Law Times

Page 2 NOVeMBeR 16, 2015 • LaW TIMeS www.lawtimesnews.com NEWS Cotterman. "All of this is in- formed by the input decision- makers get from partners and other sources." The four Ps — production, procurement, proliferation, and profitability — are the major objective metrics. But they have evolved as well. Not only are production, procurement, and proliferation becoming subject to ever-more refined analysis, but profitability, the newcomer to the game, has the potential to significantly affect partner com- pensation. For its part, production is simple enough and really hasn't changed. "It's merely the level of fee generation from your own legal work," says Cotterman. But origination is evolving into procurement, a more com- plex concept. "Procurement embraces not just a partner's book of business but a more nuanced look that measures the extent to which the partner has increased the firm's percentage of the client's buy," says Cotterman. Proliferation refers to new business generated from an ex- isting client by a partner who's not the originating lawyer. The upshot is that as work spreads around the firm, part- ners are increasingly sharing what they used to call originat- ing credits with the originating lawyer. "There's more and more credit shifting going on as firms focus on getting senior partners to hand off relationships by way of ensuring continuity in the long run," says Cotterman. The profitability criterion isn't entirely new, however. "Until as recently as a year ago, I'd say profitability was a hygiene issue dealt with in the context of the work partners put in to do things like collect fees expeditiously and obtain retain- ers," says Cotterman. "But now, it's a health issue that's shifting the spotlight from revenue to the bottom line." In other words, firms are fi- nally, if belatedly, recognizing that the bottom line is profit rather than revenue. "Firms are expecting part- ners to maximize efficiencies and control their practices instead of being satisfied just bringing in the work and actu- ally doing it," says Ronesi. In a larger context, the focus on profitability blends with the growing tendency of law firms to have a business strategy. "Law firms are seeking out certain clients and certain types of work they can manage effec- tively and efficiently and asking themselves whether particular practices fit within that strat- egy," says Cotterman. "So a big monstrous practice that has a five-per-cent margin may not be what the firm is after unless it can be run in a way that generates a 10-per-cent spread." Ronesi believes lawyers want change in the way firms struc- ture their compensation. He cites the 2014 partner compensation survey from Major Lindsey & Africa, a global legal recruiter, that revealed that 65 per cent of the 2,038 U.S. respondents sur- veyed wanted to change their firm's compensation methods. Still, Cotterman cautions that law firms must be careful not to fall under the spell of the sheer volume and force of the metrics available today. "Analytics can overwhelm, and it's important not to reach conclusions without under- standing exactly what the num- bers mean," he says. "It's always beneficial to take a contrarian view and pick the numbers apart." LT Order # 804218-65203 $426 2 volume looseleaf supplemented book Anticipated upkeep cost – $319 per supplement 4-6 supplements per year Supplements invoiced separately 0-88804-218-3 Shipping and handling are extra. Price(s) subject to change without notice and subject to applicable taxes. 00227VI-A48891 Cited by the supreme court of Canada Canadian Employment Law Stacey Reginald Ball "The most comprehensive text on employment law in Canada. It is carefully constructed and accurate." 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I would also say don't go over the same ground we already have in B.C., and I know she'll get her feet on the ground and into these commu- nities to see the poverty, vio- lence, and despair." Former Law Commission of Canada commissioner Mark Stevenson watched Wilson-Ray- bould grow up and worked with her father for many years. "In fact, it was Bill that suggested that I go to law school. When I worked for him, he was brilliant and one of the most articulate political lead- ers in his day," says Stevenson. "He also didn't suffer fools lightly. Jody is articulate and she inherited her father's brilliance but has learned more patience." He says that during her time with the treaty commission, Wilson-Raybould proved to be a skilled listener who was "pains- takingly impartial." "At the same time, she was never shy of intervening but did so with impeccable timing and always to move the discussion along by guiding the parties to- wards creative solutions," says Stevenson. "At the same time, there are very high expectations from the indigenous community. After a decade of darkness, we will want to see things move quickly." Stevenson says Wilson-Ray- bould will have to move decisive- ly on several fronts, including the legal issues stemming from the recommendations by the Truth and Reconciliation Commis- sion of Canada, appointments of aboriginals to the judiciary, and making space for aboriginal laws within Canada's constitutional framework. In his view, her two biggest challenges will be bring- ing change to a bureaucracy that he says has made a radical shift to the political right over the last 10 years and ensuring that her de- partment doesn't get in the way of the new government's agenda for implementing the recommenda- tions of the Truth and Reconcili- ation Commission. Miles Richardson, a former commissioner of the treaty commission, says that when he needed a skilled negotiator, he immediately reached out to Wilson-Raybould for his team. "She spent a lot of her time paring down the key obstacles to treaty negotiations," says Richard- son, noting he expects Wilson- Raybould will be a great consen- sus builder. "She understands the issues, she has a deep sense of her own values, and she's a very proud member of her First Nation and she's equally proud to be a Cana- dian and she can see where those values overlap." Phillip, meanwhile, says there will be a lot of pressure on Wil- son-Raybould to fulfil promises to repair the government's rela- tionship with aboriginals. "She has a lot of work to do, not only in repairing relation- ships but of cleaning the mess from the Harper regime in terms of passing legislation that was not in the interest of indige- nous peoples," he says, referring to the government of former prime minister Stephen Harper. "It appears we've collectively survived the long, dark years. Now, it's a new day and there are very exciting opportunities that lay in front of all Canadians be- cause Prime Minister Trudeau was so strategic in his cabinet appointments." LT Long-sought inquiry, truth and reconciliation on the agenda Continued from page 1 Keep up-to-date on the latest judicial developments by reading Law Times' CaseLaw on pages 14 - 15 Court Disaster Don't

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