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

While pillar two has been enacted on paper in Brazil, companies are encountering a range of practical compliance issues, ITR has heard
Moore, founding partner of the Chicago tax boutique which bears her name, shares her career wisdom for ITR’s new Women in Tax interview series
But partners at the firm admit that jumping ship to the US would not be as easy as some believe
Governments are rewriting tax policy for the AI era, deploying digital taxes, tailored incentives and algorithmic enforcement that redefine where value is created
Wingrove will succeed Bill Thomas, who has served in the role since 2017; in other news, Andersen unveiled a sharp increase in revenues for 2025
Partners are divided on Italy vs PDM D’s analytical depth, evidentiary standards, and what the judgment signals for future intra-group financing cases
As GCCs increasingly become strategic hubs, multinationals face heightened risks around permanent establishment and place of effective management
While all options presented ‘drawbacks’, European Commission tax leader Wopke Hoekstra said the controversial US carve-out deal has ‘many benefits’
From tech preparations to competitiveness concerns, Tax Systems’ Russell Gammon addresses the most pressing client considerations arising from the SbS deal
Despite estimates that the US/OECD agreement will cost countries billions, the Fair Tax Foundation’s Paul Monaghan believes the deal is a ‘necessary evil’
Gift this article