Fighting back

The shifting business sands mean that business law firms in local centres have had to change the way they do business. For example, Babcock’s firm has “become a lot more aggressive trying to capture more of the local market.” He says the firm has also boosted its marketing budget and lawyers in the firm are now speaking at conferences 1,400 kilometres away in Toronto, “which gives us the large platforms we’re looking for outside Thunder Bay.”

The firm is also aggressively targeting general counsel with businesses that operate in the area and are presenting them with information about the firm and flying to Toronto to meet them. “Five years ago, we would never have done cold calls.” Now, he notes, “we can also get to Toronto for $300 in airfare, do meetings, and fly back that evening.” As well the Internet and electronic communications mean they can send out a lot more marketing packages and touch more people.

Babcock says “it’s a hard sell to get that first file,” but once a firm does, the second usually follows.

It also means thinking outside of the box to land business. The Weiler firm recently teamed with labour law firm Filion Wakely Thorup & Angeletti LLP, whose Toronto presence gives it quick access to the Ontario Labour Relations Board, to pitch the Ontario Northern School of Medicine, and win an RFP. “I think we are going to see more of that form of partnership.”

Another area that firms from outside the core can compete with is on price. Hannah notes that “I think it’s probably accepted that we’re not going to be as expensive as the Vancouver firms, but in a lot of cases that doesn’t seem to have as much impact with the larger clients.” Selby adds that a local firm has an edge on a national firm. “Some people don’t like the perceived arrogance (of national law firms). Local guys don’t want big shots telling them how to do business.”

By the same token firms can look for ways to leverage lawyers from the core regions where the power is coalescing to keep their clients happy and dissuade them from abandoning the firm for a national firm or a law firm in a bigger city. For example, Selby, an expert in condominium legal issues, is often contacted and retained by lawyers in smaller centres to advise on local projects. He also acts for national retailers that might be setting-up shop in a neighborhood. He says the national retailers’ use of law firms varies, but “many tend to have lawyers by regions.”

Remember, too, that national law firms are national in name only and seldom cover more than a handful of cities, so they also need legal contacts in outlying regions. The enemy today can be the ally of tomorrow.

Waitzer says don’t overlook the value of agency work. National firms are looking for the top end of deals. In the provinces where they have offices, they are covered off on legal opinions, but in those areas where they don’t, there is some opportunity. “If we need an opinion that an offering complied with Saskatchewan law, we will use Saskatchewan counsel.”

Ken Mills, managing partner of the Calgary office of Blake Cassels, says law school kinship still goes a long way and decisions on which law firm a national firm may choose to send work to are often based on personal relationships. “When you are referring your client to somebody, you want to make sure they’re pretty good. People who are successful in small centres working for larger clients recognize that contact has to be part of the relationship.”

By the same token, he says, smaller firms need to invest in technology to maximize efforts. He says voice over Internet protocol makes communications seamless and much can be done using the Internet. “It doesn’t matter whether you are in the same city or 200 miles away. There isn’t much of a gap.”

Babcock remains optimistic that firms such as his can thrive and survive and he wonders whether the move to more centralized decision-making and the accompanying use of national law firms by local clients is permanent or simply a cycle. He predicts that “eventually, large firms will become so bureaucratic that general counsel will again start to look at options and will look at expertise local counsel brings.”