Celebrating Black History Month | Linc Rogers
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
Over the past few weeks, we have highlighted Black Americans in the TMA community who represent excellence, resilience, and brilliance on many levels. As we close out our Black History Campaign while remembering the great contributions of those of color have made towards our world, we introduce to you Linc Rogers, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, a Black Canadian of Jamaican heritage.
Rogers was born in the island country of Jamaica and at age 4, his family moved to North America, making Toronto, Canada, their home. A short time later, Rogers’ father accepted a job in the oil industry that required the family to move to Northern Alberta in Western Canada.
Although Rogers’ family resided in Canada, they stayed true to their island roots, as Rogers grew up in a traditional Caribbean household. Reggae and soca music could be heard echoing throughout their home amid the smells of traditional Caribbean food on any given day. Growing up, Rogers always dreamed of becoming a lawyer and following in the footsteps of his maternal grandfather, who was a lawyer and Court of Appeal judge in Jamaica.
With encouragement from his parents and his grandfather and the influence of ‘80s legal shows on U.S. television, Rogers’ dream seemed within reach. He went on to pursue his dream by majoring in political science at the University of Alberta and obtaining a master’s degree in international affairs at the Norman Paterson School for International Affairs at Carleton University concurrently with his law degree from the University of Ottawa. Today he is a member of the Ontario bar and a partner at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP in Toronto and holds such accolades as The Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada (2020–2023) and The Best Lawyers in Canada (2019–2023).
Rogers attributes his success to having a great support system. He stated, “I found I had a lot of support from my firm and my restructuring colleagues. I got lots, and lots, and lots of constructive criticism and feedback, as well as encouragement, mentorship, and guidance. If it wasn’t for that support system, I would have found it much harder to find my footing.”
With Rogers striving and thriving in the restructuring industry, you would have thought being in this field was a part of his plan, but he revealed otherwise. “Getting into the restructuring field was never part of a grand design. In the Canadian legal system, we do a year of articling—a yearlong legal apprenticeship—after graduating from law school. If you article at a larger firm, like I did, you rotate through different practice areas. I asked to do an articling rotation in the restructuring group because it was a hybrid practice that involved both litigation and commercial law. Once I got there, I enjoyed the work, but most importantly, I got to work with great people with exciting practices. When I had the chance to return to the firm as an associate, there was only one area I was interested in pursuing (and that was restructuring).”
Rogers has found much fulfillment in his career and found two things to be particularly gratifying. “When I was in my fourth year of practice, I was asked to do a secondment to our then Chicago office. This provided a great opportunity for me to familiarize myself with the U.S. restructuring practice and U.S. practitioners. It was a fantastic 2½ years where I was able to focus on business development and client relationship building. The second thing was making partner at Blakes, which I did upon my return to Toronto after completing my secondment. Making partner was a long-term goal of mine, and I was very proud of the accomplishment and very grateful for all the help and support that I received,” Rogers said.
Despite now being secure in his space, Rogers spoke of some challenges he faced along the way, especially culturally. “A lot of things were alien to me when I first got to Toronto and started working at the firm. I don’t like hockey, I don’t ski, I don’t own a cottage, I didn’t go to private school, I don’t have a favorite type of scotch. I had to work at making connections and developing relationships. I didn’t always have the same interests as my clients and colleagues, but I was committed to trying to be an interesting person that could discuss my interests in an engaging way,” said Rogers.
Mastering how to make connections has been rewarding for Rogers, especially with his involvement in TMA. “I’ve been a TMA member from almost the very start of my career in 2000. One of my colleagues at the time, Steve Weisz, who is a former president of the Toronto Chapter, really encouraged me to become more involved. Steve introduced me to a lot of members and encouraged me to attend conferences. I’m very glad he did. TMA has been rocket fuel for my career. When I was asked to do a secondment in Chicago, I had never set foot in the city. Because of my connections through TMA, I was able to hit the ground running. Those connections introduced me to a number of other TMA members and got me involved in the Chicago Chapter. I cherish all those relationships and the support they have given me in connection with their Canadian work,” said Rogers.
Rogers is a prime example of what the power of allyship can do and how diversifying the restructuring and turnaround is a win/win situation for all.