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Mapping Canada’s Law Firms
Inspired by the map that “Mr. Peabody” made of law firm locations in Manhattan, I’ve started to map the location of Canadian law firms, starting here at (my) home, Toronto. Thus far I’ve only got 30 or so mapped. If anyone spots a mistake, please let me know. If your firm is missing… read on.
I’ve opened the project to anyone who wishes to collaborate with me on this. Think of it like doodling: nothing much to do at that meeting? add a firm or two. It’s actually easy to do, and if you find yourself having difficulties, I’d be glad to help you out. (If you’re interested only in following along, there’s an RSS feed for the map.)
Let me know as well if you have ideas or inspirations as to how we might make this map more useful.
Just added a handful of Winnipeg firms. I like the idea.
That’s great, Devin.
I’ve added a couple, too.
I had pondered doing something like this for a while but never got the ball rolling. Thanks for taking the initiative, Simon!
Would it be useful to colour-code the links by the type of law the firms are known for? Is this the type of tool that a potential client would consult? It would be “easy” with the boutiques, but harder (of course) as the firm increases in size and complexity. Unless you could mash it up with the Lexpert rankings or something….
I was thinking about colour coding the little buttons or pins — there’s a number of hues and, in fact, objects to choose from — for size of firm. But I got lazy. Might be too hard to settle on “type” of firm, unless their self-declared as an IP or litigation firm, as some are. My guess, though, is that clients aren’t the likely users for this map, but rather folks in the industry. Keep the ideas coming, though. And don’t let me wet-blanket them.
Okay, I’ve got a suggestion: let’s use different coloured buttons for each province and territory. This will enable us to sort the firms list to the left of the map, alpha within province. We might proceed west to east. If you click the “edit” button at the top of the list, and then click on a firm name, holding down the mouse will let you drag it to the location in the list you want.