The Suit Magazine

William S. Gange, a partner with Gange, Goodman & French, has always put the needs of his clients, staff, and family at the top of his list of priorities.  Handling cases in a way that reduces costs and keeps the decision-making process in his clients’ hands as much as possible, Gange has established a boutique law firm that can handle large and small clients, both locally and internationally. 

The firm’s expertise is civil litigation involving contractual disputes, public inquiries, issues of liability and intellectual property issues.  With a strong background in insurance law, the team of seven lawyers handles cases primarily in Canada’s Manitoba province.  Much of Gange’s work involves arbitration.  “Not many cases go to court. There’s a lot of dancing beforehand; it’s too expensive to go to trial, and you’re putting the decision in the hands of a third party,” Gange said in his interview with The Suit Magazine.

Gange has handled cases at every level of the Canadian legal system.  He tried a case which made its way to the Supreme Court of Canada, involving a constitutional challenge to the validity of Manitoba legislation.  At the same time, Gange believes in representing those who are not of means, in cases where he may not receive robust compensation.  “In one case, I acted for an elderly woman whose husband was no longer competent,” he said.  “She was crotchety and short-tempered, but I got her the assistance from the court that she required.  When my child was born a year later, she saw a notice and sent me $20.  It was one of the most sincere moments of appreciation of my career, and when she died her son called me to tell me that his mom often spoke about me.” 
His concern for the human impact of law also found expression in an eight-year participation in the Manitoba Law Society.  As he explained, “In Canada, every province has a law society to protect the public and a bar association to promote lawyers.  The law societies have focused on accessibility to the legal system, making it affordable.  The law societies also provide input to lawyers, sometimes from non-lawyers, helping to shorten the time to get a case into trial, with less game-playing.” 
Gange’s emphasis on integrity has benefitted his firm in many ways, one of which is receiving conflict referrals.  “Disputes arise where both parties are represented by the same 80-member law firm,” he said.  “So they have to have someone to send one of the parties to without losing the client, and that’s us.”

When asked about suggestions for improving the Canadian legal system, he quickly answered, “The appointment of judges is the single most important ingredient to integrity – we need less political interference,” elaborating, “In Canada there are provincial and federal judges.  The provincial system for choosing judges is fair and transparent; you pick from three of the most qualified candidates.  At the federal level, the process is to just create a list of ranked candidates labeled as either appropriate or non-appropriate, and it takes political connections to make the list.”

In the end, William S. Gange has relied on some simple words in order to maintain his perspective.  One of his first legal positions was with Kerr Twaddle & Associates.  He said, “Kerr Twaddle always stressed, ‘The most important thing in life is family, not work’, and that has been the guiding principle of my law firm.”

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