48 LEXPERT MAGAZINE
|
JUNE 2017
OR
FEATURE
TIMOTHY MURPHY,
a partner at McMillan LLP, was having lunch with Christo-
pher Sweeney, co-founder and CEO of ZSA Legal Recruitment, at a downtown Toronto res-
taurant called Reds when the conversation turned towards innovative programs McMillan
was considering as it, like so many other law firms, looks to cut costs and deliver better value
for clients. At the time, McMillan was looking at building a homegrown network of con-
tract lawyers, tapping its alumni and lawyers on the Street who might be bumping up against
mandatory retirement or who might prefer occasional work. Sweeney seized the opportunity
to talk about LexLocom, a company ZSA started that provides outsourced contract lawyers,
among other services. He suggested they talk about a possible deal.
A few weeks later, Sweeney and his partner Warren Bongard were in a McMillan board-
room meeting with Murphy and Peter Willis, another senior McMillan partner, and they
made their pitch for a formal relationship with LexLocom. Willis says the ZSA partners were
pleasantly surprised when McMillan said it wasn't just interested in doing something, but
"interested in doing something exclusive with them."
at was the beginning of what was to become a partnership. It took a long time to get the
deal actually signed because McMillan spent a great deal of time internally looking at various
structures. It ultimately decided to set up a separate subsidiary law firm called Prefix Legal
LLP that offers only contract lawyers. And those contract lawyers come only from LexLo-
com, with the work being reviewed by McMillan. LexLocom lawyers will be charged out at
between $110 and $175 an hour.
CASUAL COMMITTED?
Law firms working with outsourcers have
pursued various strategies in their hunt for
efficiency. Some have merged, while others
prefer alliances or loose relationships.
Which strategy will win out in the end?
BY SANDRA RUBIN ILLUSTRATION BY ANDRE DA LOBA
