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{Local law firms embrace global merger trend}
Elizabeth Yip and seven other lawyers in McCarthy Tetrault's real estate group left the firm this summer to create Terra Law LLPBy Glen KorstromTue Aug 27, 2013 12:01am PSTThe trend toward international law firms merging with their Canadian counterparts is prompting national firms to take pricy steps to attract corporate suitors.Legal industry insiders say these grooming strategies can be so expensive that they alienate some partners,[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]moncler outlet[/url],[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]moncler outlet[/url], who leave because they doubt that being part of a multinational firm is in their professional interest.Expenses accumulate when firms add administrative staff and new layers of bureaucracy materialize, said Warren Smith, who is managing partner at the legal recruitment firm Counsel Network. "If you're wanting to build a large national or international platform, there are some things that you're expected to do in terms of your brand, your integrated marketing approach and your profile,[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]moncler on sale[/url]," Smith said. "You're trying to build a business as much as a law firm."That means adding positions such as a director of diversity, a director of e-library services and a director of student interns among others. Partners at firms such as McCarthy Tetrault LLP and Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG) say the new administrative positions add value for clients and that an international merger has not yet been necessary to serve clients.McCarthy Tetrault has provided value for clients through informal relationships with foreign law firms,[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]moncler down jackets[/url], said partner Matt Peters.Miller Thomson, meanwhile, has done the same thing through its affiliation with the international law association Multilaw.Regardless of why administrators and bureaucracy are added, Smith said lawyers in higher- billing or more profitable areas of law such as mergers and acquisitions are able to shoulder the burden of higher shared costs better than other lawyers.Those who practise in more niche or localized areas, like real estate or labour law, might find their practices can't charge the high rates needed to pay for the added expenses.Lawyers might then leave big firms to join boutique firms, said Geoffrey Litherland,[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]moncler down jackets[/url],[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]moncler sale[/url], who is managing partner at Harris and Co., which specializes in labour law.He added that Harris and Co. has recruited several lawyers from big firms though not from those that most recently embarked on international mergers.In April, Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP merged with U.K.-founded SNR Denton and France-founded Salans to create Dentons Vancouver. In February, Fasken Martineau LLP completed its merger with Johannesburg-based Bell Dewar, giving it the largest international footprint of any Canadian-based law firm. The mergers follow the joining of London-based Norton Rose with two Canadian firms: Ogilvy Renault LLP in May 2011 and MacLeod Dixon LLP in January 2012.International firms seeking to merge with Canadian firms that handle high-end merger and acquisition files are likely to look at what are widely known as Canada's Seven Sisters, said Miller Thomson LLP managing partner Owen Pawson.Those firms, which are top seven Canadian law firms in Toronto ranked by mergers and acquisitions deal volume, include four with a Vancouver presence: Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP; McCarthy Tetrault LLP; Stikeman Elliott LLP and Goodmans LLP."Those firms charge high rates and have the top-market clientele that goes along with that,[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]moncler sale[/url]," Pawson said.Pawson's firm targets mid-market clients and key players in regional markets across Canada. Winning work from those clients is less expensive so the firm doesn't have to spend the capital needed to bid for work from top-tier national and international clients, he said.Those savings trickle down in the form of lower fees.Small boutique firms such as Terra Law LLP are similarly able to charge less. The eight-lawyer boutique real estate law firm was created this summer when its partners broke away from McCarthy Tetrault. Terra Law partner Elizabeth Yip told BIV that her firm can offer cheaper rates than the big firms because expenses are significantly lower. Much of that saving comes in the form of fewer administrative staff.The catch-22 situation is that, with fewer administrators, lawyers likely get caught up doing work that is most efficiently handled by employees whose time is less valuable, said Borden Ladner Gervais LLP managing partner Don Bird."If lawyers can be out there billing at their hourly rates instead of dealing with administrative matters, then the firm will be better off." •Tags: law,[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]moncler on sale[/url], Fasken Martineau, international law, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP, McCarthy Tetrault LLP, Miller Thomson LLP,[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]discount moncler jackets[/url], Stikeman Elliott LLP, real estate,[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]discount moncler jackets[/url], Ken Martin
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