Law Times

Law Times • march 14, 2016 Page 13 www.lawtimesnews.com Insurance defence boutiques have flexibility in approach BY MICHAEL MCKIERNAN For Law Times F lexibility is the watchword for insurance defence bou- tiques navigating the lively waters of Canada's insurance market. During nearly three decades at the bar, Bill Chalmers has wit- nessed wave after wave of con- solidation among the country's insurance companies, each one bringing with it a fresh batch of direct competitors, either from the combined panel of preferred law firms, or from a strengthened and well-resourced in-house le- gal department with the capabil- ity to take on files itself. "There are challenges, and not all are necessarily bad things, but you just have to adapt to them. A firm like ours can do that because we have a lot of f lex- ibility," says Chalmers, the man- aging partner at Toronto and Hamilton, Ont.-based boutique Hughes Amys LLP. "We can offer alternative fee arrangements that make us look more attractive without the ten- sion you might get at a larger firm because work is being charged at a much lower hourly rate than a lawyer in M&A would, for ex- ample. We're also able to adapt be- cause we have the depth of experi- ence and knowledge of the major players, trends, and judges in the field that comes with having 46 lawyers doing nothing but insur- ance defence," Chalmers adds. Peter Yaniszewski, a senior partner at 60-lawyer boutique McCague Borlack LLP, says his firm is working hard to meet cli- ent expectations that are higher than ever since he joined the firm at its inception in 1994. "Our clients are way more fo- cused on metrics; collecting and analyzing data to identify and eliminate inefficiencies in the lit- igation process," he says. "They're pressuring us to be creative in the use of things like summary judgment and settlement nego- tiations; anything that results in cost effectiveness and greater ef- ficiency." At Schultz Frost LLP, the firm's response to increasing cli- ent demands has resulted in a focus on risk management, with lawyers and insurers partnering in the design of file management systems and protocols to reduce the client's reliance on counsel further down the line. "It's more of a consulting role; we're sharing our unique perspective and skillset to edu- cate clients so that they don't even need to involve counsel. It sounds counter-intuitive, be- cause it seems as though it will mean less work for us, but it isn't," says founding partner Kadey Schultz. "It's better for them be- cause it makes them stronger and more efficient, and it's better for us, because we're getting a higher quality of work. In the end, they will still need us, but it will only be in those cases that are truly worth litigating." According to Schultz, the plan may not have f lown at a larger, full-service firm. "The great thing about being a boutique is that you have the f lexibility to respond to organi- zational and industry changes creatively. You don't need a whole lot of steps to create a game plan. There's no national budgeting committee to go through, just a small group of decision-makers moving resources where they're needed to act on behalf of clients really quickly," she says. Schultz's legal partner, Jason Frost, says another firm project exemplifies the insurance de- fence boutique's f lexibility. Over the next few months, Frost and other members of the firm's ac- cident benefits practice group will tour Ontario, educating cli- ents about the transfer of mat- ters from the Financial Services Commission of Ontario to the Licence Appeals Tribunal, which begins April 1. "Clients have been asking us to come and teach them about the new scheme. We're calling it our road show, and we'll be speaking with mostly independent adjust- ers in order to position them for success in relation to the recent changes," Frost says. Eric Grossman, a partner at Zarek Taylor Grossman Hanra- han LLP, says a large chunk of his time in the last few weeks has been devoted to talking his clients through the LAT trans- fer, as well as sweeping changes to the benefits available to in- jured people under the system, which come into effect just two months later on June 1. Together, he says the two events represent the "greatest challenge to those practising in the personal injury field since 1990," when Ontario first legislated a no-fault insur- ance system. From April 1, all accident benefit matters must go to the LAT for arbitration, without the requirement for mediation prescribed under the old FSCO process. Injured parties also lost their right to sue in court for ac- cident benefits. The June 1 changes finally en- act controversial cuts to accident benefits that limit combined at- tendant care and medical and rehabilitation services for cata- strophically injured victims at $1 million, down from the previous cap of $2 million. Non-catastrophically injured victims will also see their maxi- mum combined benefits cut to $65,000 from $86,000. "The government has not done a good job of easing the transition, so it's going to be like going cold turkey. There will be steep learning curves for all involved," Gross- man says. According to Grossman, the government's desire for an expe- dited process is among the chief aims of the switch from FSCO to the LAT. 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Zarek Taylor Grossman Hanrahan LLP is one of Toronto's pre-eminent ŝŶƐƵƌĂŶĐĞĚĞĨĞŶĐĞůĂǁĮƌŵƐ͘tŝƚŚĚĞĞƉ ĞdžƉĞƌƟƐĞŝŶĞǀĞƌLJĂƌĞĂŽĨŝŶƐƵƌĂŶĐĞ ĚĞĨĞŶĐĞůĂǁ͕ƚŚĞĮƌŵŚĂƐďĞĞŶŝŶǀŽůǀĞĚ in many of the leading cases in ĂŶĂĚĂ͘tĞĂƌĞƉƌŽƵĚƚŽƉĂƌƚŶĞƌǁŝƚŚ many of the top property and casualty ŝŶƐƵƌĞƌƐŝŶƚŚĞĐŽƵŶƚƌLJ͕ĂŶĚƐƚƌŝǀĞƚŽ ŵĂŝŶƚĂŝŶƚŚĞƐĞƌǀŝĐĞͲĮƌƐƚĐƵůƚƵƌĞƚŚĂƚŚĂƐ ĚĞĮŶĞĚŽƵƌĮƌŵĨŽƌĂůŵŽƐƚϮϬLJĞĂƌƐ͘ ʹͲǤͳ͵ϐ Toronto, On M5C 2T6 416.777.2811 Visit us www.ztgh.com twitter @ZTGHLaw Untitled-4 1 2016-03-09 8:59 AM Kadey Schultz says the great thing about being a boutique firm is flexibility to respond to organizational and industry changes creatively.

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