Lawyers Benching Themselves -- By Daniel Strigberger

By Daniel Strigberger

Every year when I participate in articling student interviews it amazes me when candidates advise of the going salaries for students and associates at some law firms across the Greater Toronto Area. Frankly, I don't see how many of these firms can justify paying junior lawyers so much money. I also don't see how this trend can continue for much longer. I am sure that a news article like the following will appear in due course in a legal publication near you:

TORONTO (Legal Press): Citing tough economic conditions, Canadian law firm senior partners are attempting to crack down on grossly inflated lawyer salaries by taking a tough stance when renegotiating employment contracts. Consequently, some lawyers have responded by refusing to practice law until they were granted higher salaries.

Just last week, Manny Guilbault, of Donovan & Bene LLP announced that he would not be honouring the final year of his contract. Mr. Guilbault simply asserted that he is ranked among the cream of the crop of Toronto area lawyers and that he would not be attending another single ex parte application until his firm renegotiated his contract. The firm immediately suspended the disgruntled lawyer. Guilbault was not available for comments, as following his announcement he immediately left to practice his legal skills in Switzerland.

“This has got to stop,” asserted Saul Donovan - senior partner of Donovan & Bene – while speaking yesterday at a press conference outside Osgoode Hall. “These hot shot associates think they can just win some motions or cases and then demand more money. An Examination for Discovery goes well and suddenly they think they deserve the Lawyer of the Year award.” When asked if the firm would consider moving Guilbault to another law firm, Donovan responded, “Yeah we’ll move him - when Calgary wins the Stanley Cup!”

Guilbault is not the first lawyer recently to refuse to practice law with his firm. Seven months ago, Frederic Ferron of Karman Saunders demanded that the firm either pay up or trade him to another law firm. To date, Ferron remains a member of Karman Saunders. In the mean time, he continues to wait for a trade while doing mostly defence work as duty counsel at the Manotick Court House.

Some small to mid-sized firms, being unable to satisfy increasing salary demands from their more prominent lawyers, have resorted to trading their top counsel to other firms, hoping to receive some prospect lawyers in return. The latest example of this happened three weeks ago when Beaudoin and Associates sent its top Tax lawyer - Emma Netherland - and a receptionist named Sybil to the colossal Bay Street firm of Winsor Worsley LLP in exchange for two first year associates, a summer student, and a conditional second round draft pick in next year’s articling interview week. Immediately after the deal, Winsor Worsley awarded Ms. Netherland with a new contract, doubling her salary. As well, Sybil is now earning a whopping $625,000 a year.

Meanwhile, following the trade, the next qualified tax expert at Beaudoin and Associates is Ms. Jane Torre, who specializes in developing witty and cunning techniques on avoiding paying the Ontario PST charged on fast food orders above $4.00. According to Torre, “If you buy a burger for $2.75, a Coke for $1.00 and some fries for $1.50, you get nailed with the PST for purchasing food costing $5.25. Therefore, I always tell my clients to order the burger separately from the fries and Coke. It works every time!”

What is causing these inflating salaries? Many senior partners around the bar blame the larger law firms for the rapid increase in lawyer salaries. “The problem with lawyer salaries lately has been that the larger firms are willing to pay their lawyers an astronomical sum,” argues Petulia Milosh, an International Law expert with the four-member firm of Milosh, Failes, Rehner & Sandler LLP. Milosh specifically blames the prestigious Toronto law firm of Bhusari Rowe LLP, which has been notorious for awarding mediocre lawyers with high salaries and bonuses. In fact, as of the past eight months, Bhusari Rowe has signed five new veteran lawyers to hefty salaries, giving the firm the largest payroll in Toronto. Ironically, the firm has struggled this year, winning fewer cases than ever before. Milosh concludes, “The net result is that smaller firms won’t be able to compete. Consequently, they will be forced to either lose their top lawyers to these mega firms or move their practices altogether to larger American cities.”

Marilyn Failes of Milosh, Failes suggests that the legal practice will continue to suffer until an efficient collective bargaining agreement can be reached between senior partners and lawyers. “If we must resort to another lock-out, so be it,” added Failes, referring to the much-publicized incident two years ago where several law firms replaced their dishevelled lawyers with replacement clerks and articling students.

One thing that remains to be seen is whether the law firms will maintain their tough stance against hold-outs like Guilbault and Ferron. “We’ll just have to rely on the rest of our lawyers to hold the fort until we figure out the Guilbault mess,” Donovan said. “Otherwise, we’ll start routing for Calgary!”

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© 2007 Daniel Strigberger. This article CANNOT be copied or reproduced in any way without the expressed written consent of the Author.