Secondments have benefits both for associates’ careers and for relationships between the
lawyer’s firm and its clients.
When Sylvia De Angelis put up her hand and spoke out at a meeting with the managing partner of her law firm, she had no idea where it would take her career. At the time, she was a fourth-year associate in the Calgary office of Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, and was the only one at the meeting willing to say why some associates were less than thrilled with their experience at the firm.
After the meeting, the managing partner called her aside. She thought she was about to be disciplined or possibly even let go, but instead he told her he appreciated her candour. Then, to her surprise, he asked her if she was interested in spending some time working closely with one of the firm’s clients. De Angelis’ response was, “Why not?” And suddenly she found herself as the whole legal department for the oil sands technology company Value Creation Inc., as it went through a period of massive growth. De Angelis had been seconded.
Still considered an associate with Gowlings, she now has just one client, but one where she was responsible for all its in-house work. An experience she describes as a “tremendous opportunity.”
Secondments come in as many different forms as there are clients and lawyers. Lasting from as little as two months up to lengths like that of De Angelis’ secondment, which is coming up on two years. They come in the form of working with anything from government departments to non-profit organizations to major corporations. The options vary widely, but what all secondments share is the need to leave your law firm temporarily and work in-house with a client. And for an associate, they provide a fresh perspective on how the law looks from a client’s point of view.
The type of work you’ll do on a secondment largely depends on the client’s needs. For instance, one organization that regularly seconds lawyers is the Ontario Securities Commission. According to Gayle Fisher, chief human resources officer for the OSC, sometimes it’s as simple as needing someone to backfill a parental leave. A secondment like this would carry with it a variety of tasks, depending on the day-to-day needs of the commission. In other cases the OSC is looking for specific help on policy development and lawyers are brought in to help with that one project.
For some associates, a secondment is a chance to see life as an in-house counsel for a corporation. Andrew McFarlane is a fifth-year associate with Stewart McKelvey in Halifax. He spent four months at Clark Inc., a Halifax-based company operating mainly in the transportation business, while it underwent what he describes as “a bit of a transition.” While there, he worked alongside the firm’s senior executives on the company’s financial issues and securities transactions.
Christine Kilby, a first-year litigation associate with Ogilvy Renault LLP in Toronto, has been on two secondments. On her first, at General Motors Canada, Kilby spent the majority of her time researching files, dealing with human rights complaints, and even appearing in small claims court representing GM. In her second, Kilby worked for Toronto Community Housing, where she handled her own files, represented TCH in front of the Landlord and Tenant Board, and appeared in court for one case. As she puts it, “When you’re in-house counsel you’re dealing with everything, big and small.”
Not every secondment is such a general experience though. Dave Wright, a first-year associate at Stewart McKelvey, is currently seconded to the federal auditor general’s Halifax office. There, he’s part of an audit team looking at “habitat protection and pollution prevention” under the Fisheries Act, which gives him a chance to “build capacity and specific knowledge” as he works on how the government is succeeding in upholding two specific sections of the Fisheries Act.
In either situation, as specialist or generalist, one feature of secondments is that the associates feel like they’re playing a role in the business of the organization. De Angelis, for instance, came to Value Creation as its only dedicated lawyer, and suddenly found herself participating in decision-making that in a law firm wouldn’t happen until she became a partner.
