Steve McKersie, Law’98, CEO of Gowling WLG, follows three Queen’s Law grads and colleagues into the firm’s leadership and history
Ask Steve McKersie about his role as CEO of Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP and he’ll use the metaphor “standing on the shoulders of giants” repeatedly, both in reference to the top position he was elected to in January 2022 and the mentoring he has received throughout his 25-year career. He also recognizes the leadership of the three alumni who were his predecessors as managing partner/CEOs: Robert Laughton, QC, Law’62 (who died in 2019), Scott Jolliffe, Law’76, and Peter Lukasiewicz, Law’79.
Finding mentors was something McKersie learned to do early in his career. “As an articling student and new lawyer, I spent hundreds of hours discussing the profession with senior partners, getting the mentorship in law that I didn’t have growing up in a family without any lawyers,” he recalls. McKersie, who has spent his entire career at Gowlings, draws a direct line from their mentorship and other in-house relationships to his current position. He credits that counsel with infusing a strong sense of the firm’s values. “They talked about Gowlings’ history, what worked, what needed fixing,” he says. “They were just very connected with the firm and its storied history.” At that time (late 1990s) Gowlings was making its first identity shift, from a regional Ottawa-based powerhouse to a national player.
That relationship-building that McKersie credits as foundational to his career began at Queen’s Law. Growing up in Arthur, Ont., a small community north of Guelph, and descended from generations of Scottish farmers, he was nonetheless intrigued by corporate and criminal law. At Queen’s, the BCom grad (Guelph) thrived as a student volunteer with the Correctional Law Project (CLP, now Queen’s Prison Law Clinic). Representing prisoners at local penitentiaries helped hone his advocacy skills, he says; “It was a great way of learning how to think on your feet.” He credits then-CLP director Charlene Mandell and then-staff lawyer Robert Goddard, Law’90, with first demonstrating to him the inspiration and confidence an aspiring lawyer can gain from effective and empathetic mentorship.
After graduation, McKersie moved to Ottawa to article with Gowlings, where he connected with the first group of his law firm “giants” (including Laughton), became involved in the firm’s development, and discovered a passion for mergers and acquisitions (M&A). “Since my early days, I’ve always thought, ‘How can I influence how successful we are as a firm, how we better serve our clients, and how we continue to grow?’”
After the tech bubble burst in 2001, McKersie took a leap to the firm’s Toronto office, a hotbed for M&A, technology law, and financial services. Gowlings was then merging with another Bay Street firm (Smith Lyons), and he again developed strong relationships with the senior partners at the merged firm, his “new giants,” including Robert Milnes, Law’69, and Hugh Christie, Law’81. McKersie became an equity partner in 2007 and was heavily involved in the firm’s 2016 merger with U.K.-based Wragge Lawrence Graham and Co., leading to today’s 1,500+ lawyers in offices around the world. He was also overseeing relationships with U.S. law firms and taking over retiring partners’ clients, including Molson Coors, Canadian Standards Association, and ADP.
McKersie says he likes being a “trusted advisor” to clients. “I value relationships and draw energy and inspiration from other people,” he says. As CEO, he still manages the firm’s relationships with his major clients, but his focus is mostly on leading and inspiring his team, plus creating closer ties with clients and such other stakeholders as governments, referring law firms, and competitors.
Looking back to when fax machines were a young lawyer’s staple, he observes how much faster delivery of legal services has become and with it the scope of relationships, both internally and across the profession. As for the way the pandemic particularly revealed global possibilities, he says, “I’ve been able to Zoom into the living rooms of other CEOs, and it doesn’t matter if the client is in Toronto, Manchester, or Shanghai.”
While that’s exciting, he has been equally focused on moving back to meeting face-to-face. “While you can expand the scope of your connections,” he explains, “you can’t extend their quality without seeing people in person – connecting with our teams at Gowling WLG, reconnecting with our clients, and reinforcing our internal brand and culture.” Building on Gowlings’ reputation for innovation and increasing its diversity are additional goals.
As McKersie ascended to the top job, two things remained consistent: his leadership philosophy “centered around people and encouraging relationship-building internally” and his respect for the firm’s history. Of his Queen’s Law predecessors, he says, “Peter, Scott, and Bob were each and all instrumental in growing our firm and set a very high bar for me. I looked up to them as leaders and I’m honoured now to build upon their legacy as our firm continues to come together to write Gowling WLG’s next chapter.”
By Suzanne Bowness