC Calgary on its 100th anniversary,” said Chris Pinnington, FMC’s chief executive officer. “At FMC, every office is a key component of our firm. Our ability to provide our clients with the best legal and professional advice at the national and regional levels is what sets us apart from our competition.”
According to Tamela Coates, the current managing partner of the FMC’s Calgary office, the firm is here to stay.
“FMC has experienced tremendous growth over the past 100 years,” she said ”As business continues to grow and diversify we look to the future, we’ll be there, continuing to provide the high level of client service on which we pride ourselves.”
