Law Times

Law TiMes • March 21, 2011 NEWS Calgary a key growth area Continued from page 1 European offi ces with a fo- cus on corporate law in Paris and London, England, have been the sites of intense growth, according to David Corbett, Faskens' managing partner. Th at's a common scenario, according to the Robert Half Le- gal survey in which 41 per cent identifi ed corporate law as the sector that will see the most growth in the next three months. Litigation was the second, while intellectual property was third. "What's important is that when we add capacity, that we add strategic capacity," says Corbett. He notes Calgary has been a big growth area for the Lawyer suffered major stress: report Continued from page 1 the penalty phase without giving him adequate notice. Th at consti- tuted a "clear breach of natural justice," wrote Justice Anne Molloy in the Divisional Court decision. She also branded a law society ap- peal panel decision upholding that ruling "inexplicable." In an affi davit fi led with the most recent hearing, Igbinosun said he thought about the law society proceedings every day and that he felt his life was at a "standstill." His wife fi led evidence noting that he was withdrawn, less communicative, and had lower self-esteem. Igbinosun's psychiatrist Dr. Julian Gojer also gave evidence to the law society panel about the toll the proceedings had taken on him. In a report fi led with the hearing, he said Igbinosun presented features of chronic stress, including anxiety, depression, and sleep impairment. "Th e chronic stress of dealing with the law society has generated clinical features akin to a post-traumatic stress disorder along with vegetative signs and symptoms associated with a major depression," reads Gojer's report. "His reaction to the law society pursuing dis- ciplinary proceedings against him for the second time appear to be the cause of this psychological distress." Igbinosun also said the proceedings had damaged his fi nancial well-being. Th e 2006 disbarment came with an $82,000 costs award against him, although this was reduced on appeal. Th e Court of Ap- peal eventually ordered the law society to pay Igbinosun $61,000 for the protracted appeal process, but the lawyer claimed it had cost him $400,000 plus more than $50,000 at the initial hearing. "Costs of that amount are a devastating burden to a single prac- titioner such as the lawyer," wrote Heintzman. Even though he continued to practise, Igbinosun said his reputa- tion had suff ered as a result of the stigma of disbarment. It wasn't until November 2010 that the law society stopped listing the proceedings against Igbinosun as a "discipline history" on its web site. According to Igbinosun, he regularly loses clients unsure about his ability to practise. Th ey include mortgage lenders unwilling to send him real estate fi les. "Th e law society says that these consequences for the lawyer are an expected result of a contentious conduct application involv- ing the possibility of disbarment, namely the costs of appeals, the impact on the lawyer's reputation of the fi nding of disbarment being placed on the law society web site, and anxiety arising from the conduct proceeding," Heintzman wrote. "Th e law society says that the lawyer should just 'suck it up.'" But the panel couldn't agree with that position. It noted that all of the prejudices to Igbinosun "were caused or substantially contributed to by the denial of natural justice" at his original hearing. In addition, the law society had missed numerous opportunities to speed up the process, Heintzman said. Th e LSUC could have pursued its case alongside the criminal matter or at least have con- tacted the complainants "in order to be ready to proceed immedi- ately if the criminal charges were dismissed." Instead, investigators closed the monitoring fi le in February 2004, three months after the stay of criminal charges, and noted that any new proceeding risked dismissal for delay. It was reopened a month later when the com- plainants said they were ready to go ahead. "One would have thought that every eff ort to expedite the mat- ter would have been undertaken," Heintzman wrote. "Instead, it took almost a year for the matter to reach the proceedings authori- zation committee in February 2005." According to Heintzman, the law society must also take respon- sibility for the three-year delay between the initial disbarment and the Court of Appeal's ruling to uphold the Divisional Court deci- sion that overturned it. "[Th e law society] opposed each and every eff ort by the lawyer to overturn the decisions of the hearing panel made on those days. If the law society had conceded that an ad- ministrative wrong had occurred, the re-hearing might well have been held much earlier," Heintzman wrote. Th e decision notes Igbinosun's conduct wasn't exemplary. "On many occasions, the lawyer sought to delay the proceedings," Heintz- man wrote. "His relationships, or lack thereof, with his counsel, also led him to seek deferrals. In virtually every case, however, his delay eff orts were not successful and did not result in any substantial actual delay." In the end, Heintzman called the case an exceptional one in that the prejudice to the lawyer if the proceedings continued outweighed the eff ects on society at large in the event of a stay. Untitled-4 1www.lawtimesnews.com 3/15/11 7:59:47 AM fi rm with four partners recently hired to boost its securities, mergers-and-acquisitions, and restructuring practices. Joining that trend is Torys LLP, which has also targeted Calgary in a move that could see the fi rm grow for the fi rst time in at least four years. Th e fi rm has shrunk every year since 2007, when there were 278 lawyers there. Th is year's tally was 249, a drop of more than 10 per cent, but managing partner Les Viner says size isn't everything. "We believe that we can de- liver the best value to clients by being tightly knit and focused. Th is enhances our depth and our collaborative capability to ensure we deliver on our prom- ise that every client will get the best resources and experience the fi rm has to off er," he says. Th e announcement of the fi rm's third offi ce in Calgary brings seven new lawyers and a plan to take that total to 20 or 30 in the near future. Th e offi ce will focus on energy, securities, infrastruc- ture, mergers and acquisitions, and commercial transactions. "We have thought for quite a while about the importance of being in Calgary," Viner says. "We have focused on building our international network and presence, primarily in China, India, the Gulf, and New York, and Calgary is a natural piece of the puzzle." At McCarthy Tétrault LLP, a small rise in the number of law- yers this year ended a consistent fall since 2007 when there were 669 of them at the fi rm. Now there are 609 lawyers. But Paul Boniferro, the fi rm's national leader of practices and people, isn't scared of shrinking even further if it matches clients' needs. "Th e reality is 2010 was the most successful year in the his- tory of the fi rm," he says. "Pro- ductivity is up, revenue is up, profi ts are up. We're smaller but we're actually achieving more with fewer people." Boniferro monitors issues such as productivity and client de- mands to decide which practice groups need to grow or shrink. At the moment, he says resource- focused sectors like energy and mining are at the top of his list for expansion. It's an approach that Boniferro says has kept Mc- Carthys ahead of the game. "Growth in Canada in the next 10 years or so will be in Western Canada. Th at's why you see some fi rms going out there now that didn't go 30 years ago when we did." Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP also shrank last year. It reported 512 lawyers in this year's survey, 53 fewer than in 2008, while Da- vies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP dropped 10 lawyers in the last year to 240. But Shawn McReynolds, managing partner at Davies' Toronto offi ce, isn't too worried about the decrease. "It doesn't matter much to me at all, quite frankly," he says. "We've never pursued growth as a strategy. Some years are up years and some are down years, but the long-term trend is that we grow slowly and largely organically." In 2009, the fi rm reported 269 lawyers when it included 19 lawyers at Paris affi liate Reinhart Marville Torre. Th e affi liation has since ended, but McReynolds says the move has actually boosted re- ferrals from French fi rms. "If you affi liate with a fi rm, basically everyone else stops sending you work because you're now affi liated with their com- petitor. It was probably the right thing to do in the 1990s when it was established but it was also the right thing to do in 2009 to go our separate ways." PAGE 5

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• Victorious Worker
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