Blakes hires two litigators

International Tax Review is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Garden, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2026

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Blakes hires two litigators

Canadian law firm Blake Cassels & Graydon has taken two tax litigators from rival McCarthy Tétrault.

Ed Kroft QC, a prominent tax litigator, and Deborah Toaze, another tax litigation partner, started on June 21.

Kroft is heading up Blakes' national tax controversy and tax litigation practice from the firm's Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary offices. Toaze is based in Vancouver.

In addition to litigating in the country's major courts, Kroft conducts audit and appeals work and deals with tax authorities in and outside Canada on tax treaty and transfer pricing matters.

Toaze is a lawyer and chartered accountant who acts in disputes involving transfer pricing as well as the taxation of financial institutions and financial products. She has previously worked in industry posts.

 

more across site & shared bottom lb ros

More from across our site

The profession is fundamentally restructuring itself around what tax and accounting work should be, a Thomson Reuters leader told ITR
The big four firm is consolidating 16 entities across the region to create a single 6,000-partner behemoth
Brazil’s tax reform unifies consumption taxes to simplify rules, centralise administration and reduce legal uncertainty
The ever-expansive firm has once again attracted a former ‘big four’ talent to lead the new offering
The amended double taxation avoidance agreement removes France’s most favoured nation status for tax treaty benefits
The levies extended beyond the president’s ‘legitimate reach’, the Supreme Court ruled
While Brazil’s consumption tax overhaul led to a short-term spike in tax advisory demand, we are now in a period of ‘normalisation’ marked by decreased recruitment
The expanded firm will comprise roughly 8,500 employees, including 550 partners; in other news, Paul Hastings and Macfarlanes made senior tax hires
Meanwhile, one expert highlights the importance of separating Venezuela’s tax authority from direct political control after ‘lost decades and isolation’
With PMK 108, Indonesia has upgraded its tax transparency regime for the digital era, focusing on data quality, governance, and cross border exchange rather than expanding regulatory reach
Gift this article