Lexpert Magazine

44 LEXPERT MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2016 | MID-SIZE FIRMS | more cost certainty and cost predictability for our clients. ese are all changes that were brought on by the 2008-2009 crisis and those changes are continuing to rever- berate through the legal market and they're permanent. ere's no doubt about that. "So while we know our competitors at the national firms and the global firms are dealing with knowledge management and project management for lawyers and process improvement and alternative fee arrangements, so are we. at's just part of our world, and we're dealing with it." e roots of Field's predecessor firms date back to 1915, but Casey is acutely aware that sticking with the tried and true won't keep it going another 100 years. "We've trained our lawyers and staff to the mindset that 'because we've always done it this way' is not only a bad answer, it's a hor- rible answer. And it's an answer that is not sustainable at a time of intense economic pressures and changes in the legal market- place. For 20 years we have heard about the predicted demise of the mid-size firm. We never believed it then and we certainly don't believe it now. "ere is a bright future for mid-size firms in the Canadian marketplace, pro- vided we continue to adapt to the changes in the legal marketplace and have a laser- like focus on effective strategy. We don't have the luxury of ignoring the fundamen- tal changes. We've got to be on top of them and we hope, if anything, we might be a lit- tle bit more nimble in responding to them." that into litigation because it's usually got a contentious component." Mid-size firms like WeirFoulds get some reasonably large files, she says. For example, it recently acted for the Liquor Control Board of Ontario on the sale of lands on the Toronto waterfront. "We did the trans- action. en we were rendered our bill, and we heard consistently that our bill was in- credibly reasonable. at we did the work — and it was a large transaction — over a three-year period, with four lawyers in- stead of 44, makes a big difference." Asked whether her firm does much al- ternative fee work, Borsook says: "In prin- ciple, whenever we respond particularly to an RFP, we always give them alternative fee proposals. Always. People may tell you dif- ferently, but the alternative fee most clients seem to be able to get their head around is a discount off of your hourly rate." And hourly rates are a sweet spot for mid-size firms like hers, she says. "Our rates are nothing like at the nationals or interna- tionals. But I always think rates are red her- rings regardless. What matters is how you manage a file. If I manage a litigation file using two lawyers instead of 14, then I can charge the two lawyers out at whatever rate is appropriate in the circumstances." Unlike some mid-market firms that es- chew prime real estate to keep costs down, WeirFoulds is headquartered in the heart of Bay Street's steel and glass towers. Bor- sook says she negotiated a very favourable lease in 2009 when markets were hurting from the financial crisis and built "a very economical office." What does that mean? "We don't have a foyer the size of a football field. We don't have internal staircases, which are a for- tune. Even our bathrooms are somewhat institutional." GARY LUFTSPRING, who was man- aging partner of the former Goodman & Carr LLP, was a champion of the mid-size firm way before it was fashionable to be seen as mid-size, at a time when "mid-size" had a connotation of lesser, second-tier, a place where lawyers who couldn't cut it at large firms went to practice. e perception is changing, he acknowl- edges, but Luspring is not. He's still a champion of the mid-size firm, only now as managing partner of Ricketts, Harris LIKE CASEY, Lisa Borsook, the execu- tive partner of Toronto-based WeirFoulds LLP, is aware that some of the large national firms are rebranding themselves as mid-size in a bid to make themselves more appealing to cost-conscious clients. And she would al- most certainly agree with his assessment of the need for "laser-like focus." But it stops there. Borsook says her firm, with an office in Oakville, Ont., and about 100 lawyers, has all the same pressures as any other mid-size or large firm — but she believes being successful as a mid-size firm means keeping a lean infrastructure. Asked if they have a project-management person in-house, for example, she bursts out laughing at the thought: "e infra- structure associated with being a mid-size firm is really different. I have four people in my business-development department — not, as some firms do, 40 people — and that contributes to the price point. All that infrastructure makes a difference. "People who come here are trained from infancy — the moment we get them — to understand what it means to be at a firm like this. It means they need to understand that we expect them all to be working law- yers, and that we expect them not to rely on institutional clients. We expect them to be entrepreneurial and get to know each of their client's businesses and get to know their clients. ere's a package of qualities we look for that's probably a bit different." Truth be told, that's probably not all that different from the kind of lawyer that a large full-service national or international firm would be looking to land. One of the ways, however, that WeirFoulds differenti- ates itself is, it concentrates on three core practice areas: real estate, litigation and mid-market corporate work. "We really only do those three things. ere are, of course, certain other services we offer because our clients in those three principal areas have demanded it. So we do offer wills and estates, without a doubt, and that's booming. We do offer tax. We do of- fer employment advice, although I'd pop JAMES CASEY > FIELD LAW LLP "We have to maintain a laser-like focus on effective strategy. We don't have the luxury of ignoring the fundamental changes. We've got to be on top of them and we hope, if anything, we might be a little bit more nimble in responding to them."

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