Law Times

Page 4 June 9, 2014 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com Federal outside legal spending trending downwards End of cases such as softwood lumber allow for steady decline in use of firms By elizaBeTh Thompson For Law Times OTTAWA — Federal govern- ment spending on outside legal help dropped last year, but while some departments like fisher- ies and labour slashed their ex- penses, others like the powerful Privy Council and the secretive Communications Security Es- tablishment Canada had sharp increases. An analysis by Law Times of spending figures tabled in the House of Commons shows spending on lawyers and le- gal assistance from outside the federal government dropped in the 2013-14 fiscal year, bringing it to one of the lowest levels in the past decade. While the final spending figures won't be avail- able until later this year, docu- ments show that between April 1 and Dec. 9, government de- partments spent $43.6 million on everything from outside law- yers to mediators, arbitrators, bailiffs, and expert witnesses for an average of $5.4 million per month. That was down from $69.7 million or $5.8 million a month the previous year and $80.7 million or $6.7 million a month in 2011-12. In total, between April 2006 and December 2013, the federal government spent $510 million on outside legal services. Carole Saindon, spokes- woman for the federal Justice Department, said the govern- ment's legal agent expenditures have been steadily declining in recent years and last year was no exception to that trend. "The decrease is in large mea- sure associated with the conclu- sion of significant international arbitrations over softwood lum- ber and timber, arising in B.C., Ontario, and Quebec, and the dismissal of cases before the Su- preme Court involving the fed- eral government," she said. While the director of public prosecutions remained the big- gest buyer of outside legal services, its spending was down last year, dropping to $21 million in the first eight months of the year from $37.8 million the previous year. In the documents tabled in Parliament, the service said most of the lawyers it engaged were for federal prosecutions. "The department uses non- government lawyers (agents) to conduct federal prosecutions in areas where it does not have a regional office, or where it is impracticable or otherwise not cost-effective for cases to be handled by staff counsel." Overall, the prosecution ser- vice has spent $244 million on outside legal services since 2006, roughly 48 per cent of the gov- ernment's total spending in the legal area. The Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Develop- ment was the second-largest buyer of outside legal services. Its spending came to $7.6 mil- lion in the first eight months of 2013-14, compared to $10 million in 2012-13. While the department has spent $79.9 million for "legal counsel, legal advice, and other forms of legal assistance by non-government lawyers" since April 2006, it didn't provide any details on the work performed. Spending on outside legal services at the Canada Border Services Agency was on track to finish 2013-14 lower than in 2012-13. While the agency hand- ed out $4 million worth of busi- ness in 2012-13, it spent only $2.1 million in the first eight months of the last fiscal year. According to the documents tabled in Parliament, the agen- cy's biggest spending item for outside legal services last year was $1.9 million for "internal services" followed by $187,820 for criminal investigations. The previous year, criminal investi- gations topped the list of CBSA outside legal services spending at $3.2 million. While the final tab is still unknown, the documents re- veal that only eight months into the year, some federal govern- ment departments had already exceeded their previous year's spending on legal services. The Treasury Board, which oversees the federal public ser- vice, racked up $79,000 in legal services in the first eight months of 2013-14, compared with spending only $1,680 for all of the previous year. At the Privy Council Office, which co-ordinates government departments and serves as the prime minister's bureaucracy, spending on outside legal services shot up, fuelled by the Senate scandal and the legal battle be- tween the prime minister's office and former Conservative cabinet minister Helena Guergis. The documents show the Privy Council spent $232,376 on outside legal talent in the first eight months of last year, versus only $54,643 in 2012-13. The largest legal payout from the Privy Council last year was to Fasken Martineau Du- Moulin LLP. The firm billed $141,847 to represent the prime minister's former chief of staff, Guy Giorno, in a civil suit filed by Guergis. Following that was the $80,028 Bennett Jones LLP billed the Privy Council to rep- resent Prime Minister Stephen Harper aide Ray Novak and Transport Minister Lisa Raitt in the same case. Legal counsel for prime ministerial staffer David Van Hemmen in connection with the RCMP investigation of the payment by former chief of staff Nigel Wright to Sen. Mike Duffy resulted in $10,500 in billings for the Carroll & Wallace law firm. Spending on outside legal counsel by the secretive Com- munications Security Establish- ment, Canada's equivalent of the U.S. National Security Agency, was also up sharply from the previous year. While spending hit $158,157 in the first eight months versus $54,643 in 2012- 13, it was well short of the level in 2009-10 when it hit a high of $821,145. The agency gave no explanation, citing national security issues. While spending on outside legal counsel has been drop- ping, Len MacKay, incoming president of the Association of Justice Counsel that represents 2,700 federal government law- yers, says the government could save money by turning to its own lawyers. "Perhaps we shouldn't be spending money on outside counsel, typically at a much higher rate than we would bill in-house," he says. LT NEWS Visit carswell.com or call 1.800.387.5164 for a 30-day no-risk evaluation 1FSGFDUCPVOEȕ1VCMJTIFE%FDFNCFSFBDIZFBSPOTVCTDSJQUJPOȕ0OFUJNFQVSDIBTF- .VMUJQMFDPQZEJTDPVOUTBWBJMBCMF1SJDFTTVCKFDUUPDIBOHFXJUIPVUOPUJDFUPBQQMJDBCMFUBYFTBOETIJQQJOHIBOEMJOH 0/5"3*0-"8:&3'41)0/�, 5)&.045$0.1-&5&%*3&$503:0'0/5"3*0-"8:&34-"8'*3.4+6%(&4"/%$06354 8JUINPSFUIBOQBHFTPGFTTFOUJBMMFHBMSFGFSFODFTOntario Lawyer's Phone Book JTZPVSCFTUDPOOFDUJPO UPMFHBMTFSWJDFTJO0OUBSJP4VCTDSJCFSTDBOEFQFOEPOUIFDSFEJCJMJUZBDDVSBDZBOEDVSSFODZPGUIJTEJSFDUPSZ ZFBSBGUFSZFBS More detail and a wider scope of legal contact information for Ontario than any other source: ȕ 0WFS27,000 lawyers listed ȕ 0WFS9,000 law firms and corporate offices listed ȕ 'BYBOEUFMFQIPOFOVNCFSTFNBJMBEESFTTFTPGȮDFMPDBUJPOTBOEQPTUBMDPEFT Untitled-5 1 14-02-18 10:29 AM What are the top law firms for work at Aboriginal Affairs? With Law Times having reported last year on large overall litigation bills at Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, new parliamentary figures released as part of an inquiry by Lib- eral MP Sean Casey show which outside law firms the department has been turning to for its legal needs. Below are the top three vendors (according to fees) retained by the department in the last three fiscal years: 2013-14 (covers the period from April 1-Nov. 30) Firm/vendor Fees Cause of action Norton Rose Canada LLP $1,266,022 Oil and gas (department as defendant) ATD Legal Services PC $470,335 Advice on document disclosure (truth and reconciliation) Public trustee of Manitoba $146,087 Agreement to manage mentally incompetent 2012-13 Firm/vendor Fees Cause of action Norton Rose Canada LLP $2,497,292 Oil and gas (department as defendant) ATD Legal Services PC $471,081 Advice on document disclosure (truth and reconciliation) Public trustee of Manitoba $297,507 Agreement to manage mentally incompetent 2011-12 Firm/vendor Fees Cause of action Norton Rose Canada LLP $2,664,278 Oil and gas (department as defendant) Miles Davison McCarthy McNiven LLP $281,474 Oil and gas (department as defendant) Public trustee of Manitoba $255,205 Agreement to manage mentally incompetent

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